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xiphiasSo, a bunch of people on my friends list have been linking to a post that someone wrote last year about the misogyny in Firefly/Serenity. And, y'know, there's actually a lot of interesting stuff you can do with that, but this post was written from a radical feminist point of view, by a lesbian separatist.
And I was just thinking about how EASY radfem is for me to deal with.
See, I'm a man. And so, by lesbian separatist radical feminist logic, I can never understand a woman's point of view. And THAT means that I have no obligation to try.
Now, the way I was raised, I can look at how society is set up, I can see in what ways the deck is stacked to give men more power for being men, I can see how society promotes some sorts of interactions, and values some types of personality traits more than others. In the forms of feminism in which I was raised, I can look at those things, and see if I can find ways to work around them, to change how I think about them, to work to change society to be more equatable, to allow people to be who they are, to respect the contributions of all sorts of people, to value cooperative and consensus-building interactions . . .
But, from a radical feminist point of view, the differences are not cultural, they're inherent, and, as a man, no matter what I do, I won't change.
And that's so cool. That lets me entirely off the hook. By the feminism with which I was raised, I have a responsibility to work toward a more fair and more just world. But by lesbian separatist radical feminism, I can do whatever I want, because, as I have no ability to be different than I am, I have no responsibility to try.
And I was just thinking about how EASY radfem is for me to deal with.
See, I'm a man. And so, by lesbian separatist radical feminist logic, I can never understand a woman's point of view. And THAT means that I have no obligation to try.
Now, the way I was raised, I can look at how society is set up, I can see in what ways the deck is stacked to give men more power for being men, I can see how society promotes some sorts of interactions, and values some types of personality traits more than others. In the forms of feminism in which I was raised, I can look at those things, and see if I can find ways to work around them, to change how I think about them, to work to change society to be more equatable, to allow people to be who they are, to respect the contributions of all sorts of people, to value cooperative and consensus-building interactions . . .
But, from a radical feminist point of view, the differences are not cultural, they're inherent, and, as a man, no matter what I do, I won't change.
And that's so cool. That lets me entirely off the hook. By the feminism with which I was raised, I have a responsibility to work toward a more fair and more just world. But by lesbian separatist radical feminism, I can do whatever I want, because, as I have no ability to be different than I am, I have no responsibility to try.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-04-25 09:59 pm (UTC)1. The post itself never starts off saying the author is a "lesbian radical feminist separatist". Perhaps she is. I don't know her.
2. The author is not (I don't think) some pioneer of the lesbian feminist separatist movement, some great movement leader, or some influential policy maker. One suspects she is a little known blogger venting her frustration on her personal blog. Your willingness to dismiss feminism with glee based on one blogger's personal opinion of a television series with which you apparently disagree makes me wonder if you've ever seriously had a feminist sensibility in the first place.
3. I thought there were some good points brought up in her post. I don't think it is "crazy" or "off the wall" at all. It simply shows a different perspective on the series, one which clearly offends you in some deep and primal way. Opinions which do not match the mainstream are not necessarily "crazy" or those of a "nutjob" or even, possibly, wrong.
4. I fail to see why you have taken this so personally. Are you Joss Whedon or one of his writers? She was writing about him and the show he produced, not you.
5. If your post indicates this is what you think radical feminism is about, I strongly suggest you go educate yourself on what it is really about, because your idea of what it is about is pretty much completely wrong. But I can tell by your tone it is highly unlikely you will do so, since you have decided you already know what it is about. Just like all the people I know who "know" what Andrea Dworkin believed and wrote about without having ever once read one of her books, or listened to anything she said with any intention of doing anything but trying to point out all the ways in which she was wrong.