What is ‘a feminist’? // Gay Marriage
I was having a short conversation with on another entry about Orlan with musouka_ningyou and I made the comment, ‘I don’t consider her feminist’ and then I thought-wait, what do I mean by this? What is Orlan not? What would make her ‘feminist’? Her actions, behaviors, philosophy? And who am I to decide who wants the title ‘feminist’ and what that title means? The only thing that ties ‘feminists’ together is the belief that the sexes should be equal politically, socially, and economically. Nothing less, nothing more. Making a statement like that is false…because it doesn’t matter what I think of her, it only matters what she thinks of herself [and as long as she believes in those three things].
In my own sense of twisted logic…you can be a feminist AND a misogynist, in the purest definitions of the words. Just because you hate women doesn’t necessarily mean you want to deny them rights. It seems natural for a misogynist to be anti-feminist, but I don’t believe that always has to be the case.
There are a lot of people I hate, organized groups even, but I would never fathom denying them anything. [Or let me put this another way, there are a lot of people I would LIKE to deny rights, but I know that’s a quick route to a dictatorship and that that’s not the best way to rule a free country]
Which brings me to gay marriage. A while ago I wanted to write about gay marriage on myspace, so I posted a bulletin asking everyone’s views. I asked the questions, ‘Do you think Gay Marriage should be legal? Do you think being gay is immoral? Does this affect your answer?’ [That’s not the exact wording, I’ve forgotten it, but it was close enough]. And most, if not all, of the responders said ‘yes’. That their opinions on homosexuality affected their political decision. But I don’t think it should at all! There are a lot of things I don’t “morally” agree with, but I would NEVER even imagine withholding rights. Which also asks the question, is marriage a privilege or a right? Since it’s CLEARLY not a right, why are we, the American people, politically creating a privileged class? It’s so illogical and completely not what America stands for. [Oh hell, I don’t even know what Americans are anymore, but I was under the impression we were a free people and a land of opportunity….BUT ONLY FOR SOME I GUESS] Religions can have their marriage, that’s fine. If a church wants to deny homosexuals the right to be married, then okay. I can hardly say anything against it because I’m not in that religion. But then why is the government involved at all? Whatever happened to a separation of church and state? And furthermore why are non-religious people being denied rights that religious people are gaining through marriage? I will never get married, because the institution/history/tradition is whacked to me, but I would like to get a civil union-except then I won’t get the same rights that someone who is married has. In essence this really isn’t discriminating against homosexuals, it’s discriminating against all of us who are non-religious or don’t believe in marriage. Are we then creating a privileged class for the religious? :o!! Fuck yeah, America…
Here’s some other miscellaneous things I’ve been milling over…
Racist Observations
I was watching “Beauty Shop” with Queen Latifah about a month ago and I was observing the differences in race relations you see in black films compared to white films. For one thing, it seems that racism is more obviously* acceptable in black films. For example when talking about the new white cosmetologist a black girl says to Latifah, ‘oh hell no, you’re not trying to brighten up the place, you’re trying to whiten up the place.’ Can you imagine a white girl saying in a movie, ‘oh hell no, you’re not trying to darken up the place you’re trying to blacken up the place’ and for that to be completely acceptable in that film? Most people would scream, ‘racist!’ and write blogs about how offended they were.
Of course it IS different, because blacks in this country are a minority and have a history of oppression, but isn’t that still a form of privilege? To receive social equality between sexes and races, don’t we need no forms of privileges on any side? As far as gender goes, I can hardly expect males to give up their privileges while I hold on to mine, does the same apply to race?
I also noticed that Queen Latifah is heavier, playing a lead role, and ends up with a really hot dude. This would NEVER happen in a mainstream ‘white movie’ [and if it has, send me the IMDB link!]. They also made frequent jokes about white girls who were obsessed with being thin, or getting boob jobs. I wonder if this is a stereotype in the black community about white girls?
And why are there no Asians on television? Or singing or acting? I don’t get this, I feel like Asians [and Native Americans] are invisible in this country when people emphasize black/white relations. I literally cannot think of a single asian actor, aside for Tila Tequila if you could call her that. Now I don’t watch a lot of T.V. so that might be why, but still, wtf? Is it cultural or are they just not being cast?
