Oh, FEMINISM ...

[quietprofanity]

So Mom has Internet control and, because the books I'm currently reading offer me a choice between consistent irritation (in the case of Kushiel's Chosen) and OH MY GOD SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP (Universe X Vol. 1) I started writing more of my fanfic and was like, "Dudes, I totally need a cameo by a 1970s feminist." So I dusted off my old History of Feminism textbook (While I'm thinking of it, why didn't I keep the one about feminisms in other countries? I'm so stupid ...) and was scanning through the excerpts of the works of Robin Morgan and Susan Brownmiller (one of whom will be in the fic ... I sort of WANT it to be Morgan, because her writing is like the left-wing, feminist version of "The New Frontiersmen" and that makes me inappropriately gleeful, but Brownmiller is more popular and probably makes more sense in the long run ...).

Then I decided that required too much thought and I picked up my copy of Female Chauvinist Pigs and read my favorite parts while I was at the laundromat cleaning my comforter. (And just realized that Morgan blurbed the book. w00t!) This didn't really help with anything but that book always energizes me even as it makes me re-assess myself as a feminist and a woman.

I tried to look for clips of Morgan and Brownmiller on YouTube. Didn't find much of anything, but I found some of Ariel Levy. Then I found that she was put on a playlist of a person's "Favorite Women" and one of them included Motherfucking Camille Paglia.

And I'm like, "Rebecca, don't watch. Don't watch, you're just going to get upset." But then I was like, "Aw, it can't possibly be any stupider than what she said about date rape," which are quite possibly THE WORST LAST WORDS IN THE UNIVERSE but I clicked anyway.

Paglia: "I think students have sex with their teachers because there is far too much of a friendly atmosphere between teachers and students. I think this is a part of the therapy culture."
Me: "AAAAAAHHH NO FUCKING WAY AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! STUPID! You're so STUPID!"

These days I react to Camille Paglia with a sort of fascinated embarrassment. She's like that person who you used to be really into and now that you're broken up you're like, "What did I see in you? Why did I like you? WHY?" Her and Christina Hoff Summers. Although Summers is more like that person who seemed really nice until you learned she liked to shill for conservative fake feminism steal cars on the weekend.

... Those metaphors suck. Sorry.

Anyway, dissident/conservative/backlash feminism was an embarrassing time of my life and I'm glad I'm mostly past that ... at least I hope.

I should probably read some more feminism books, but um ... er ... well, I just have to take a picture of my book piles soon, because that shit is just SAD. Anyway, I think I only have Vindication of the Rights of Women in there, but maybe I should bust it out and read it soon.

Comments

[big-wired.livejournal.com]

... the therapy culture?

Yeah, hearing people like that makes my blood boil too, mainly because the stupid hurts so much.

And it reminds me of this article I read on Feministing:

http://www.feministing.com/archives/014598.html

Yeah, just because she had an abortion, doesn't mean every woman shouldn't have one WHILE not having access to birth control. ;p

Plus, yes, birth control, women DO know how to use it. Man, this lady here was damned condescending.

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

Paglia is one of those people who wants the world to be a certain way SO BADLY (men being great thinkers and creators, women being vamp-like power sex goddesses, art being the MOST IMPORTANT THING EVAR) that she ignores things like reality. The world she WANTS sounds cool enough that you may want to go along with it until you kind of wake up and realize, "Oh, wait ... it doesn't work that way no matter how many literary references she uses to make her point."

And ... ugh. Feminists for Life are really the Lying Liars who Lie, and who don't keep their promises.

[big-wired.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It's strange, but I've seen this kind of pattern before when it comes to talking about people of colour as well as women and women of colour, which is that there has to be this universal standard despite the fact that people, no matter their gender, ethnicity, or culture, are INDIVIDUALS who all differ in their likes, dislikes, and thoughts.

This is not to say that men aren't held to universal standards, but they don't seem to be pressured just as much, nor are their experiences pushed aside or dismissed as quickly as women and people of colour, from what I've seen.

(Seeking Avalon had a great post about this some time ago, and it really opened my eyes. One black person does not equal thoughts of all black people. ;p)

So yeah, people all don't act the same way because, well, they're individuals.

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

What you're talking about is definitely an issue. Paglia is ... kind of like that ... but it's not so much stereotyping as having an idealized version in your head of HOW THE WORLD SHOULD BE (and those who don't meet this standard should be scorned). I don't know if ethnic groups really come into it for Paglia. I imagine she doesn't really think about it.

I've read a lot of Seeking Avalon ... which article was that?

[big-wired.livejournal.com]

Sure thing:

http://deepad.livejournal.com/29656.html

And this is the attack on Deepad because her experiences did not match those of some white priciledged Jackass:

http://deepad.livejournal.com/29656.html?thread=620760&style=mine#t620760

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

Oh, that. Yeah, I knew about that. deepad's post was wonderful. That person is a jackass.

I should probably say something about how thinking of my own Jewish heritage opened my eyes a bit to the concerns of PoC regarding this RaceFail09 thing, but I don't want to derail, you know?

[temperance-doll.livejournal.com]

These days I react to Camille Paglia with a sort of fascinated embarrassment. She's like that person who you used to be really into and now that you're broken up you're like, "What did I see in you? Why did I like you? WHY?"

Madonna studies.

The worst thing is, I was good at it.

(Thank you for posting. I don't say often enough that your posts make me happy.)

[quietprofanity.livejournal.com]

Studies of the singer or of iconography of Jesus' mom? Because I know she's covered the former but I can't imagine she hasn't touched on the latter at one point.

(And aw, thank you. I love talking feminism with you.)