History of Feminism
Related: About this forumThe Terrible Bargain We Have Regretfully Struck
My mistrust is not, as one might expect, primarily a result of the violent acts done on my body, nor the vicious humiliations done to my dignity. It is, instead, born of the multitude of mundane betrayals that mark my every relationship with a manthe casual rape joke, the use of a female slur, the careless demonization of the feminine in everyday conversation, the accusations of overreaction, the eyerolling and exasperated sighs in response to polite requests to please not use misogynist epithets in my presence or to please use non-gendered language ("humankind" .
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There are the persistent, tiresome pronouncements of similitude between men's and women's experiences, the belligerent insistence that handsome men are objectified by women, too! that women pinch men's butts sometimes, too! that men are expected to look a certain way at work, too! that women rape, too! and other equivalencies that conveniently and stupidly ignore institutional inequities that mean X rarely equals Y. And there are the long-suffering groans that meet any attempt to contextualize sexism and refute the idea that such indignities, though grim they all may be, are not necessarily equally oppressive.
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These things, they are not the habits of deliberately, connivingly cruel men. They are, in fact, the habits of the men in this world I love quite a lot.
All of whom have given me reason to mistrust them, to use my distrust as a self-protection mechanism, as an essential tool to get through every day, because I never know when I might next get knocked off-kilter with something that puts me in the position, once again, of choosing between my dignity and the serenity of our relationship.
Swallow shit, or ruin the entire afternoon?
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There are men who will read this post and think, huffily, dismissively, that a person of color could write a post very much like this one about white people, about me. That's absolutely right. So could a lesbian, a gay man, a bisexual, an asexual. So could a trans or intersex person (which hardly makes a comprehensive list). I'm okay with that. I don't feel hated. I feel mistrustedand I understand it; I respect it. It means, for me, I must be vigilant, must make myself trustworthy. Every day.
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http://www.shakesville.com/2009/08/terrible-bargain-we-have-regretfully.html
An oldie but a goodie.
pitbullgirl1965
(564 posts)This was a couple of months after the infamous "all in" post. I was finally banned when I left a blistering and soon to be deleted but I have a screen shot) regarding her (and the mods) abusive, bullying behavior.
redqueen
(115,101 posts)Just like everywhere else, there is hit and miss, good and bad.
IMO too many feminists make the mistake of expecting perfection from other feminists.
pitbullgirl1965
(564 posts)and I'm sorry if I sounded like a concern troll. :/ I don't expect perfection, and yes, I agree that many feminists do, I just wanted to give you a heads up. It is a great post! She has a way with words.
redqueen
(115,101 posts)I am now though. Sorry if I was brusque. I pick my battles most places but on this site I've become less tolerant due to the level of trolling we get here.
thucythucy
(8,037 posts)I check into DU this evening and in the first 30 seconds I find two excellent posts put up by you.
You are a real community resource at this place, and please don't ever forget it!