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Sympathy with the devil
Dec. 30th, 2008 11:31 amThis is a very pondery post, I tried writing something considered for January Down Under Feminists Carnival but got this instead. Disclaimer 3b applies, and it's written in the context of my other posts about feminism and gender. Also please keep in mind that the point of this post is "How to make feminism better" not "How does feminism suck". There are LOTS of places on the internet where non-feminists rant about how much feminists suck, but not so many where feminists get together and constructively criticise the movement, please don't derail the conversation.
Something I've been pondering for a while is my uncomfortableness with the more extreme anti-man edges of feminism. The problem with of course is that 99.9% of people who complain about feminism being "anti-man" actually mean "pro-equality": consciously or unconsciously they think men deserve more than women (more power, more authority, more leeway etc) and so any time someone challenges that it feels "unfair". See also Q: Since When Is Being Criticized Like Having Your Limbs Blown Off by a Landmine? A: Since That Criticism Came from Someone with Less Privilege Than You. And let me make it clear: I'm not talking about the particular goals etc a feminist might be fighting for, or the "tone" with which she pursues them, or a justifiable anger and shirtiness, I'm talking about a completely dismissive and unsympathetic attitude towards all men under all circumstances on principle for being men(*). This attitude can extend to any woman (or person of more complicated gender) who is seen as being too much in cahoots with the patriarchy. Also this is a pattern of behaviour some feminists exhibit at some times, I'm not trying to paint all or certain feminists as Bad People.
( Read more... )
Something I've been pondering for a while is my uncomfortableness with the more extreme anti-man edges of feminism. The problem with of course is that 99.9% of people who complain about feminism being "anti-man" actually mean "pro-equality": consciously or unconsciously they think men deserve more than women (more power, more authority, more leeway etc) and so any time someone challenges that it feels "unfair". See also Q: Since When Is Being Criticized Like Having Your Limbs Blown Off by a Landmine? A: Since That Criticism Came from Someone with Less Privilege Than You. And let me make it clear: I'm not talking about the particular goals etc a feminist might be fighting for, or the "tone" with which she pursues them, or a justifiable anger and shirtiness, I'm talking about a completely dismissive and unsympathetic attitude towards all men under all circumstances on principle for being men(*). This attitude can extend to any woman (or person of more complicated gender) who is seen as being too much in cahoots with the patriarchy. Also this is a pattern of behaviour some feminists exhibit at some times, I'm not trying to paint all or certain feminists as Bad People.
( Read more... )
