case: (Default)
Case ([personal profile] case) wrote in [community profile] fandomsecrets2012-07-01 03:19 pm

[ SECRET POST #2007 ]


⌈ Secret Post #2007 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 06 pages, 111 secrets from Secret Submission Post #287.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ], [ 1 - text secret ], [ 1 - empty image ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
yeahscience: (Default)

[personal profile] yeahscience 2012-07-02 10:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Except... words mean things? The term "radical feminist" is often misused to mean "extreme feminist," but that's not actually what it was coined to mean. It refers to a specific movement within the greater umbrella of feminism itself.
stainless: Megatron and Starscream standing in wreckage, reads ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US (Default)

[personal profile] stainless 2012-07-03 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
I am not saying "radical feminist" means "extreme feminist." "Radical" comes from the Latin word "radix," meaning "root"; most radical feminists I have met see themselves as "going to" or "getting to" the root of sexism. "The root," as they analyze it, is patriarchy/male privilege -- a system that valorizes men and demeans women. There's a Marxist tinge to all this; if you look at MacKinnon she talks a lot about Engels. I'm not sure how Marx and Engels differ, but the influence is strong.

A commenter above claimed that a "radical feminist" is anyone who believes there is a patriarchy, though. And I don't quite agree with that. I think there's a bit more to radical feminism than just thinking the playing field is uneven. I'm not going to try to define it, as it's been about ten years since I was seriously involved and it was contentious even then. But I will say that the radical feminists I've known tended to have clusters of opinions on certain things. Most were anti-pornography and believed sex work is inherently demeaning to women (some called the thing they were fighting "pornstitution," but not all, and I don't want to impute that to everyone as I think the two issues can't be so easily conflated and I don't want to attack any straw women here!) Many were suspicious of "sex positive" feminists and many were either anti-BDSM or at least very leery of kink, concerned that it involved internalizing oppression (especially given that there's a lot of female submission to men.) And, to their shame, many radical feminists I've spoken to are transphobic. They analyze gender as something imposed from without - a system deprivileging what is deemed female - so they don't believe that gender is a matter of identity. Many bristle at the term "cisgender" and feel that trans people, especially trans women who they see as men, are "co-opting" feminism in the same way that men often try to co-opt women's space.

My other deep disagreement with radical feminists as I have known them is the focus on false consciousness or internalized misogyny. I saw this idea leveled at people as a weapon, and it really bothered me. I certainly think that it's good to consider our preferences, desires, thoughts, and situation carefully, especially when there may be pernicious influences. But all too often I saw that used in a way that deeply bogged people down in doubt and shame. So I tend to be uncomfortable with people who "get to the root" -- it's very easy to fall prey to the temptation of saying that what you've found at "the root" conflicts with the identity, self-conception, wants, needs, etc. of someone whose opinions you dislike.

That doesn't make all radical feminists guilty of the above things. Far from it. And even those who are or have been guilty of those things have done a lot for women. I don't think we as a culture would be anywhere near as aware of domestic violence as we are if not for people like Dworkin and MacKinnon, as deeply as I disagree with them. And I may be misrecalling this as it's been many years, but I believe Audre Lorde identified as a radical feminist as well -- and any movement that had Audre Lorde in it can't have been a total loss!

Anyway, I hope I've satisfied you that I'm aware that "words mean things," even if we deeply disagree about the value or even the meaning of radical feminism in the present day. I'd appreciate some acknowledgment that my own words "mean things," too.
yeahscience: (Default)

[personal profile] yeahscience 2012-07-03 12:50 am (UTC)(link)
That was actually me on a different journal, and I was responding to a comment that was equating radical feminism with extremism. I admit, however, to watering down the definition for the sake of a quick comment.
stainless: Megatron and Starscream standing in wreckage, reads ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US (Default)

[personal profile] stainless 2012-07-03 01:03 am (UTC)(link)
If you're talking about my comment, I didn't equate radical feminism with extremism. I said some people might not want to be associated with the extremism of some radical feminists.
yeahscience: (Default)

[personal profile] yeahscience 2012-07-03 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
No, I'm saying I'm also [personal profile] thoreal. I comment with RP journals on DW.
stainless: Megatron and Starscream standing in wreckage, reads ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US (Default)

[personal profile] stainless 2012-07-03 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
Okay. Sorry!