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[tigerkat24]

So I just finished reading Sheri Tepper's Gibbon's Decline and Fall, and while it's an amazing piece of literature, I'm a bit disturbed.
This isn't the first of Tepper's works I've read. I loved (and still love) The Gate to Women's Country, though in light of Gibbon's Decline and Fall I'm reevaluating my enjoyment of that particular book. I also

Comments

[ringlass]

That's what bothered me about "Cunt." Womanifesto! Stand with your sisters! Don't take crap because just because you're a girl! etc etc etc is all great and wonderful, but one of the biggest steps feminism has made/is making is "Yes, MEN can be supportive too, women can enjoy and like men, a penis isn't an automatic tool of oppression, etc." For as long as there have been men and women there have been men who believed women are equals (I am of course referring to the female subordination cultures, there are also cultures that always viewed them as superiors, which is a tricky business and another topic altogether.) She sounds like someone who has been deeply, desperately hurt, and the next person who comes along to help her up jerks their hand back at the last moment and laughs sort of thing. I am sorry she's propogating these particular themes; they don't get anyone anywhere.

Phelps doesn't strike me as a threat to anyone. He's an annoyance, but unilaterally hating everyone who isn't you is a pretty good way to guarantee that everyone who isn't you hates you right back. Things are very touch-and-go in terms of religion, but I think we have had some positive advances (the 10 commandments in courthouses losing a battle and swearing in a new congressman on a Qua'ran come to mind.) Who knows? Another 4 or 8 years of republican rule could undo that and a lot of other things. But perhaps we won't have that.

[tigerkat24]

I agree. I think the largest problem with sexism today is not that 'men are trying to keep women down' but that both sexes have difficulty realizing that the other sex is not the enemy. Men are no more evil rapists than women are seducing sluts and whores. I agree that you shouldn't take crap because you've got breasts, but neither should you take crap because you have a dick. It's unfair to everyone.
Phelps isn't a threat. But there's an increasing number of people leaning in his direction, or at least the minority that leans towards the hardcore conservatism is getting increasingly more vocal. One thing Tepper put forth that made me think quite a lot is that the Vatican and the radical imams of the Middle East have a lot more in common than we think they do. As religious moderates tend to work together for the peace and goodwill of the planet, who's to say religious conservatives won't work together to a point to ensure that their common goals at least are met?
I also agree with her assertation that the "Hail Mary Assumption," which is to say the assumption that sperm is sacred and women are nothing more than walking uteruses, is becoming increasingly prevalent and that it in and of itself is a danger to women's health. However, I do not agree that every man thinks that way, and I would argue that a lot of women think that way as well.
More thoughts?