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New York, 2:24 AM
Thu Nov 26
64 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/09/09
Zing! #ariellevy
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11/09/09
i always greatly, greatly resent the notion that just because somebody is a woman, and i'm a woman, i should automatically jump on her side, take up her banner. i don't and, as penny says below, i would rather look up to a feminist man than sarah palin. or many other women in power who are just as despicable as any other human. genitalia alone doesn't earn my loyalty to somebody's point of view.
the whole idea of female-only womyn's worlds utopia is so reactionary and without fact. a quick review of history through the ages reveals that women who've had power quickly became as greedy, insane and despotic as any other man in the same situation.
it's a human condition. #ariellevy
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11/09/09
i take issue with the phrasing of "calm concern". it seems to imply that getting angry or riled up (showing crazy female emotions) at gender inequality is somehow bad.
anyone else feel like this is very subtle pandering? it calls to mind a kind of passivity that makes me uncomfortable. #ariellevy
11/09/09
It's a standard that pretty much invalidates any argument made by a person of color against racism, by a woman against sexism, by a gay man or woman against homophobia, etc. Of course it's going to be hard for us to be calm and dispassionate about this stuff - it's our lives! Yet there are all too many who would use that as evidence that we are unreliable witnesses in our own defense, that we lack "objectivity" about the world, and therefore we are too be dismissed as hysterical, emotional, uppity, whatever.
Basically, it's bullshit. #ariellevy
11/09/09
This is a vastly revisionist statement. Sure some movements thought this; but others would articulate the goal as destabilizing traditional family arrangements.
I mean, Levy is writing in support of radicalism here; it's weird to claim that this is actually a critique of radical women's movements. #ariellevy
11/09/09
This is a fair point. I do want to be clear that my thoughts about womyn's lands/political lesbiansim aren't meant as an extension of Levy's argument; they're my own. And there were definitely lots of reasons behind both these movements that weren't about women's exceptionalism (protest against rape and domestic violence, for one). And I don't mean to say that feminists brought arguments like Sanchez's on themselves. BUT I do think that arguments about exceptionalism have existed and do exist on both the right and left, and that they can create problems for feminism. #ariellevy
11/09/09
I mean, I'm always accused of believing in female exceptionalism, because I think women are human. Riddle me that one. :) #ariellevy
11/09/09
This is so well put. I'm gonna put it in my toolbox and pull it out when my mom starts in with the palin-love. #ariellevy
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11/09/09
I don't want my (yet to be born, but whatever) girls looking up to a woman who has both thumbs on women's/human rights. I would rather they look up to a feminist man.
Women don't own feminism. I don't want to count on my sex to make all of the changes I want to see in the world, I expect it from everyone. #ariellevy
11/09/09
11/09/09
We shouldn't encourage our children to support women just because they happen to be women, though I think it's a good opportunity for a lesson: "See, Kiddo, this woman is doing a really cool thing--running for office--and we can admire that without voting in favor of policies we disagree with." #ariellevy
11/09/09
One day hopefully everyone will simply be a humanist.
*I apologize if there are things that are part of the humanist manifesto that would counteract the sentiment* #ariellevy
11/09/09
agreed. relegating feminism to a niche audience of like-minded females robs it of its larger message~~ equality for all. even those humans we might not personally like! *cough* sarah palin *cough* #ariellevy
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11/09/09
I don't recognise any of Sarah Palin's politics in this sentence. #ariellevy
11/09/09
oh but you see, it's her own personal politics~~it's how she's faring in the world. that's her concern. #ariellevy
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09/02/09
09/02/09
Therefore, in response, I demand a genetic test of Usain Bolt to prove he doesn't have ladyparts. I chose to believe his awesomeness is because he's a girl. Michael Phelps, too.
09/02/09
Moreover, of course this is about performance, not appearance. Why should the other competitors care if a male-looking "female" is competiting but failing? You only care about people cheating when they win, for the same reason. If they're losing, they're not hurting anyone.