Thanks ChickieD,
As I said upthread, and have said in many threads here and on BBS, I am critical of traditional gender roles, because I think they hurt everyone and are severely limiting. Toxic masculinity is harmful to everyone, most of all to the men trapped by it and who are killing themselves (and others) in alarming numbers because “boys don’t cry” and “man up” are so emotionally limiting. The gender divide of “boys toys” and “girls toys” is so harmful to kids and need to be addressed and confronted! Pink is not a “girl” colour, blue is not a “boy” colour! Toys and colours are for everyone! Women are not more nurturing by “nature” and men are not naturally “better” leaders. This is all just social conditioning and it can be and should be challenged. All of these are harmful to everyone, and as a feminist, I am critical by anything that boils down to gender essentialism. Because we are not a binary species, we are not pink or blue. We are so much more.
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I’ve experienced a bit of this thinking indirectly in college in the 90’s. Not in relation to trans issues but the same type of unflagging rage. I get that there is a lot for every woman to feel rage about but attacking an even more attacked on group is fucked up and will do nothing to fix the many wrongs women experience everyday.
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Thanks - this is helpful. Despite trying to educate myself, there are gaps in my awareness of fringe thinking. Also, TERFs are fucking sneaky, and I’m seeing them on Twitter & Tumblr convincing queer youth that “queer” has always been a slur and was never reclaimed and that “A” has only ever meant one thing (whether that’s Ace or Ally or Accepting is unclear). Just erasing LGBTQ history.
I have heard of autogynaphilia (it was a theory floated in psychology for awhile, until somone pointed out that trans men and non-binary folx exist) but never as an accepted or mainstream theory of trans psychology and it was always presented to me as “Some people may feel this way about their bodies, but it’s got nothing to do with gender identity.” Which meant that yes, some cis- and trans women may literally become sexually aroused by the possession and idea of their genitals, but that’s not the source of their gender identity or presentation. I hate that a mostly ignored, poorly constructed theory is being used as a blunt instrument of bigotry.
I’m so sorry that you have to be aware of this garbage - I get that trans folx need to be aware of the people and forces who oppose your existence as an active defense, but that’s some fucked up shit to read. It’s like needing to know what MRAs are saying now, so that I have talking points ready. Ugh.
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That is indeed hate-filled.
I had never heard the term gendercritical before, and I appreciate your taking the time and emotional energy to help us understand it.
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Pardon my french, but what a bunch of immature assholes who can’t mind their damn own business.
Thanks for making us aware of this, but now I see why I’d never heard of the term; I avoid reddit like the freakin’ plague.
I don’t claim to completely understand all the nuances of self-sovereign gender identity, but I do advocate that everyone has the same rights and privileges and should be afforded the same modicum of respect for being human, no matter what biological parts they do or do not have.
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Interesting. I reject “Humanism” as a label because it doesn’t do quite enough of a job recognizing the unique experiences of marginalized people. I prefer “intersectional feminism” which is more of a mouthful, but acknowledges the multiple identities and experiences may exist in a single woman. And that’s what I took the topic of this thread to mean: Not “Feminism 101” but for more advanced discussions.
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Besides, “humanism” is something already being claimed by atheist groups some of which are some of the least inclusive and tolerant people going. And I say that as someone who describes themself as atheist.
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I have tell people that I’m an unwashed barbaric blasphemous infidel because it has a better reputation.
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I consider myself a secular humanist even if I’m not necessarily an atheist. I believe most people have an internal compass of right and wrong, and that good comes from within and not from doctrine.
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“Humanism/ist” means different things in different contexts. I basically agree with conceptions of it that I’m hearing here, but I also hear the term used disparagingly, and in ways that I also agree with.
Those I hear accused of being humanist in this sense are those who argue, for instance, that we all have some certain sense of right or wrong, or that we all basically have the same emotions, or that we all experience love or hate or the “need” for revenge in basically the same ways.
To me, “humanism” is often used to describe beliefs in supposedly essential human qualities and attributes, at the expense of attention to and understanding of how experience is always filtered through and shaped by social filters and constructs. A problem that then arises is when people in positions of power (often unwittingly so) assume that their modes of experience are universal, instead of just another kind of, or set of, experiences. They then often proceed (being empowered) to impose, or try to impose, their ways on others.
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Thoughts? Listen to and read the lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA8N0xy3hjE
If nothing else, it’s amazing music.
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Aside from my discomfort at a rich white guy using the N* word, what does this make black women?
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“Woman is the slave to the slave”.
He also did this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp9StQhWGdc
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At that point in his life, John was not pulling punches in his music.
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True…
Same point as this, I’d guess.
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Is this where I admit that I never liked John Lennon much, nor his crappy music?
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Go right ahead, though that strikes me as pretty harsh. “Working Class Hero” is greatness, and I’ve long liked this one.
Also has that great line, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” (And I don’t much care that similar lines appeared earlier.)
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I don’t like him or his music though. I’m specifically separating the man from the music, because I think he was a pretty indefensible human being. As for his music, I might be being a little harsh. I was never that into him, and there are many better artists from the same period IMO, but I wouldn’t say I hate his music, just that I never particularly liked it as a whole.
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