Yay! It’s Feminist Friday, for no particular reason than that I want to post some feminist stuff. Here you go!
1. Dianna Anderson on Privilege
I’m actually linking to this because, for once, I don’t agree with her. And that’s okay!
I appreciated her first post on the subject, which you can read here. But I found the second post a bit ironic. While I recognize that men are privileged, we white women are also privileged in this society (particularly if we are Christians). Where I disagree is that the non-privileged don’t have to tell the privileged what they’ve done wrong—that all that is required is to call them on it, then expect them to “do research” to figure out how to change. Where, exactly, does that research come from? Usually from non-privileged people explaining themselves. It’s just not a logical argument. I think, as a woman, it very much is my job to explain to men why their words or actions hurt me, or why I behave as I do. I also think it’s my job, as a white/cis/straight person, to ask questions and seek to learn from my friends who are not those things. It’s a two-way street, but one doesn’t get that sense from the blog post.
Honestly, what I appreciate about Dianna Anderson is that she is fresh, honest, and often uses humor to articulate her points. She has a very healthy attitude toward balancing extending grace, teaching those who are ignorant of situations, and protecting those who have been victimized. This time, it just felt like she was trying to hard to make a poor analogy fit what she wanted to say. I will be interested in what the third part of the series brings.
2. Once again, Hugo Schwyzer just needs to shut the hell up.
I do realize that in posting this, and linking to the original, I’m actually giving this guy more press. But I’m justifying it by saying that I rarely link to anything he’s written, for a very good reason.
Warning: don’t click the link if you are easily squicked. Here’s the original post: On Digging Out My Ex Wife’s Tampon (Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)
I mean, really. A whole article on how he had to help his ex wife (his third ex-wife, mind you) with her feminine hygiene product. Ugh. Not only is this gross, it’s extremely violating that he’s made a story about it for public consumption. While he didn’t name her, I doubt it would be hard for people who know either of them to figure out who she is. That is, unless he’s lying about the whole thing. Dude’s been known to make stuff up before.
The problem isn’t just the icky story. The problem is that he’s sold himself as a “male feminist” (you can argue whether there even is such a thing), while simultaneously writing in a way that is bothersome to women. I mean, Mark Driscoll (you knew I would mention him again, right?) writes in a way that bothers women, too. But he never claims to be a feminist. (Circle this day in your calendar, it’s probably the only time I’m going to defend Driscoll on this blog.)
Men like this are not going to go away on their own. We need to take charge, to demand that people like him stop invading feminist spaces. We need to demand that feminist spaces stop letting him in. Because until we claim our territory and rid it of people like Schwyzer, there will always be more of them.
~*O*~
Happy weekend, all! See you next week when I begin my dissection of 50 Shades of Grey. Dun dun dun! Hope to see you here.
