Thursday, December 6, 2012

Where have all the good feminists gone?

So, Katy Perry self declares as non-feminist it seems.  Who knew?  But since is such a hero to young feminists everywhere, there has actually been some handwringing about this sort of thing. In fact, according to this Slate XX article this is becoming, as they say, a 'thing':

Last week, Katy Perry joined Melissa Leo, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Marissa Mayer, and Taylor Swift to become the latest powerful woman (how far can you projectile-ejaculate frosting from your nipples?) to denounce the feminist movement.

The tone of the article follows the predictable trajectory, bemoaning the 'fear' women have of calling themselves feminists (apparently words like 'disgust' or 'revulsion' never occur to them), and wonders where the feminist brand went off the rails.

Now, according to good ol' Amanda Hess, the real issue is that feminists are too dismissive of newbies, even hostile.  And that may in fact be true, who can say?  But a more telling reason might just be contained more in the comments than the article itself.



The first response on my screen right now comes from one Selene_Cusping, who intriguingly positions her feelings thus:

I stopped calling myself a feminist in university when I sat alongside some of those radical feminists and saw just how misandrist and illogical they were. I started calling myself a humanist. 
 Now, don't go getting all excited, there's more to the story here it seems.  Seems Selene here is a Born-Again Feminist(tm), and even goes to the trouble of explaining her reasoning:

No, I began calling myself a feminist again because while I know that there are issues that impact and put men and boys at a disadvantage in the world -- and I do speak up about them regularly -- women and girls both in North America and around the world face a much larger number of issues and their complexity and impact are much, much more serious.
 
Much more serious, complex, and large?  Wow, that's terrible!  All this time I thought 'women's issues' were largely fictional propaganda setpieces used to bleed yet more tax money to special interest groups.  My bad.  Let's hear what these issues are:

I'll stop calling myself a feminist when women aren't routinely murdered in honour killings, when they aren't circumcised, when they aren't denied food, education and healthcare because of their sex, when they have the right to birth control, reproductive health and abortion, when they aren't routinely abused or murdered by their husbands, when there are NOT religions (today) debating whether women have souls, when they can serve in the military or study what they like in school, when they are not sold into sexual slavery by their own parents, when they aren't forced to wear burquas, when they can speak freely without being arrested, when they can be religious leaders, etc., etc., etc.

 ....whoah.  I missed something here.  This 'former humanist' must have her wires crossed or something.  Let's see...

Men are ALSO routinely murdered in 'honor killings', but the mainstream media will not report it as such - much like 'trapped men' becomes 'trapped miners', but the phrase 'including women and children' is used as often as possible.  It's called the 'Lace Curtain' of information.

Little boys are ROUTINELY circumcised in the US and Canada, and the foreskins used in commercial products like face cream and skin grafts - boys aren't just circumcised, their mutilation has been industrialised, and is highly profitable.

Men and boys are denied food, healthcare, and education all the time - as a matter of government policy at feminist urging.  The UN denied food to males in Haiti, and labelled it 'humanitarian'.  Male specific problems, for example Prostate Cancer, face shrinking funding - and worsening outcomes - without fanfare.  And with Affirmative Action, a heavily female-dominated (both as student and staff) education system, and such delights as Dear Colleague letters promoting a virulently anti male atmosphere throughout education, I think it's safe to say women have nothing at all to complain about there.  But men do.

Men do not have a birth control option more modern than their grandfathers had, and none that aren't obtrusive or pleasure deadening.  They also do not have reproductive rights of any kind, other than the right to say 'no'.  Even sperm used from a discarded condom can be used to impregnate and obligate a man to a lifetime of child support.

Men are abused in nearly equal measure to women in DV situations, and are often arrested under 'Primary Aggressor' laws (another feminist invention) even when they are the victims.  There are no shelters that will house, or arrange to house, abused men - except in a tiny minority of cities.

While I admit I know nothing about religions debating whether women have souls, I also believe freedom of religion means you can find a new church if you don't like it.

Men might not be sold into sexual slavery QUITE as often as women, but they sure are subject to indentured servitude to any and all women who had children by them.  At gunpoint.  By the State (you know, the cops and stuff).

As for freedom of speech...anything coming out of a feminist's mouth on that score is a laughable hypocrisy on it's face (see: University of Toronto).

