On Support For Feminism

[erithanis]

The article: Don't Be That GuyFirst of all I have to say that this piece was well written, especially in that it harasses a guy reading it very little. There have been few times I've been pointed towards this kind of material without being assaulted with "men are evil", "how can you live with yourself", etc. This can only hurt the cause these

Comments

Re: yay

[nysick]

geez, first time in my life I ran out of space in the comment. Sorry for the weird white space above!

And wow that got really long. I'm going to stop now and get back to hearsay definitions. :(

Two more points. After spending quite a while reading a lot of feminist sites and commentators I've only encountered one person who I could characterize as male hating in the notoriously crazy internet and she doesn't even have a blog. *shrug* People talk in generalities when they talk about society, if your group is a problem you've got to not take it personally. My second, related point is that I'm 'white' and I'm aware of the privilege this gives me and the way I take advantage of the history of white privilege in America while living here just by being me. I believe taking advantage of those advantages gives me a certain responsibility for the history and for the current discrimination etc. no matter the lack of my personal hateful acts. But I wouldn't characterize myself as self hating or swimming in guilt. :)

Thank you for the break from Evidence!

Re: yay

[shadowedreamer]

The writer was female, by the way. Only relevant since you mention the writer's being male as a reason to trust his assessment of "you're being a creep" as a thing that's OK to say. I also thought that particular line was a very dangerous one - not always, depending on whether the guy was engaged in attempted 'conquest' or just trying to be friendly/flirtatious. That is, if he was completely oblivious, maybe a little "hey, she looked pretty uncomfortable" can help him be less oblivious. But it's certainly not for the creeps who're just trying to get laid.

In reply to the post/commentary/etc: I've often been guilty of this 'stealing someone's ideas' thing just because I can see how to rephrase a thing and make it understood. I would never 'call someone out' for it as though it were an attempt to take credit for the idea (unless it obviously was, as in 'hey i just got this idea, what if X'). But, you need to turn to the original speaker and acknowledge "Oh, that was what you meant. Now I see it! Thanks for pointing that out."

Re: yay

[nysick]

you're absolutely right, the writer is female, she was writing partly in response to a post by a male, I'm an idiot.

Re: yay

[erithanis]

Thanks for responding. Writing this I knew nothing about the community and simply thought this might be another avenue. I find I agree with your reasoning about the focus and I do agree the moral argument is better and more worthwhile in the long run.