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Asehpe

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Monday, August 4, 2008 09:19 AM
Original article: Feminism via soap opera?

@postnoodz

Thanks for your kind words. Indeed, I see why you call them the Angry Men, and I must admit if everybody were like them, I might end up being a feminist myself (which I'm not, as I said in my answer to Parson Jim, because feminism now seems to have too many schools of thoughts, some with ideas I cannot agree with; I prefer to see myself as an anti-stereotype humanist :-) However, I must also say I have some idea of where their anger is coming from; when I first read some works by McKinnon, especially her last one (Are women human?), I was myself sometimes enraged by her broad generalizations and fantasy-world claims. If all feminists were like her, I might end up sounding pretty much like Parson Jim or MMM (jee-zus!).

Maybe I'm naive, but I believe that, behind the rage, there's some real concern that the enraged person is not addressing. So I get the impression that these Angry Men actually had some bad experience at some point. (They -- especially MMM -- seem to have at least been exposed to a lot of feminist rhetorics, since they tend to regurgitate it; about MMM, I even wondered if he isn't an ex-Women studies undergraduate who is revolting against some female teacher who happened to be a real bitch. Another poster -- Bigguns -- suggested once that it might stem from real hurt in some bad experience with a feminist.)

If this is the case, maybe actually talking to them will lead to some improvement. Some people say love is wasted on anger; others say that it cures anger. I wonder what rational arguments and a neutral, even friendly, tone might do. I don't know, it might also not work. But why not try? If it doesn't work, at some point I'll just stop.

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