Now, this appalling lack of understanding of mens issues would be unsurprising coming from Amanda Hess.  Being a devout feminist, Hess has never made any bones about her misandric outlook and derisive attitude to male suffering.

But Selene here declares she spent time as a 'humanist', disgusted with the man hater radfems.  She declares an enlightened attitude...that she 'cares about men'.  Just like all the other 'good feminists'.

The encouraging thing is that women are starting not to buy the bullshit sold by women like Selene.  The hypocritical ugliness of Feminism is glaringly obvious these days - ESPECIALLY when 'egalitarians' or 'former' feminists like Selene here try to show them the light with such displays of understanding and compassion - and ideological blindness.

It seems the more feminists try to prove their bona fides, the more obvious their hypocrisy becomes.  And the more feminists try to position themselves in the middle, the more ridiculous their arguments have to be.  So, the less radical they are, the less intelligent they sound, and the more obvious their man hatred becomes. 

The irony.  It burns.

8 comments:

  1. Last week, Katy Perry joined Melissa Leo, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Marissa Mayer, and Taylor Swift to become the latest powerful woman (how far can you projectile-ejaculate frosting from your nipples?) to denounce the feminist movement.


    they did? well bless their dark little hearts

    there is something about the words "feminism" and "denounce" that sends kind shivers along my spine

    these girls smell the morning coffee, and that aroma is not feminism, nor is the future feminism

    their ssisters that arent too hateful or haggish or rebellious to D-E-N-O-U-N-C-E feminism might have a future, but i wouldnt wait too long given current rumblings in manland

    ps is the sarkozy girl a relative of the politician?

    anyway if taylor swift and katie perry and whoever else is interested in DENOUNCING and RENOUNCING feminism publically, this here will be the only time to do it, so let's hear it

    a little humility now by females will pay huge dividends after the guards change



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  2. I think the real signifigance here is the loss of the automatic 'grrl power' type attitudes. Women are beginning to realize just how badly they screwed the pooch...not just the celebs. In fact, I'd say the celebs are more reflective of the fans' attitudes than the reverse.

    This type of thing isn't so much a 'motivator' as it is an indication...a temperature-taking, as it were. The criticism of feminism the Manosphere is engaged in has never happened before, and it's obviously something a LOT of people were waiting to support.

    Even teenybopper girls.

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  3. Hi Factory!

    I'm almost flattered you stole my words. Since the HuPo article was about feminism and why being a feminist is important, I didn't go into all the issues facing men. Still, you were EXTREMELY dismissive of the issues I listed facing women, leaping over them to instead cry boo-hoo about the male situation.

    Let's take just one example and break it down.

    Male circumcision (which I oppose) is done for two reasons: religion and health. All the religions that support male circumcision (primarily Judaism and Islam) are male dominated.

    One of the biggest promoters of male circumcision for health reasons is the Centre for Disease Control in the US. They base their recommendations on some flawed studies out of Africa, which show that men who are circumcised are less likely to get the HIV virus.

    But let's set all that aside, since we agree completely that male babies should be left in tact.

    HOWEVER, comparing male circumcision to female circumcision (aka female genital mutilation) is akin to comparing an appendectomy to being disembowelled. Your base and ignorant comparison just shows how absolutely foolish you are.

    Female genital mutilation is typically done on girls from a few days old to puberty. It is usually performed without anaesthesia by a traditional circumciser using a knife, razor, or scissors. The WHO estimates that 100–140 million women and girls around the world have experienced the procedure. It is usually done NOT for health or religious reasons but to reduce the woman's libido and to remove ANY pleasure from sexual relations.

    The 3 main types of FGM are 1) the removal of the clitoral hood, almost invariably accompanied by removal of the clitoris itself (clitoridectomy); 2) removal of the clitoris and inner labia; and 3) removal of all or part of the inner and outer labia, and usually the clitoris, and the fusion of the wound, leaving only a small hole for the passage of urine and menstrual blood — the fused wound is re-opened for intercourse and childbirth.

    This leaves the woman unable to have sex or even urinate without pain, often resulting in ongoing and extremely serious complications that last their whole life. When giving birth, they are often ripped open to deliver and re-sewn afterwards to produce the pain necessary for "chastity". Some die from the resulting complications.

