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I'm reading "The Dialectic of Sex; The Case for Feminist Revolution by Shulamith Firestone. Published in 1970 for the Gods sakes. A big Simone de Beauvoir fan, she follows along her line of thought, although she is a bit simpler read.
What's depressing is that her words are as true today and they were back then, with a few improvements. Here's a typical quote
"Women and children are always mentioned in the same breath (Women and children to the forts!"). The special tie women have with children is recognized by everyone. I submit, however, that the nature of this bond is no more than shared oppression. And that moreover this oppression is intertwined and mutually reinforcing in such complex ways, that we will be unable to speak of the liberation of women without also unable to speak of the liberation of children, and vice versa. The heart of woman's oppression is her childbearing and childrearing roles. And in turn, children and defined in relation in this role, and are psychologically formed by it; what they become as adults and the sorts of relationships they are able to form determines the society they will ultimately build."
What pisses me off about this, 1)it's true 2) the mommy blaming cult is alive and well. In other words, not only are women objectified, even what is "acceptable" for women--motherhood, is subject to all kinds of subtle and not so subtle scrutiny and criticism, often from other women. Men get cute tee shirts "Anyone can be a father but it takes someone special to be a Daddy" --Like they deserve special treatment for doing their fucking job, biological parent or not. Women get taken for granted in the worse possible way, and still are.
Any sign that women try to break out of the cast mold, to throw off patriarchy, they're scrutinized, criticized, (Anyone ever decide NOT to have kids? All kinds of busybodies come out) they're ripped apart, called names, degraded, and then there is the fall back favorite accusation "Dyke"--Only now it's usually an accusation of transgender. Fuck.
It pisses me off too, I've always been more than what's sexual about me. And I resent that even at 47 fucking years old, it's the first way I'm judged.
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