*To clarify this…black people will get cast in racist/stereotypical roles in white films, but there usually aren’t racist remarks throughout the film.
Anyway, I hope some of this made a blurb of sense, and comments and insight are always appreciated!
In my own sense of twisted logic…you can be a feminist AND a misogynist, in the purest definitions of the words. Just because you hate women doesn’t necessarily mean you want to deny them rights. It seems natural for a misogynist to be anti-feminist, but I don’t believe that always has to be the case.
There are a lot of people I hate, organized groups even, but I would never fathom denying them anything. [Or let me put this another way, there are a lot of people I would LIKE to deny rights, but I know that’s a quick route to a dictatorship and that that’s not the best way to rule a free country]
Which brings me to gay marriage. A while ago I wanted to write about gay marriage on myspace, so I posted a bulletin asking everyone’s views. I asked the questions, ‘Do you think Gay Marriage should be legal? Do you think being gay is immoral? Does this affect your answer?’ [That’s not the exact wording, I’ve forgotten it, but it was close enough]. And most, if not all, of the responders said ‘yes’. That their opinions on homosexuality affected their political decision. But I don’t think it should at all! There are a lot of things I don’t “morally” agree with, but I would NEVER even imagine withholding rights. Which also asks the question, is marriage a privilege or a right? Since it’s CLEARLY not a right, why are we, the American people, politically creating a privileged class? It’s so illogical and completely not what America stands for. [Oh hell, I don’t even know what Americans are anymore, but I was under the impression we were a free people and a land of opportunity….BUT ONLY FOR SOME I GUESS] Religions can have their marriage, that’s fine. If a church wants to deny homosexuals the right to be married, then okay. I can hardly say anything against it because I’m not in that religion. But then why is the government involved at all? Whatever happened to a separation of church and state? And furthermore why are non-religious people being denied rights that religious people are gaining through marriage? I will never get married, because the institution/history/tradition is whacked to me, but I would like to get a civil union-except then I won’t get the same rights that someone who is married has. In essence this really isn’t discriminating against homosexuals, it’s discriminating against all of us who are non-religious or don’t believe in marriage. Are we then creating a privileged class for the religious? :o!! Fuck yeah, America…
Here’s some other miscellaneous things I’ve been milling over…
Racist Observations
I was watching “Beauty Shop” with Queen Latifah about a month ago and I was observing the differences in race relations you see in black films compared to white films. For one thing, it seems that racism is more obviously* acceptable in black films. For example when talking about the new white cosmetologist a black girl says to Latifah, ‘oh hell no, you’re not trying to brighten up the place, you’re trying to whiten up the place.’ Can you imagine a white girl saying in a movie, ‘oh hell no, you’re not trying to darken up the place you’re trying to blacken up the place’ and for that to be completely acceptable in that film? Most people would scream, ‘racist!’ and write blogs about how offended they were.
Of course it IS different, because blacks in this country are a minority and have a history of oppression, but isn’t that still a form of privilege? To receive social equality between sexes and races, don’t we need no forms of privileges on any side? As far as gender goes, I can hardly expect males to give up their privileges while I hold on to mine, does the same apply to race?
I also noticed that Queen Latifah is heavier, playing a lead role, and ends up with a really hot dude. This would NEVER happen in a mainstream ‘white movie’ [and if it has, send me the IMDB link!]. They also made frequent jokes about white girls who were obsessed with being thin, or getting boob jobs. I wonder if this is a stereotype in the black community about white girls?
And why are there no Asians on television? Or singing or acting? I don’t get this, I feel like Asians [and Native Americans] are invisible in this country when people emphasize black/white relations. I literally cannot think of a single asian actor, aside for Tila Tequila if you could call her that. Now I don’t watch a lot of T.V. so that might be why, but still, wtf? Is it cultural or are they just not being cast?
*To clarify this…black people will get cast in racist/stereotypical roles in white films, but there usually aren’t racist remarks throughout the film.
Anyway, I hope some of this made a blurb of sense, and comments and insight are always appreciated!