Hundreds respond with outrage and vehemence at the ill-worded and hence misunderstood (but not ill-intended, as later clarified by the company spokesperson) publicity stunt by the international ice-cream vendor Haagen-Dazs.
Incident B:
Lawrence Summers hounded out of Harvard University because of a statement commenting on whether some intellectual differences between men and women were inherent or due to socialization.
And the following remarkable passages from Industrial Society and Its Future by Theodore Kaczynski:
11. When someone interprets as derogatory almost anything that is said about him (or about groups with whom he identifies) we conclude that he has inferiority feelings or low self-esteem. This tendency is pronounced among minority rights advocates, whether or not they belong to the minority groups whose rights they defend. They are hypersensitive about the words used to designate minorities. The terms "negro," "oriental," "handicapped" or "chick" for an African, an Asian, a disabled person or a woman originally had no derogatory connotation. "Broad" and "chick" were merely the feminine equivalents of "guy," "dude" or "fellow." The negative connotations have been attached to these terms by the activists themselves. Some animal rights advocates have gone so far as to reject the word "pet" and insist on its replacement by "animal companion." Leftist anthropologists go to great lengths to avoid saying anything about primitive peoples that could conceivably be interpreted as negative. They want to replace the word "primitive" by "nonliterate." They seem almost paranoid about anything that might suggest that any primitive culture is inferior to our own. (We do not mean to imply that primitive cultures ARE inferior to ours. We merely point out the hypersensitivity of leftish anthropologists.)
...
14. Feminists are desperately anxious to prove that women are as strong as capable as men. Clearly they are nagged by a fear that women may NOT be as strong and as capable as men.
9 comments:
So here I go...
"14. Feminists are desperately anxious to prove that women are as strong as capable as men. Clearly they are nagged by a fear that women may NOT be as strong and as capable as men."
I disagree. In modern society, most women including feminists are not anxious to prove their physical strength. On the contrary, a masculine woman may want to hide her muscles as it goes against the idea of feminity in today's world. But when it comes to intellectual capabilities, it is different. This is because being intellectually less previleged(for both men and women) is looked down upon, similar to masculinity in a woman. This is less to do with the facts or how she sees it(whether a woman actually feels inferior/superior - physically or intellectually) than the socially acceptable criteria which dominates the mind of most people including her own.
Hi Susan:
I agree with you that social valuation of intellectual ability is a factor. But wouldn't you agree that the desire that women should be considered equal or better is a point of anxiety and vehemence in many feminists? Many a feminist has almost a paranoid sensibility about any hint of unfairness (say, in language) and a visceral reaction to what they perceive as a patriarchal male etc.
Hi Harman,
I do not disagree with the reactions of the so called "feminists" (or many women) to anything that might have a hint of gender discrimination. But the reason for such reactions quoted in this post may not be the primary one.
Greetings, Harmanjit
Perhaps you meant feminist activists in the post. This kind of activism is a political statement and perhaps all the noise is made because lack of it is seen as passive acceptance of discriminatory remarks/action ( made here in public domain). Yes, you correct that it needs to be debated if kind of activism is really needed or is effective etc? Sometimes too much of protest is counter-productive and it because just a noise, a nuisance.
Feminism itself proves that we (women) think we are not equal else we will not even think about equality.
Asking for reservation is a stamp that we admit we are weak. As a women, I feel there should be no reservation for women, no seats reserved for us as we are just same as other human beings.
@Anonymous: I actually think women are in many ways disempowered in various cultures, especially in the east. So reservation might be an attempt (though I am no judge of its efficacy) to introduce a head-start, as it were.
Another example:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8298840.stm
I don't think one can generalize that for all feminists. Some may be insecure individuals, and others not. One can see ample instances of women around who are more competent than men (my classes have always been full of them), and are aware of being competent. Feminism as a movement to try and balance the power equation is quite justified, which is overwhelmingly tilted against women. One can even understand women being insecure about their abilities, given the millenia society has relegated them to the position of inferior beings.
Hi Pankaj, you are right that one cannot generalize. I was not making a comment about feminists, however, (that was just an example), but about touchiness, which is a sign of insecurity.
Post a Comment