Regarding the question "What do women want?"
Here is a link to a beautifully written op-ed piece from today's Boston Globe by James Carroll that touches on the primary, sexism, racism and white male privilege: "Here's what she wants"
The question suggests not only that the questioner is a man, but also that he is mystified by the multiplicity of female desires. She wants, as the man sees it, the contradictories of control and submission, erotic expression and maternity, connectedness and freedom. Whatever a man provides, it is not enough. The man who asks the question, in fact, is not asking. He is complaining. Like Freud, he is blaming his inability to meet the needs of women on women. The question, therefore, implies its own answer: A woman wants not to be asked a trick question.
The question suggests not only that the questioner is a man, but also that he is mystified by the multiplicity of female desires. She wants, as the man sees it, the contradictories of control and submission, erotic expression and maternity, connectedness and freedom. Whatever a man provides, it is not enough. The man who asks the question, in fact, is not asking. He is complaining. Like Freud, he is blaming his inability to meet the needs of women on women. The question, therefore, implies its own answer: A woman wants not to be asked a trick question.