So, THAT was a failed experiment
On my knitting forums, Ravelry, there's a group called "This is What a Feminist Knits Like". I thought "Oh, that could be fun!" and joined. Posted in a few discussions and read a lot of replies.
I think I hate most feminists.
One discussion revolved around Hooters and whether or not it was sexist. I said, idly, that I thought it really depended on a woman's choice and her views on the matter (ie: it's an individual decision whether to work there or not).
Response amounted to: Many women don't have choices in where they work because they need to pay the bills.
Okay...fair enough. But it seems that "doesn't have a choice" is a very relative term. In the Western world "doesn't have a choice" usually means "I don't have a choice if I want to continue to make my car payments and the mortgage". And while this is a bad situation to be in, it can ALWAYS BE WORSE.
I don't care how bad you've got it, most people in the United States have it worlds and worlds better than the majority of the world. If you have an internet connection and are literate enough to post messages on a forum, you're doing peachy keen in the grand scheme of things.
Okay...not so bad...but the last discussion I read made me leave due to the absurdity.
Woman was watching a 4 year old boy playing with Lincoln Logs (god, do I love those things still) and playing farm: the farmer and the farmer's wife. What an example of subtle sexism! The parents aren't doing their jobs right!
COME ON! Maybe it is an example of how young kids can be affected by gender norms, but it isn't *sexism*. Not everything that has to do with gender can be chalked up to sexism. Secondly, he's 4. Really? I think he's got a loooooong time to figure out how to be a well-adjusted man in society and have respect for women. No one has failed him. Kids play and do strange stuff that has nothing to do with their parents. Some kids play "funeral home" (there was another post about that on a different sub-forum). I highly doubt small children learn that from mommy and daddy.
Over all, the tone of the posts were decidedly "Woe is me! I am woman and I was wronged!" Of course, not every feminist is like this and there's a tendency towards bitching and venting in these things.
I just think that, like all other things, sex and gender have to be put in their place. Kinship and political structures used to rule ethnography because of a structuralist point of view. Now that we've toned down looking for structures, individual agency within those structures is showing a bigger role. One can easily study just about anything from the standpoint of gender studies and issues between men and women. It's important to look at those angles.
HOWEVER, it doesn't rule everything. Kinship does not rule the life of African tribes. Families play a big role, but we need to put it in the grand scheme of many aspects that influence an individual's life.
Gender and sex DO play a big role in how we relate to the world. But there are tons and tons of other influences. The guy who shoves past you isn't sexist; he's a dick. I think sexist behavior requires certain things. In some cases, it requires intentionality: "You are a woman, so I shall treat you differently, based on that alone." (remember, it can be a man or a woman thinking this). In other cases, it is a result of criminal levels of obliviousness: "Women still like being housewives and cooking for their husbands all day, right?" And still other cases require a demeaning or simplifying attitude: "A woman couldn't possibly understand this."
And not all sexist behavior is really sexist. Sometimes a person might use sexist terminology because it is hurtful, not because he/she is really sexist.
I think I'm done with pop feminism. Really...unless it's being applied to specific things (feminist archaeology, woman's issues in India, etc), I'm not interested. Too many women are seeking out sexism so they can be outraged.
I think I hate most feminists.
One discussion revolved around Hooters and whether or not it was sexist. I said, idly, that I thought it really depended on a woman's choice and her views on the matter (ie: it's an individual decision whether to work there or not).
Response amounted to: Many women don't have choices in where they work because they need to pay the bills.
Okay...fair enough. But it seems that "doesn't have a choice" is a very relative term. In the Western world "doesn't have a choice" usually means "I don't have a choice if I want to continue to make my car payments and the mortgage". And while this is a bad situation to be in, it can ALWAYS BE WORSE.
I don't care how bad you've got it, most people in the United States have it worlds and worlds better than the majority of the world. If you have an internet connection and are literate enough to post messages on a forum, you're doing peachy keen in the grand scheme of things.
Okay...not so bad...but the last discussion I read made me leave due to the absurdity.
Woman was watching a 4 year old boy playing with Lincoln Logs (god, do I love those things still) and playing farm: the farmer and the farmer's wife. What an example of subtle sexism! The parents aren't doing their jobs right!
COME ON! Maybe it is an example of how young kids can be affected by gender norms, but it isn't *sexism*. Not everything that has to do with gender can be chalked up to sexism. Secondly, he's 4. Really? I think he's got a loooooong time to figure out how to be a well-adjusted man in society and have respect for women. No one has failed him. Kids play and do strange stuff that has nothing to do with their parents. Some kids play "funeral home" (there was another post about that on a different sub-forum). I highly doubt small children learn that from mommy and daddy.
Over all, the tone of the posts were decidedly "Woe is me! I am woman and I was wronged!" Of course, not every feminist is like this and there's a tendency towards bitching and venting in these things.
I just think that, like all other things, sex and gender have to be put in their place. Kinship and political structures used to rule ethnography because of a structuralist point of view. Now that we've toned down looking for structures, individual agency within those structures is showing a bigger role. One can easily study just about anything from the standpoint of gender studies and issues between men and women. It's important to look at those angles.
HOWEVER, it doesn't rule everything. Kinship does not rule the life of African tribes. Families play a big role, but we need to put it in the grand scheme of many aspects that influence an individual's life.
Gender and sex DO play a big role in how we relate to the world. But there are tons and tons of other influences. The guy who shoves past you isn't sexist; he's a dick. I think sexist behavior requires certain things. In some cases, it requires intentionality: "You are a woman, so I shall treat you differently, based on that alone." (remember, it can be a man or a woman thinking this). In other cases, it is a result of criminal levels of obliviousness: "Women still like being housewives and cooking for their husbands all day, right?" And still other cases require a demeaning or simplifying attitude: "A woman couldn't possibly understand this."
And not all sexist behavior is really sexist. Sometimes a person might use sexist terminology because it is hurtful, not because he/she is really sexist.
I think I'm done with pop feminism. Really...unless it's being applied to specific things (feminist archaeology, woman's issues in India, etc), I'm not interested. Too many women are seeking out sexism so they can be outraged.