Wednesday, January 30, 2019

The misuse of feminist argot

This DU poster exemplifies why polls consistently indicate that most people -- including most women -- do not want to be labeled "feminist."
Until yesterday I had no idea who this Schultz guy was. Today I saw on the CNN print out (what do they call that stuff that isn't the "crawl" cuz it does't move), that he said Elizabeth Warren's idea of a tax on the very wealthy was "ridiculous" and she knows it will never pass. Sounded like man-splaining to me. Made me furious...
"Sounded like man-splaining to me"? No.

Disagreement is not "man-splaining." Even if Schultz had said something truly odious, there's a difference saying something odious and mansplaining.

Like most rational Americans, I agree with what are traditionally considered the basic tenets of feminism -- equal opportunity, equal pay, support for Planned Parenthood and so forth. The woman who shares my life will testify that I have always treated her with respect throughout the twenty years we have been together. She is the person I most admire. If she literally stabbed me in the back, I would still count the day I met her as the most fortunate of my life.

My problem is not with feminism per se. My problem is with lazy thinkers (of both sexes) who use cliches and catch-phrases as all-purpose argument-stoppers.

Feminism, one of the most reasonable "isms" ever devised, has been rendered loathsome in the public mind due to the behavior of a small group of domineering women. Yes, I used the D word, and I will not apologize for doing so. I suspect that domineering women -- like domineering men -- are secretly very insecure. Such women believe that they deserve to prevail in any given argument, even though they inwardly fear that they lack the eloquence to state their case persuasively. Thus, they pretend to be the victim of a sexist insult if a man dares to say "I don't agree" or "I don't think you have your facts straight." This tactic allows them to shirk the intellectual labor of arguing well.

If you are a woman and you advocate a position -- on any subject -- contrary to mine, I will listen politely and then state my counter-argument. Doing so is actually a gesture of respect, as any truly secure woman will understand. If you have a right to be heard, then so do I.

I refuse to be cowed into silence simply because a woman trots out a piece of trendy argot.

To those who hope to prove me wrong by switching the subject: No, this post is not about Warren's tax idea. As it happens, I love Warren and would be overjoyed to vote for her. My initial reaction to this Schultz fellow was...well, not exactly revulsion, but somewhere in that neighborhood.

This post is not about taxes. It's about what the title says it's about: The misuse of feminist argot.

1 comment:

Alessandro Machi said...

Warren would make a horrible Presidential Candidate. Her mission in life is to corral anyone who is a victim or thinks they are a victim into a lobbying group; while this mission has merit, it doesn't work on a Presidential Level if the victims are seen just as protestors.

Warren strikes me as someone who knows wrong she sees it, but if it came to actually creating an economy would find herself flip flopping on many issues she previously railed against.