Posted on 03/09/2003 1:14:55 PM PST by az4vlad
Feminism's next major crusade is sitting at its feet, ignored.
Sadly, my great dissertation on modern feminism, Youre Adorable When Youre Angry, went unfinished despite the Great Book Writing Fit of the mid-1990s. The title summed up the conclusion; with feminisms important battles long since fought and won, the movement has collapsed onto itself, becoming in the process an odd parody of something that once mattered. Conservatives are often asked what they have against feminism the correct answer is, conservatives dont hate feminism, but they are annoyed by its modern leanings. Whatever its intentions, all it succeeds in doing these days is providing airtime for very angry women who 1) cannot find happiness in anything, 2) feel disenfranchised by life generally (and men specifically) and 3) would have virtually nothing to say if not for misplaced outrage.
The point is well served by Martha Burk, in the throes of her own outrage, directed at Augusta National (home of the upcoming Masters golf tournament), and CBS to a lesser, but still fierce, degree. Burks problem is, there can be no such things as female members at Augusta National; they can play, but they can make no claims to membership. Of course, Augusta cannot be forced to bring women into the fold, it can only be cajoled. Martha Burks particular brand of sweet talking involves arranged boycotts of all tournament sponsors and threatened protests, despite the specter of potential arrests. The controversy has been well handled by Augusta and CBS; they will not bend, which is as it should be.
Augustas right to select its own membership is acknowledged with a wink Augusta National is a distinctly Southern institution, founded and legislatively maintained by a few Good Old Boys, some of whom at some point may have actually said, All right, no women allowed and while were at it, no blacks or Jews, either. (Hopefully the assertion is conceded by the readership, but as I am sure there will come those voices denying it, I say: Read a little more about Augusta National.) The point Martha Burk would most like you to consider is that there is no difference between racism, anti-Semitism and misogyny, but even the three things written together read like an odd new installment of One Of These Things Is Not Like the Others than anything else.
How seriously should one take allegations of misogyny? Well, if you take misogyny at its literal meaning (a hatred and distrust of women), then very seriously. Hatred is for religious fanatics and children, a state of mind so vexing it can only come across as empty headed anti-intellectualism, a blatant insult to reason. However, if by misogyny you mean someone who would prefer to partake in social exercises (say, golf) without a lot of women hanging around, then no. There is a difference between hatred and selective indifference; one of modern feminisms many problems is that it cannot tell there is a difference, therefore it believes that wherever women cannot gain access, a cold blooded hatred thrives.
Meanwhile, honest-to-goodness hatred of women does exist, untouched, in the Arab States, the location troublesome to modern feminism; it would rather badmouth Augusta National than offer concurring opinion on the matter of Arab States, as that sort of speaking out can be easily misunderstood as support for a Republican (and we cannot have that). The Wall Street Journal helpfully prints a column by Kay S. Hymowitz (helpful because its good to be occasionally reminded of such things) entitled The Women Feminists Forgot, briefly outlining feminisms little problem: As the feminists of the Western world take to the streets, there will be no speeches denouncing Saddam Hussein who, in an attempt to garner support from Islamists, accuses female dissidents of adultery and has them stoned to death . [Instead] of seizing the moment to revive an anemic movement by raising their voices against genuine female oppression, they have given the ultimate illustration of their preference for partisan politics and smug resentments over principles.
Feminism could struggle from irrelevance by wondering loudly what the administration expects the next Iraqi government to do when Hussein is conquered, and when, as Hymowitz details, young women are murdered because they have held hands with or kissed a boy or, worse yet, because they have been raped. If an unsatisfactory answer is given (and there is really only one satisfactory answer: that woman are human beings, and will be afforded the right to exist with as much freedom as men are allowed), then there is nothing unreasonable is saying the administration is offering the wrong answer to what is a very simple question. Augusta National is a pointless crusade, especially when women a world away are much more deserving of the effort, most especially when those who have anointed themselves the protestors of all females will say nothing.
