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PROBLEMS WITH FEMINISM“We observe here a very important fact that we shall come upon throughout the course of history: abstract rights are not enough to define the actual concrete situation of woman; this depends in large part on her economic role, and frequently abstract liberty and concrete powers vary in inverse ratio.’ DeBeauvoir, THE SECOND SEX, (p. 93) An important caveat: Most of these can only be used against certain types of feminism. They are only answers to certain types of claims, ones which in my opinion constitute the core of feminist argumentation in contemporary value debate. Once again, like the section we just completed, use these arguments modularly and appropriately. 1. Logic is not inherently male. Many feminists shun philosophical forums as irrelevant to and biased against the perspectives of women. They also make the same argument against any counter-perspective, feminist or not, which embraces logical methodology. As the evidence in this section indicates, logic and rationality have been proven by history to be liberating to both men and women; perhaps men more than women, but this is a call for more rationality, not less. 2. Women are not all alike. Gender is like any other somewhat constructed, somewhat natural human trait. Its phenomena vary across the spectrum of political affiliation, religion, culture, race, economic status, geographical location, physic~l condition, sexual orientation, and social standing. A sweeping definition of “woman’ haunts feminism and proves to be biased towards a specific type of woman, most likely the author of your opponent’s evidence. 3. Many women do not believe in patriarchy and distrust feminism. While in many cases it would be irrelevant what “the masses” thought of a the truth of a particular philosophy, but in the case of feminism, as with any liberation philosophy, it is a serious matter that the women feminists see as “victims” often do not perceive themselves to be so. Feminists might accuse these women of “false consciousness,” but that seems a rather arrogant and elitist charge, which is the reason many women are silently opposed to feminism. And regardless of the truth of the theory, without practical application, and without public support, any philosophy of human value is little more than a parlor game we play on the weekends. 4. Feminism undermines democracy. Legal feminists like MacKinnon and Dworkin propose radical redefinition of both freedom of speech and the right to an impartial trial and presumption of innocence. Legal feminists do not believe the benefits of complete freedom outweigh the harms unrestrained men do to women. Legal sanctions are an inevitable characteristic of our society, they argue, so there is nothing wrong with using them. However, conservative laws concerning issues such as what “pomography” actually means have a way of silencing the very alternative views they claim to protect. 5. Changing language will not change society Although we have not mentioned language feminists in the essay, some feminists call for changes in language, ostensibly to eradicate the assumption of men as the superior linguistic gender. It is a rather simplistic argument, and can easily be answered by arguing that language reflects, and in general does not determine, reality. Meanwhile, trying to tell people how to talk undermines democracy. 6. Feminists ignore and exacerbate racial divisions among women. Africana womanism is a unique movement sited in this section which offers a scathing and sound critique of feminism. Africana womanists want to trace their history to souces other than the late 18th Century suffragists who recruited Southern women by warning them that white women must have the vote in order to counter the threat of giving ignorant Blacks the right to vote. Although the charge of racism cannot be leveled against feminists today, feminists are still largely white and upper class, and this colors their concerns in a way which almost completely alienates many Africana women. 7. Patriarchy is secondary to other concerns. Marxism in particular is an effective approach in some circumstances against feminism. Marx argued that the form of economic production and material distribution in society determines the ideological relations, with the dominant classes being those who own the means of production and employ everyone else to work for them. Although Marxists believe strongly in the liberation of women, they also emphasize that such liberation can only occur as the result of a struggle against capitalism, which is necessary to liberate both the men and women of the non-ownership class. 8. Feminism is anti-male. This is not something you need to whine about; the evidence is there, and it is very compelling simply to argue two things: First, that a philosophy which claims exclusion is unfair should not turn around and excluda others; and second, that it is pragmatically disadvantageous to exclude half the worlds population from a struggle for peace, justice and progress. CONCLUSION We began by realizing that much of what feminism says is true. Like other philosophical systems, it makes some genuinely sound observations about the state of society. Perhaps even some of its prescriptions can be shared by everyone. But at the end of the essay, having not compromised that initial admission to the truthfulness of women’s liberation, we have seen that contemporary feminist advocacy is mired in self-glorification, internal and external struggle, squabbles over minor and major points, often refusing to engage in conversation with anyone but one of its various selves. That is no way to liberate anyone. BIBLIOGRAPHYCole, Eve Browning. PHILOSOPHY AND FEMINIST CRITICISM (New York: Paragon House, 1993). Bryson, Valerie. FEMINIST POLITICAL THEORY: AN INTRODUCTION (New York: Paragon House, 1992).
Bedford Publishers, 1994).
Routledge, 1993). Sargisson, Lucy. CONTEMPORARY FEMINISM UTOPIANISM (New York: Routledge, 1996). Klein, Ellen R. FEMINISM UNDER FIRE (Aniherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996). FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY: PROBLEMS, THEORIES AND APPLICATIONS (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1992). Grant, Judith. FUNDAMENTAL FEMINISM: CONTESTING THE CORE CONCEPTS OF FEMINIST ThEORY (New York: Routledge, 1993) Holland, Nancy J. IS WOMEN’S PHILOSOPHY POSSIBLE? (Savage, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1990). Ferguson, Kathy E. THE MAN QUESTION: VISIONS OF SUBJECTIVITY IN FEMINIST THEORY (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993). Humm, Maggie. THE DICTIONARY OF FEMINIST THEORY (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1995). Murphy, Cornelius F. BEYOND FEMINISM: TOWARDS A DIALOGUE ON DIFFERENCE (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1995). Shugar, Dana R SEPARATISM AND WOMEN’S COMMUNITY (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995). McElroy, Wendy. SEXUAL CORRECTNESS: THE GENDER-FEMINIST ATTACK ON WOMEN (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Company, 1996). McCracken, Robert D. FALLACIES OF WOMEN’S LIBERATION (Boulder: Shields Publishing, 1972). Jagger, Alison M. FEMINIST POLITICS AND HUMAN NATURE (Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1988). Directory: uploads uploads -> 587 Return function, r i(X) r i(0) r i(1) r i(2) r i(3) 1 0 2 4 6 Thermal Station, I 2 0 1 5 6 3 0 3 5 6 10 uploads -> Department of science and humanities department of mathematics part-a questions and answers uploads -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? uploads -> For want of a nail uploads -> Ownership Models There are two different types of ownership models uploads -> Police Militarization uploads -> City of rising star regular meting thursday, july 14, 2016 uploads -> Township of winfield uploads -> Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 uploads -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program What We Want Now! Download 5.81 Mb. Share with your friends:
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