common sense?

[phamos]

I am amused. When I took my "Gender and Human Rights" class, I felt like a traitor to the feminist cause because I was too sex-positive. But when I read most third-wave feminist stuff (or what passes for it these days -- I think we might be onto the fourth wave by now) I feel like a crotchety old Republican. I just can't win.

Comments

[this-monograph.livejournal.com]

okay, i finally went and read that salon article, so now i know a little more about where you're coming from. and btw - i agree with what you're talking about in your last reply.

i think there are two things going on here:
1) there's something about valenti's statements in that interview that make me feel like she's peddling a pop culture feminism. i mean, i do think it's important to make feminism easier to digest and more available to all types of women (and men). at the same time, isn't this why we're in the boat we're in now, where feminism is essentially so deradicalized that nothing gets done and we're trapped debating whether some women, especially celebrities, are feminist icons or whores? why aren't we out there demanding equal pay, demanding reproductive rights, demanding stiffer penalities for rapists or other sex offenders OR alternately, changing the culture to ostricize them? where is the radical politics!? personally, i'd like to see radical feminism and postmodernism work together for good and not evil, but that's just me.

2) i agree with valenti that there are women who won't admit to being feminists or buy into stereotypes about feminists and that bothers me. i've encountered that a lot on my campus and i think it's sad because it is often mired in homophobia more than anything. i think, to a certain extent, we have to redefine feminism, but not at the cost of recreating a lily-white, straight feminism of the 1970s. there has to be a better way. i haven't read valenti's book, but i'd like to, just to see how she proposes we do this. i agree with her that it's vital... but i'm just scared that myth-busting always comes at the cost of marginalizing other women just to prove that not all feminists are lesbians.

i also enjoy discussing these things with you. i think these issues are way, way complex and i don't propose to have all the answers. i think feminism will always be a contested ground, as long as american feminists view themselves as the epicenter of women's movements. we need a non-essentialist, postmodern, transnational movement and we need to link our struggles to those of women all over the world. again, just my three cents. :)