Privilege And "Ideological" Agendas
ETA: I forgot my footnote.
So, could someone PLEASE explain to me why I as a feminist am pushing an ideological agenda that is somehow radical when I assert that women shouldn't be slut-shamed for their clothing choices or required to dress in a certain way to avoid arousing the men around them, but a man that thinks it's perfectly okay to tell a woman that she should dress carefully to prevent rape,* or that her boyfriend should have some sort of say in her wardrobe choices, is NOT espousing an ideology and does not have an agenda?
You know what that is, right there? That's the privilege to universalize your point of view and apply it to every situation. The person advocating for change is always the one characterized as being inappropriately "ideological" and the person who is self-describing as a "moderate", or nominally supporting the traditional, gets to apply his ideology AS IF IT'S THE OBJECTIVE CHOICE. As if it is normal. As if it is universal. As if there is no, you know, patriarchal or misogynistic ideology informing it. Because THAT ideology has been informing our social structures for so long that it's taken for granted. But it's an IDEOLOGY, folks. The sexist claptrap that underlies societal rape myths? Ideological. The sexist claptrap that results in me being treated as hysterical and emotional when I'm upset, and bitchy when I'm assertive, and weak when I'm not? It's Ideological. If you are a gender essentialist, or if you have "old fashioned" ideas about how men and women interact and should interact? That's an Ideological Agenda too.
So, great. You're right, I have a fucking Ideological Agenda. It is nothing more, and nothing less than this (and yes, I've said this before)...woman should be defined and treated as fully human without reference to man and independent of sexual behavior or identity. So, that's my radical ideological agenda. Isn't it scary?
Ideology is not a bad thing in and of itself, you know. It's your worldview. For example, I have an ideological agenda related to science--Science is good, and should be done right. I heart science. That's my ideological agenda, and the ID people have their ideological agenda,too. Now, the science itself isn't ideological. But my support of it? My ideology. My feminism? My ideology. Just remember that the people advocating for the status quo in all things have an ideological agenda they are pushing as well. It's not "objective" and "non-ideological" when someone says their "brand" of feminism is more moderate than yours. It's every bit as ideological (in fact, can be more so) to hold fast to what you've got as it is to insist on change.
(Yes, I just did have a very, very annoying conversation in which I was patronized by a man with a PhD who should really know better, and who is a therapist that treats patients on a regular basis. SCARY. Just. Freakin'. Scary.)
*Oh, and by the way, that? The "dress in such a way to avoid provoking a rape" thing? It probably goes without saying that those sorts of rape prevention ideas are, um, ineffectual, right? I guess "rape myths" is an entirely different post that I could do. I wonder if even thinking about it means I'm back to "able to analyze rape" again...hmm....
So, could someone PLEASE explain to me why I as a feminist am pushing an ideological agenda that is somehow radical when I assert that women shouldn't be slut-shamed for their clothing choices or required to dress in a certain way to avoid arousing the men around them, but a man that thinks it's perfectly okay to tell a woman that she should dress carefully to prevent rape,* or that her boyfriend should have some sort of say in her wardrobe choices, is NOT espousing an ideology and does not have an agenda?
You know what that is, right there? That's the privilege to universalize your point of view and apply it to every situation. The person advocating for change is always the one characterized as being inappropriately "ideological" and the person who is self-describing as a "moderate", or nominally supporting the traditional, gets to apply his ideology AS IF IT'S THE OBJECTIVE CHOICE. As if it is normal. As if it is universal. As if there is no, you know, patriarchal or misogynistic ideology informing it. Because THAT ideology has been informing our social structures for so long that it's taken for granted. But it's an IDEOLOGY, folks. The sexist claptrap that underlies societal rape myths? Ideological. The sexist claptrap that results in me being treated as hysterical and emotional when I'm upset, and bitchy when I'm assertive, and weak when I'm not? It's Ideological. If you are a gender essentialist, or if you have "old fashioned" ideas about how men and women interact and should interact? That's an Ideological Agenda too.
So, great. You're right, I have a fucking Ideological Agenda. It is nothing more, and nothing less than this (and yes, I've said this before)...woman should be defined and treated as fully human without reference to man and independent of sexual behavior or identity. So, that's my radical ideological agenda. Isn't it scary?
Ideology is not a bad thing in and of itself, you know. It's your worldview. For example, I have an ideological agenda related to science--Science is good, and should be done right. I heart science. That's my ideological agenda, and the ID people have their ideological agenda,too. Now, the science itself isn't ideological. But my support of it? My ideology. My feminism? My ideology. Just remember that the people advocating for the status quo in all things have an ideological agenda they are pushing as well. It's not "objective" and "non-ideological" when someone says their "brand" of feminism is more moderate than yours. It's every bit as ideological (in fact, can be more so) to hold fast to what you've got as it is to insist on change.
(Yes, I just did have a very, very annoying conversation in which I was patronized by a man with a PhD who should really know better, and who is a therapist that treats patients on a regular basis. SCARY. Just. Freakin'. Scary.)
*Oh, and by the way, that? The "dress in such a way to avoid provoking a rape" thing? It probably goes without saying that those sorts of rape prevention ideas are, um, ineffectual, right? I guess "rape myths" is an entirely different post that I could do. I wonder if even thinking about it means I'm back to "able to analyze rape" again...hmm....