That having been said, one of the keys to his power has been the legal equality of women in Iraq, as opposed to SA or the Gulf states.
Sure, they have an equal right to be tortured-but there are no burqas, no veils, and women are doctors and teachers, appear on TV, and (as long as they are not political) have a much better life than they do elsewhere in the Arab-Persian world.
When I was in High School the saying was:
"Do you know how to avoid being raped?"
"Relax and enjoy it."
That is what the Feminists are saying.
However the article fails to point out that Muslim women are a fairly content bunch left alone to deal with their culture as they know it. Just this past week Charlotte Beers, our new undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, more or less washed her hands of trying to sell America to the worlds Muslims and Arabs, she gets both praise and pans for her efforts.
Aside from being stoned to death for whatever, do Americans realize that Muslim women, once in their homes and behind closed doors the burkas come off and other attire is worn, sometimes even western. That the women have precious little equality or quality on the city streets, they are the rulers of their homes, and who are we to tell them to look up to someone like Martha Burke. Only in industrialized countries do the women demand equal everything and then only a small percentage of them; 30% of females do in America, the rest of us non-feminists ( but damn fine women we are) seem to do splendidly in this mans world and that is because we are Really Women and we mostly like men and enjoy their company.
Ergo, Martha Burke and her silly irrelevant sophomoric followers just might want to take up another line of work.
Charlotte Beers tried and did some good introducing things like education to the masses but until their countries are run by the Rule Of Law and not dictators or other repressive governments, they havent got a chance at a true democracy or freedom...as for Martha, golf courses seem far more important than Rule of Law, no matter to whom the laws apply.............
hmmmm.
We're all francophiles now.
"Do you know how to avoid being raped?"
"Relax and enjoy it."
Was this at an all-male boarding school?
Let these ferocious amazons duke it out until the casualties of the Lesbian Legion add up to the number of casualties suffered by your much-maligned race and sex (btw,"Gender" is a grammatical term, the use of which has been appropriated by the left. Sort of like "Gay") in all our wars combined. Should take about 30 days, but I would insist on verifying the body count. At that point, I would recommend that some of the armed and organized fellows then step in, but in a very nice way, of course.
I hope you will see your way clear to endorsing this compromise. I wouldn't want your children to think you were politically incorrect.
You must be very young. You have an idea of "equality" that is totally addled by the modern feminists crusades for things like women at Augusta, Title IX, and whatever.
It really hasn't been that long since women in this country were barred from many jobs, couldn't get credit or even bank accounts without a male co-signer, and couldn't find housing on their own except in women's boarding houses.
You can't imagine how limiting life like that is, but trust me, you wouldn't want to live it. Women in third world countries still have to live like that.
Martha Burke is a silly twit; but so are you. There's more to equality than burkas and membership at Augusta.
You mean "dyke" it out don't you?!
Like the Democratic Party, NOW, is going tit's up under the leadership of the Clintons.
LOL, priceless...and I agree 100%. Today's "feminists" are so dedicated to forcing their way into golf clubs, etc. that they've ignored or forgotten the real purpose of the feminist movement - the elevation of women from the status of chattle.
For instance, on the say-so of a male relative, a woman in the United States, not so many years ago, could be incarcerated indefinitely in a mental institution. She had no defense, no rights. Her children and her inheritance would be taken from her, and she would be denied any opportunity to dispute charges leveled against her.
In America, we women enjoy the efforts and sacrifices of our ancestral mothers. Today's battle is not against Augusta National (who gives a rat's rump if women are allowed or not!?), but against forces that continue to degrade, injure, maime and murder women globally.
I will never forget the image of the moslem woman kneeling at the feet of a man as he blew her brains out. Her crime? Possibly the wind pushed her burqua aside for an instant and an ankle was revealed, or perhaps she laughed at the wrong moment, or maybe she went outside her home without a male escort...whatever the reason, you can be certain the infraction was insignificant.
This is the real war that feminists should be waging.
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