Letters to the Editor

• backlash

  [Read the article: The 9/11 backlash against women]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  As usual when a women writes a book that challenges the usual paradigm of male centric universe and social constructs of the patriarchy - we inevitable see a backlash of responses from "typical feminist blaming men for everything" to "what a bunch of BS, this book was written in a fantasy land"...I'm sure the majority of women do not realize that what they believe to be their "choice" is often just a combination of socially acceptable norms learned through culture and upbringing...It's normal these days for young women to say "I'm not a feminist"...but then when asked about feminist ideals; voting rights for women, economic equality, the right to a safe work environment, etc. they will overwhelmingly agree with these ideals. Feminism right now, I believe is reaching a nexus with the other civil rights and justice movements, hopefully a convergence that may result in a renewed civil rights movement altogether. Anyone who is familiar with the struggles of oppressed people soon begin to realize that the sickness in our culture that breeds hatred of all forms; racism, misogyny, classism, ecological pillaging, genocide and warfare among other devastating forces of oppression are all products of a system of white, male, capitalistic and imperialistic power (and no, this is not about hating men or white culture-this is about freedom from oppression). This is a culture which tends to pit rich against poor, black against white, male against female, environment against industry and so on. Those who benefit from the current arrangement will continue it's promotion and profiteering to the extreme as long as the means justify the end. The phony "war of terror" and "war on drugs" are both a supreme examples of this. Violence among oppressed groups (i.e. black on black crime, self-hatred among women and domestic violence) are just symptoms of the disease and distractions from the source of the real problem, which requires an awakening, a hard self-examination and realization, and hopefully then cooperation among all of us to demand systemic change. Culture is learned - these "societal plagues" are not human nature in the sense that for our own survival we would naturally cooperate and live in harmony with the earth and each other. Our problem is with the system, largely established by a ruling moneyed elite, no different from colonial or imperialistic societies of the not too distant past. Anytime I hear a women crying "militant feminist"! or "she's just bitter cause she can't get a man" whenever a women speaks out about the current social paradigm, I wonder how far that self-hatred will go before it completely dehumanizes that women's own character. Fauldi is merely presenting a snapshot of what many of us can already point out and see everyday, that racism, misogyny, and other forms of hatred are alive and well. There are many aware men and women out there who have come to realize this current climate of racism, sexism and oppression we are currently living with, a modern form of slavery, and those people are brave in speaking out and bringing attention to these crisis to work toward change. I am sometimes surprised by the self-hatred among women who will beat themselves up, for example, over not being "thin enough", or "pretty enough" or enough of any of the other unrealistic or unnatural societal expectations of the "ideal women"...same with men and the new John Wayne that Fauldi mentions. The glorification of the cowboy, and that even the slightist bit of "feminism" shown by him would mean that he is somehow "inferior" (says a lot about how being feminine or female is somehow "inferior" in and of itself) I only hope more women and men start to recognize these social constructs and that the true intent of "feminism" is not about hating men or making everyone the same, but about changing our communities and culture so that we can be rid of all forms of oppression and live freely.

  Permalink Wednesday, October 3, 2007 01:29 AM