tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post7469785219094055357..comments2024-03-26T06:17:49.527-07:00Comments on Had Enough Therapy?: What Now for Feminism?Stuart Schneidermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12784043736879991769noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-15910137713436025962013-03-08T06:11:12.685-08:002013-03-08T06:11:12.685-08:00Dennis: Just read your comment after posting mine....Dennis: Just read your comment after posting mine. Spot on.<br /><br />TipAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-49263997186225410762013-03-08T06:09:19.209-08:002013-03-08T06:09:19.209-08:00n.n: Exactly what I'm saying. It diminishes t...n.n: Exactly what I'm saying. It diminishes the contributions of the vast majority of women. Instead, it is meant to draw attention to the minority of wealthy, powerful and influential women. It is meant to say that those who are all-in on their career are making the "right" choice about how to lead their life, and those choosing traditional roles are medieval, un-chic, unintelligent and slaves to their men. <br /><br />It is prejudice masquerading as sophistication. I'll leave it to you to consider the motives, but it certainly has nothing to do with female solidarity. It's a demonstration of elitism by rich and powerful women who have chosen career above all else... and with women, that's a clear minority. It's morphed into self-congratulatory snobbery. <br /><br />Feminism is a failure as a philosophy because it seeks to marginalize the male as some kind of brute, opponent and oppressor. It is inherently combative, and such ideologies always compound existing pain and create little long-term value, principally because it is a reaction, not a thoughtful response or worthy way forward. <br /><br />Feminism assumes that woman, by virtue of immutable characteristics, is somehow superior or needs to be celebrated. This is juvenile, shallow and silly, similar to machismo.<br /><br />I love it when I hear a man say "I'm a feminist." Has such a man ever stopped his self-congratulation long enough to consider what he's actually saying? It's a statement of self-loathing. Therefore, in the converse, feminism is all about loathing. Perhaps self-loathing, but mostly loathing the "other," which is men. <br /><br />This is all deductive scapegoating, explaining disproportionate female career success through the myth of some cabal of phallic oppressors -- brutes united to keep woman "in her place" using their most dreaded super-weapon: "The Glass Ceiling." So the feminists counter by marginalizing domesticity and the support roles most women find value in. This is an essential move, principally because the value of such traditional roles and positions is self-evident. So, to combat this scourge, the pandering news media idealizes the female president, chairwoman and CEO as heroine, hiding any downside. She's completely in control of her destiny. It's the theme of article after article after article, over and over again.<br /><br />Feminism is fundamentally about mythical superiority and rank victimization. It is a DENIAL of power, not an expression of power. It is endless confrontation used to fuel a false, euphoric sisterhood of "us-versus-them." Nothing good ever comes from such stands, only anger, loneliness, rage, and fear... which feeds still more feminism. How boring.<br /><br />This critique does nothing to diminish the career-minded or domestic woman. She is free to choose the path she thinks is best. What is bankrupt is the fanciful caricature of some wonder woman as the champion of a divisive and unnecessary struggle. In the big picture, it is women who suffer most from this vaunted ideal. We hear all about the women who suffer insecurity from the idealized body images they glean from the covers of Cosmo, Us and Self. How about those who suffer smallness after reading the endless parade of idealized career and life biopics of "truly great women" in BusinessWeek, Time and People? It's no different. I'm not saying "This must stop!" I am merely pointing out that one is lamented while the other is lauded, amidst the reigning mantra was "self-esteem." How's it going? <br /><br />TipAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-15595414421870669352013-03-08T05:52:06.878-08:002013-03-08T05:52:06.878-08:00n.n,
It is why most of us make a clear distinctio...n.n,<br /><br />It is why most of us make a clear distinction between women and feminists. Early on feminism represented the interests of women, but that changed years ago. As I have stated before there seems to be an iron law of issue oriented groups. They all start out addressing an issue/problem that society needs to address/solve then the radicals take control and those who started the movement cannot recognize their own movement.<br />The life cycle of each issue oriented movement seems to be the same. Inception, movement towards acceptance by society, radical corruption, movement away from identification as members of the movement, and then marginalization which comes at the height of the movement's power.<br />One can begin to notice this happening to Obama. There is, of course, the over stepping of the bounds of what made one popular and what will be accepted by most people. Once a wound is inflicted those who see a chance for power, no matter the party, et al, especially if a large number of people have been "thrown under the bus," will rush to fill the void.<br />One has to watch out for the beginnings of delusions of grandeur and believe one is smarter, wiser, more capable and better than others. That includes people, genders, parties, et al.Dennishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14962996070458991675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-52593483243032045852013-03-07T13:37:13.570-08:002013-03-07T13:37:13.570-08:00Anonymous:
