Monday, August 13, 2007

 
Last night I had a dream that Twisty and I got married.

it was a lovely ceremony, in Texas as I recall. and everyone was just thrilled.

(I guess that's how I knew it was a dream.)

but, naturally, when I woke up I had to go back to IBTP, for the first time in a while.

It's mostly the same as it ever was. The title of one of her recent posts is eyecatching and amusing, to wit:

"Are You A Fake Feminist?"

I take no small satisfaction in knowing that, apparently, I was a Fake Feminist waaaaaaaaay before it was cool.

The post is all about those stupid quizzes that show up here and there around the web, notably the "Are You A Feminist" quiz. She objects, naturally, and dissects the whole thing rather adeptly, and comes up with her own one-question "are you a feminist or not" quiz. Which, you know, no surprises there.

The thing about those quizzes is that they always, ALWAYS reveal more about the quiz-maker than the quiz-taker.

so here's Twisty's question to tell whether you're a feminist or not:

True or false: Anyone with the means to do so who doesn’t vociferously advocate women’s total liberation from male dominance and oppression is misogynist scum.

There you have it. Any thoughts? questions, comments, smart remarks?

Mind you, I personally can't answer the question before I know what she means by "means". fiscal? intellectual? emotional? what?

Nor can I really wrap my brain around what she's really after when she uses the words "liberation", "male dominance", and "oppression." So, if anyone has any thoughts on that, feel free.

A related question - is the author Gerda Lerner considered a reliable source?

Comments:
no comment except: ACK.
 
I -was- gonna say, okay, when you find yourself dreaming about Internet personalities, much less marrying ! them !, it may be time to step away from the keyboard or at least those sites;

but it occurred to be that that would be not only unncessarily snarky and unhelpful but downright hypocritical.

not going over there, though.
 
OH MY DEAR GODDESS. That's so fucked up as to be terrifying.

And why the hell SHOULDN'T women engage in Xtreme Boinking if it's what they want?

Ugh. I hate humans sometimes.
 
As my comments at Twisty's blog have revealed, as well as posts at my own blog, I find Twisty a bit too absolutist for my tastes. I still love her blog but... as belledame says... ACK. I'm not at all surprised. Absolutism. It's poison.
 
Back in the day, Gerda Lerner was compulsively cited, like, every other hour or something. Why?

You know, we could all start asking questions like: whether owning property (in TWO expensive locations), or choosing to hold on to our daddy's property is part and parcel of patriarchy, too. In a patriarchy, all property was once owned by the fathers until about 4-5 generations ago, READ JANE AUSTEN. So, should we perpetuate the inequality of our fathers, re: race and class? Some women have no property at all, and did not benefit from their father's success within patriarchy (or perhaps had no father present in their lives at all)--are you sharing with these women? If not, you are perpetuating the PATRIARCHAL patterns of financial success/failure, in which the most ruthless white men make the most money. You have in fact benefited from that and continue to do so. What are you doing about it?

Why is a propertied person somehow exempt from the same self-examination the rest of us are expected to engage in? If you aren't actively turning your inherited-from-daddy-property into a womyn's commune/retreat, well, then I guess you ain't perfect neither.

~*~*~

I can do that shit in my sleep, BTW. There is no end to that kind of *judgment*... Been there and done that! Maoism leaves a lot to be desired. As John Lennon famously said, if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao...

I read Twisty because I enjoy her writing so much, and I know I'd personally love her. But I don't take her various self-aggrandizing definitions too seriously.
 
guess I am misogynist scum...but hell, we KNEW that...
 
if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao...

the neighbors used to have a cat we called "ChairMan Meow". he too used to creep through my dreams periodically.
 
Last night I had a dream that Twisty and I got married.HAHAHA! I'm sorry, that's the best opening line of a blog post...ever!
 
I've also had a dream about my abusive exhusband lately, and also about my stepmother.

they shared this common theme where they were yelling and screaming and insisting on some dumb thing or another and telling me what a terrible disappointment I was, and in my dream I was all "whatEV."

again, that's how I knew it was a dream.
 
That's some funky dreaming! I had one last week that qualifies as The Best Geek Dream Ever: Jack Sparrow Gamemastering a tabletop RPG for me. I could've kissed my subconscious, I tell you.
I took a peek at the other blog and ran away with numerous facial tics. Macro cat DO NOT WANT.
I wish more people were for global equality. I want to live in a world where it's safe for me to take my shirt off and walk down the street.
 
Wouldn't that qualify as a nightmare rather than just a dream?

Ah, The Twisty. Every time she says anything sensible she seems to feel compelled to immediately follow it with something doctrinaire and entirely divorced from reality.

Daisy has a point, though. It would not do her Twistiness any harm to turn a little of that self-examination inwards.
 
Wouldn't that qualify as a nightmare rather than just a dream?

nah - it was an excellent dream. everyone was totally happy.

says Daisy:
Back in the day, Gerda Lerner was compulsively cited, like, every other hour or something. Why?

cuz those two books she wrote are lazing around my living room unopened. just wondering if I should open them and see what's inside, if it's worth it.

so, daisy - you think she means "economic wherewithal" when she says "means"?

because, if that's true, hooray I'm exempt.
 
I actually think the dream has a certain charm, & in my dreams I wish you both all happiness.

There's also the question whether the obligation to vociferate involves anything more than a duty to mouth off, even if to no practical effect. Arguably, many of the most consequential actions, including feminist ones, require no talking at all.

As I recall (vaguely), Lerner becomes less reliable the further back in time one goes.
 
It's a vague question. I think "means" probably means economic, but what does "vociferously advocate" mean? Say to your spouse over dinner? Join a demonstration about it? Start one? Put a significant portion of your "means," per Daisy, towards the cause? Remove all access to porn from Nigel? If it's some of these, sure. All of them, then I too am misogynist scum.
 
dude, these dreams I am having are SO WEIRD.

yesterday, following a link offa Daisy's blog, I spent a few hours catching up on the six or so years of Dykes to Watch Out For that I missed. so when I went to sleep I dreamed that Lois was in my living room engaged in elaborate and complicated sexual rituals with several other women. it was definitely Lois, but IRL. her hands were REALLY BIG.

then the dream changed and all my exes were having a huge party in Belle's fabulous New York apartment. then my husband took an escalator and lost his pants.

ain't nothin' but a party in my head, y'all.
 
I take no small satisfaction in knowing that, apparently, I was a Fake Feminist waaaaaaaaay before it was cool.


Well fuck knows where you've been but fake feminism has never been cool. Never ever has and never ever will be.

You must be more satisfied than ever now.
 
are you new, anon?
 
"Faux feminism is bad, mkay." Not Cool. got it.

you sure you want to be calling yourself anon, anon? all things considered.
 
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