In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Tag: feminists

To Do Tomorrow: Party!

For all the feminists and pro-feminists out there looking for a good time in NYC, Feministing is hosting their second anniversary party tomorrow at Sweet and Vicious (one of my favorite bars. Nice choice, ladies). I will be there with a cabal of feminist friends, and it will be my only breath of fresh air until finals are done on May 10th. If you’re in the city, you should drop by. The details:

fem

Friday, April 28th, 9pm
Sweet & Vicious
5 Spring Street (btwn Bowery and Elizabeth)

Woah.

I really shouldn’t be surprised at the intense racism from the right. I’m used to the overt sexim, but they usually at least try and couch their racism in slightly more acceptable, while still dehumanzing, terms — like complaining about “illegals” instead of just saying “You know, I really don’t like brown people, except when I can exploit them for cheap labor.” So Doug Giles’ latest op/ed (his sixth about how to raise boys feminists will hate) really shouldn’t have shocked me. I was expecting sexism. I might have expected veiled racism. I should have seen this coming:

BTW, can some of you girls stop imitating guys? Please? Like . . . now? The other day I saw this Hispanic chick cruising on a Harley. Her gut was hanging over her way-too-low-cut jeans, she had a cigarette dangling from the corner her mouth and she was sporting more tattoos than a Maasai warrior. I had to do a double take because I thought it was my gardener with a wig and some Frederick’s inserts. Yikes!

Yeah, wow. Just try and wrap your brain around all the racist and sexist statements in that one little paragraph. I wanted to bold the more offensive statements, but there were so many that I couldn’t pick just one (although I’m leaning toward, “I thought it was my gardener”).

I know I should not be surprised, after all the crap they publish on Townhall. You could even say that I’m surprised at how surprised I am (but only if you wanted to use the word “surprised” one more time. Perhaps “shocked and disgusted” would be a better phrase). But that one had my jaw hitting the floor. Just… wow.

Posted Without Comment

Because I think it’s valuable to let people speak for themselves.

A.

B.

C.

The crux, I think, of the issue:

People have been trying to say that they see racism and exclusion going on in terms of content and discussions at major feminists blogs. You can either choose to listen with an open heart or not. I think that, if we choose the latter, then we are only hurting ourselves.

What About Actual Feminists?

A poster at Ilyka’s Blog Against Strawfeminism Week asks:

The one thing I’ve noticed missing from this entire series of (interesting and thoughtful) posts is… a definition of what feminism is. Pointing out straw feminists (and straw definitions of feminism) is good and proper, but I’m left wondering exactly what we (you) mean when you speak of feminism that is not straw-feminism…

Since, as you’ve noted, feminism is the subject of so many varying and contradictory usages, maybe the best thing we could to to prevent straw-feminism is to define what the heck feminism Really Is?

I know a bazillion of us feminists have already blogged about what feminism is to each of us. Pop on over and lend a link.

Ilyka Blogs Against the Strawfeminist

Ilyka — conservative blogger, longtime contact, and friend — has taken it upon herself to declare this week “Blog Against Strawfeminism Week” in response to a recent flood of feminist-wary posts by conservative female bloggers, many of whom (surprise!) battle the strawfeminist. I did help with a few ideas via email, which Ilyka is completely open about, but she takes the baton and runs marathons.

I send you all over to hang out and read.

But remember,

This week isn’t so much for those who are feminists already, as it is for those who:
— don’t consider themselves feminists at all;
— aren’t sure whether they are feminists or not;
— would have been feminists in Susan B. Anthony’s day, but now? Forget it!
— just want to wean themselves from dependency and overreliance on the Strawfeminist in their arguments with actual, non-straw-based, feminist lifeforms.

Start here. Go now.

EDITED: I lied. Ilyka has asked that we do participate in the discussion if we’d like.

Who is Igna Muscio, and Why Won’t She Get Off My Lawn?

On Alas, a very interesting discussion is developing about generational feminist anxiety. Guest-blogger Maia linked to an article by Audra Williams, whom I like a great deal, about younger feminists feeling as though they aren’t doing enough. Apparently, Audra feels so underwhelmed by her own actions that she’s afraid she doesn’t have the feminist standing to mentor even younger feminists at all. She describes herself as a “fraud.”

While it’s never a bad idea to ask oneself what one could do in the service of one’s ideals, I worry that all this self-analysis is just, well, internalized sexism. I mean, a fraud? Audra Williams doesn’t just question Audra Williams’ strategies. Audra Williams thinks Audra Williams sucks.

It’s also not just Audra Williams, apparently. Flea has feminist anxiety dreams.

I don’t want to discount feminist analysis on the MacKinnon level, which is challenging and valuable. I’m certainly not arguing that action alerts are useless. But I worry about discounting things like, oh, feminist livejournal communities–either by saying that they’re insignificant or by saying that they represent a degenerate trend.

Second-wave feminism drew a great deal of its popular force and from consciousness raising: basically, a bunch of women complaining about their lives and the sexism that permeated them. This wasn’t just talk, but organizing; it caused the women involved to see feminism as immediate and relevant. The feminist bloggers who apparently feel like self-absorbed slackers who do nothing but sit around nursing their own bathwater while Lesbos burns are carrying on a proud and effective tradition–and thanks to the internets, they’ve got a better platform to rail from than their predecessors could ever have dreamed of.

This is all to say that it’s very weird to hear someone like Maia, who’s currently splashing feminist news and analysis all over the internets, talk about how she has never belonged to a group.

The Vagina Warriors Are Gonna Getcha

I just don’t understand the right-wing obsession with The Vagina Monologues. So they talk about vaginas. They raise money to combat violence against women and girls. They don’t say, “The best way to live is to wait until your married, then close your eyes and think of England.” Conservatives would be better off attacking Avenue Q.

And yet they just can’t stop. Karin Agness, president of the Network of Enlightened Women at UVA (who I suspect is pissed off because her vagina never taught her how to write effectively) is example A:

While most people were celebrating or searching for love on Valentine’s Day, groups of women throughout the country decided to forego this lovely holiday to talk about their vaginas.

Because you either get vaginas or love, not both. And they never, ever have anything to do with eachother.

Women have the choice to do this. I am thankful for that choice. But this choice to participate in The Vagina Monologues is the latest manifestation of feminism gone wrong in America.

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