    These girls and women will NEVER experience sexual pleasure or joy. They will NEVER experience an orgasm.

    But sure, you go ahead and liken that to a male circumcision. You fucking fruitcake.

    Your own list of the ways that the world isn't fair to men is both biased and rather juvenile, missing many valid points that a smarter person could make. Many of the issues you discuss are first world issues. Sure the education system is slanted against boys and needs to be fixed but comparing it to millions of girls NOT getting an education at all is a shitty move. You also completely missed the fact that men and boys are also used as cannon fodder in every fucking war going on around the planet! Joined Amnesty International? Fighting against arms manufacturers? Or are you just whining about it?

    In other words, I could do YOUR job a lot better than you do. And I wouldn't sound like a whiney, irresponsible, misogynist douchebag when I do it.

    Because I identify as a feminist, YOU think I discount other problems in the world, or see the world from one perspective.

    Dude, that's you! Stop looking in the mirror.

    Feminism is different movements and philosophies. Most of them are pretty mainstream, like my views. YOUR views on the other hand fit quite accurately into typical misogynist views. You hate women, but you say you just hate feminists. Somehow that makes it acceptable to you and your followers. Well, I'll call you on it: you are misogynist pig.

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    1. "Male circumcision (which I oppose) is done for two reasons: religion and health. All the religions that support male circumcision (primarily Judaism and Islam) are male dominated. Blah blah blah"

      These same kinds of religions espouse FGM ALSo...usually performed by or demanded by the mother. MGM is done without anesthetic too, and in terms of nerve endings, MGM is the equivalent of cutting off the inner labia and the clitoris altogether (20,000 nerve endings in the foreskin, 8,000 in the clitoris), and no one is foolish enough to believe women cannot orgasm without a clitoris.

      "But sure, you go ahead and liken that to a male circumcision. You fucking fruitcake. "

      Ok, I will. You vile hateful bitch.

      "Many of the issues you discuss are first world issues. Sure the education system is slanted against boys and needs to be fixed but comparing it to millions of girls NOT getting an education at all is a shitty move. You also completely missed the fact that men and boys are also used as cannon fodder in every fucking war going on around the planet! Joined Amnesty International? Fighting against arms manufacturers? Or are you just whining about it?"

      How many issues do I have to take on to satisfy your demands? And why does the plight of girls in Afghanistan have any bearing on whether or not I am treated equally under the Law in Canada? Logic isn't you bigoted supremacists strong point, is it?

      "In other words, I could do YOUR job a lot better than you do. And I wouldn't sound like a whiney, irresponsible, misogynist douchebag when I do it. "

      Foam flecked man hating entitlement princess, on the other hand....

      "Because I identify as a feminist, YOU think I discount other problems in the world, or see the world from one perspective. "

      Actually no, I see you for the hateful evil little hag you are, and note that feminists tend to universally be such creatures. Semantics, I know...

      "Feminism is different movements and philosophies. Most of them are pretty mainstream, like my views. YOUR views on the other hand fit quite accurately into typical misogynist views. You hate women, but you say you just hate feminists. Somehow that makes it acceptable to you and your followers. Well, I'll call you on it: you are misogynist pig. "

      Oh, I don't dispute your views are quite mainstream in Feminism and society in general. But then, this isn't the first time society has been over run with extremist hateful ideologies that seek to marginalize and demonize others.

      But, like those other assholes, eventually people like me show the rest of the world what people like you really are. And then people like you get really fucking stupid, respond, and remove all doubt.

      have a nice day you dumb bitch.

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  4. You actually believe a woman can orgasm WITHOUT a clitoris? Regardless of all your vile, women-hating statements, that one statement alone shows you for the supreme ignoramus you actually are. Having your foreskin removed still allows you to orgasm. You still have sexual pleasure: even men who have had adult circumcisions for health reasons debate whether any sensitivity is lost. But you equate that to the barbaric procedure I outlined for FGM. I understand that neither logic nor empathy, only self interest, rules your psyche.

    This hag is off to have kinky, lovely, orgasm-filled sex with a feminist-loving, foreskin-intact gentleman who will spank me silly. ;)


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  5. Ah, the sensitivity of the 'caring ' sex...

    You gotta love it!

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