Monday, February 26, 2007

Dude looks like a feminist

One of the better apologias for plain ol' good ol' fashioned feminism that I've seen lately is, yep, by a may-un: "A Dudely Introduction to Feminism." Starts with a nice takedown of the ever-charming Rush Limbaugh and goes on from there.


And that’s enough time spent with Rush. So now that we’ve pointed out what feminism isn’t, just what is it?

I’ll take you on a mercifully brief whirlwind tour of my exposure to it in just four steps, that will leave you with enough information to do some real research.

The first step, a general definition and description. Like any movement or philosophy there are differing ways of expressing and acting on the ideas embraced by Feminist Theory, but the core idea is that women and men are of equal worth as human beings, and should be treated as such. Very simple, direct, and straightforward. The vast, vast majority of feminists consider this to apply to all human beings, which is why the women’s movement still has yet to do unto others the way it has been thrown under the bus by the abolitionists, the peace movement, the labor movement, some environmentalists, and many more. The GLBT movement has struggled for acceptance within feminist circles, but to be honest the fight has been easier there than with any other - because of the egalitarian core ideals of feminism. To me, that kind of integrity is worth more in an ally than gold, and should never, ever be betrayed. If you ever want to know what progressive movements are walking the talk, watch who a variety of feminist organizations support. These are dedicated people who have been dissed again and again and keep coming back, not for the abuse, but because they know a very important truth: that all of these seemingly disparate causes are actually integral to each other...


He has some eminently sensible stuff in the comments section as well.

3 comments:

J. Goff said...

Nice.

Side note: you need to put an "h" in your link. It says "ttp" instead of "http". :)

Renegade Evolution said...

he did do a nice job

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic entry!
the core idea is that women and men are of equal worth as human beings, and should be treated as such. Very simple, direct, and straightforward.

Simple, direct, straightforward, but worth repeating as many times as it takes.

Thanks for sharing!