And that is where feminism fails. It&...Anonymous:<br /><br />And that is where feminism fails. It's the same corruption suffered by individuals who, for example, discriminated by skin color.n.nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252447117532342957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-44949757007666558192013-03-06T21:07:51.943-08:002013-03-06T21:07:51.943-08:00I just wrote a lengthy comment, only to have it va...I just wrote a lengthy comment, only to have it vanish before I could publish it. Drat.<br /><br />Here was the point: look up Apple's "Think Different" campaign:<br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_different<br /><br />Apple is the cultural standard of cool. <br /><br />Tell many how many of the featured women (there were 6 out of 25 total) were married, stayed married, and had children (and the age they bore said children).<br /><br />These women go back a century. Check it out. Then tell me how they compare to the men, in terms of enduring cultural impact.<br /><br />Why is this? It's obvious, and it's important... and absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Women make the world go 'round. Feminism is a spectral concept, one ranging from equality to opportunity. Our silly media-driven conversations today diminish (and often trivialize) the critical contributions women make to society.<br /><br />Sad.<br /><br />TipAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-83305173805667585502013-03-06T19:08:35.917-08:002013-03-06T19:08:35.917-08:00Do other simian breeds exhibit a similar obsession...Do other simian breeds exhibit a similar obsession with dysfunctional behavior, or is it just their ancestral derivatives -- a nominally humanoid creature -- that are obsessed with material, physical, and ego gratification? Who choose to delay procreation till their bodies have decayed, or fearing their mellow will be harshed choose to murder (typically, through a hired assassin) their offspring. While others yet choose a couplet form of union, the prototype of evolutionary dysfunction.<br /><br />It's a tragic irony that women, and men, who maintain a faith in evolutionary origin, reject the principles of evolution as inconvenient.<br /><br />This is the paradox of civilization engendered by dissociation of risk: dysfunctional convergence.<br /><br />Oh, well. Just another civilization in a long line of civilizations incapable of acting reasonably and with reason, which suffered progressive and, ultimately, conclusive corruption.<br /><br />I think humans are too intelligent, and egoistic, to survive. Perhaps it's time for the periodic "reset."n.nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252447117532342957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-59818407037051771652013-03-06T19:06:26.659-08:002013-03-06T19:06:26.659-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.n.nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252447117532342957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-21670248879009528582013-03-06T18:57:01.530-08:002013-03-06T18:57:01.530-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.n.nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252447117532342957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-70779483319333941282013-03-06T18:54:49.540-08:002013-03-06T18:54:49.540-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.n.nhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04252447117532342957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-17438599585668330822013-03-06T17:40:16.491-08:002013-03-06T17:40:16.491-08:00"Another is that women who outcompete boys in..."Another is that women who outcompete boys in every way<br /> <br />might not find that such success <br />does not lead <br /><br />to the kind of happiness that they had been promised." I think there's an extra "not" in the middle two lines.<br /><br />"(I used to think it was sexist to assume that women didn’t know their fertility waned as they aged, but in fact studies show that women vastly underestimate how much age affects their ability to conceive.)" Might one think that perhaps they have been told that isn't true, or that the trail has been brushed (old Western movie bit) to obscure the tracks?Sam L.https://www.blogger.com/profile/00996809377798862214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-91320661916734059232013-03-06T15:27:41.547-08:002013-03-06T15:27:41.547-08:00As a guy who works around a lot of women (all ages...As a guy who works around a lot of women (all ages), I can tell you right now that feminism is alive and well. Many of these women will say they aren't feminists, but their actions state otherwise.<br />The word "feminism" may be bad but it would be a mistake to assume that it's gone away or is in danger of going away.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-60512503812227912362013-03-06T10:01:41.626-08:002013-03-06T10:01:41.626-08:00Dear God. Another post about "feminism."...Dear God. Another post about "feminism." Just a few more, and you will have officially written more about young women and their careers than you will have written about your own. Seems a bit odd. Perhaps that's a symptom of why women seem to be moving ahead in their careers while men are lagging behind in theirs.<br /><br />Given the amount of time you spend trolling the internet eavesdropping on "feminist" conversations, blogging about "feminists," thinking about "feminists," watching "Girls", keeping track of Hillary Clinton's career, and obsessing about "female executives," I really hope for your sake feminism finds SOME PLACE to go, because what on earth would you do without it????Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078379512095504946.post-37704398497890474982013-03-06T08:20:09.680-08:002013-03-06T08:20:09.680-08:00"If you wait until you’re a high-ranking exec..."If you wait until you’re a high-ranking exec in your late 30s or early 40s to have kids—like CEOs and hot-button targets Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg did—you get to call the shots about your maternity leave"<br /><br />"Calling the shorts" is realistic only in a very limited way. If someone is still at the individual contributor level, it MAY be feasible for her to take a year off and come back to basically the same position...if, say, she's one of 7 sales reps in a region. But if she's a CEO, it's most unlikely that she can go away for a year and come back as CEO of the same company.<br /><br />David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.com