Letters to the Editor
Linney Uston
Published Letters: 255 Editor's Choice: 5
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By the way, Broadsheet...
[Read the article: Click here to read more about our annoying love]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...didn't see any comment on this writing professor, Priya Venkatesan, at Dartmouth who is threatening to sue her students for rudely not buying-in to her spiel on eco-feminism.
http://dartlog.net/2008/04/professor-to-sue-students-for.php
http://dartlog.net/2008/04/tdr-interview-priya-venkatesan.php
It's been mentioned in no less than the Wall St. Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120995103004666569.html
GASP! Something negative is being said about a feminist somewhere! Why, she's even bein stereotyped as easily offended and having a less-than-fabulous sense of humor! Come to think of it, why aren't the other blogs of the Sisterhood all over this? I mean, surely there's no truth at all to the idea that large portions of feminism are intolerant of dissenting viewpoints and incapble of handling criticism?
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@Rosenkavalier
[Read the article: Has our reverence for DNA gone too far?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I said something very similar to what that guest speaker said, except I said it tongue-in-cheek, and I was instantly accused of setting-up a straw-man.
I've found that the term "straw-man" is marshalled an awful lot in defense of feminism nowadays... As if obvious inanities like "men want to keep us barefoot and pregnant" and "men want to shackle us to the stove" and "centuries of oppression" aren't total straw-men in of themselves.
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So, Broadsheet...
[Read the article: Cross-dressing in Saudi Arabia?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...Camille Paglia's latest article in Salon (in addition to a few others she's done in the past) refers to some kind of man-bashing impulse which supposedly exists in feminism.
On Broadsheet, that kind of talk is called a "straw-man" and derided as nonsense.
Elsewhere, such younger feminist authors as Jessica Valenti and Jennifer Baumgardner have remarked upon a tendency among feminists to deny (i.e.: LIE about) any kinds of flaws or shortcomings so as to "protect feminism".
These statements, oddly, have never been called straw-men, so therefore I believe them to be true.
So where on earth is Paglia getting this "man-bashing" charge from if it's such a straw-man? And if it's true that feminists have the urge to lie about flaws and failures for the sake of protecting The Cause, why should anyone believe a feminist's denials about the existence of man-bashing within feminism? Isn't that exactly the kind of thing a feminist would feel the urge to lie about?
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He should've called her "sir"
[Read the article: What's so bad about "sweetie," anyway?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Perhaps that would've been better?
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It's been said that talking about "men" on Broadsheet is off-topic...
[Read the article: The monster snoring on the Serta]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...because the rest of Salon is a "dudesheet."
Well, when we have a chance to say "look at how creepy/stupid men are!" the cries of "off topic!/The rest of Salon is a dudesheet!" subside quite a bit.
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@creepo
[Read the article: Boys' crisis? What boys' crisis?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Well, the AAUW was the group that first came-up with the "Girls Crisis" statistics back in the 90s.
Sounds like a really unbiased group, if you ask me. No axes to grind at all...
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Harvey Korman? Wait a minute...
[Read the article: Reproductive rights roundup]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wasn't he a damned MAN? One of the oppressor-patriarchs?
Indeed, wasn't Roe v Wade a decision made by a bunch of damned oppressor-patiarchs on the Supreme Court?
Very VERY oppressive, that patriarchy...
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Yo, TCF
[Read the article: So long, Stepp!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Tracy, seeing as how you're so immensely hip and chic and witty and everything, do you have anything to say about this recent article by Rebecca Walker?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1021293/How-mothers-fanatical-views-tore-apart.html
Here, let me highlight one of the more interesting bits:
Feminism has betrayed an entire generation of women into childlessness. It is devastating.
But far from taking responsibility for any of this, the leaders of the women's movement close ranks against anyone who dares to question them - as I have learned to my cost.
Ungrateful bitch! Criticize the ideology which gives you, Tracy, so much comfort and succor, eh? If she's allowed to get-away with criticizing feminism, it's only a matter of time until you're chained to a stove, barefoot and pregnant!
Come to think of it, Walker sounds an awful lot like Doris Lessing, eh? Remember that clueless old fool who had the nerve to criticize what modern feminism has become? She clearly wasn't as hip and wise and cool as you Broadsheet contributors are.
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2007/10/12/doris_lessing/index.html
Carol Lloyd's response to Lessing? She stuck her fingers in her ears and screamed "LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
So won't you do the same for Walker's article? Pretty please? I'd like to see you start squawking in defense of your precious ideology like the well-trained parrot you are.
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Geraldine Ferraro?
[Read the article: Waiting for the first Madam President]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, well, Geraldine Ferraro happened to suck, by the way.
If you ever read her memoirs of the 1984 election, you'll see that pretty much her sole qualification for the VP candidacy was that she was a woman. Hardly an inspiring figure.
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By the way, Broadsheet...
[Read the article: I have a confession to make ...]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If Hillary Clinton's campaign was stymied by "sexism" as is often claimed, why did she get more votes than John Edwards?
You know, wouldn't she have been weeded-out earlier on?
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So women have all this money but the people marketing to them just don't know it yet?
[Read the article: Why political candidates should be sucking up to women]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wow, those people making money off women sure are stupid for not knowing that women have money!
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Maybe, but you DO realize...
[Read the article: Clinton props of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...that the accusations of "sexism" ruining her campaign are 1 part plausible, 9 parts nonsense, right?
If it's true that sexism prevented her from winning against Obama, wouldn't this also have prevented her from winning in the general election against McCain? If it's a true charge, then it means she was an unelectable candidate anyway.
Making specious accusations of sexism does no favors for anyone.
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Hah! Men sure are awful, aren't they?
[Read the article: "Show me your genitals"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Interesting how this "woman's" blog is keen on including men, but only in a negative context.
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"Wow," said a (male) friend when I told him this theory. "Is all reality television just misogynist?"
[Read the article: How crazy are women on reality television?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Silly "male" friend.
EVERYTHING is misogynyst on Planet Broadsheet!
(By the way-- this "male" friend of yours wasn't gay, was he? I hear those are the only decent men in the world.)
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So just to sum up Malusinka:
[Read the article: Your fuel efficiency is so hot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Using terms for female genitals = derogatory and outrageous.
Using terms for male genitals = derogatory, but fun.
Broadsheet commenters: Same crap, different day.
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Great news
[Read the article: "I now pronounce you wife and wife" ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Marriage is oppressive slavery for women, but now it's not. Married women are going to be miserable drudges, but not these two.
Hm. Trying to keep-up with the feminist Party Line on marriage can be so confusing. So many twists and turns...