Holes In Thoughts: Great Feminism

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Great Feminism

I like real feminists the way I like real conservatives: when they aren't pushy, arrogant and myopic, they have some great ideas. For that matter, most 'idea groups' (religions, political positions, social issue people, etc.) have a point, when they're being rational.

Here is an example of what I would describe as a good feminist article. It doesn't talk much about women, per se; it's about the infantilization of America's men. Here's what they mean:

"The benevolent patriarch of the '50s has been replaced by an adult teenager who spends his time sneaking off to hang out with the boys, eyeing the hot chick over his wife’s shoulder, or buying cool new toys. Like a fourteen-year-old, this guy can’t be trusted with the simplest of domestic tasks, be it cooking dinner for the kids or shopping for groceries."

The implicit feminist concern is that in their haste to wave the women-can-do-anything banner,

"the women's movement has freed men from the straightjacket of traditional machismo, others have blamed it for depriving them of their identity."

In other words, responsible feminists want men to be as responsible, capable and intelligent as they're hoping to become themselves. True feminism isn't a matriarchal fantasy; it's the evening of burdens. I do laundry because I work at home. It just makes more sense. I don't feel emasculated, and she has clean clothes.

I still have to open jars, though.

Labels: feminism, reason

posted by Steve @ 12:17 AM

1 Comments:

At 24/1/08 07:43, Cate said…

Great post! I whole heartedly agree. I'm a feminist, but the sort of feminist that tries not to be pushy, arrogant or myopic. (I'm sad to say they are sometimes hard to come by.)

You're absolutely spot on by saying that responsible feminists just want men to be responsible. And no, you're right, we don't live in hopes that there will one day be some freakish matriarchy in place. :)

-Cate
www.cupcate.com