Friday 28 September 2012

Dear Anti-Feminists

Another tragic victim of Woodworth's Wank is @roseblue's Twitter account. (@roseblue may be better known to DJ! readers as SUZY ALLCAPSLOCK.)

Mid- final frothing frenzy of fetus fetishizing, SHE disappeared. Her account had been suspended and no one knows why. Though there's been some fun speculation. . .

JJ found this record of her tweets.

SHE's blogging still, venting her venom at -- who else? -- feminists. (No link for the usual reason.)

http://www.bigbluewave.ca/2012/09/its-not-only-talk-about-unborn-that-has.html

Other CONNED women and at least one patronizing male are also screeching about 'feminist orthodoxy'.



I got to thinking about feminism.

If you are an anti-feminist woman and you vote -- even for candidates who'd stop that nonsense in a nanosecond -- you didn't build that.

If you are an anti-feminist woman and you enjoy the rights of contract and property law -- you didn't build that.

If you are an anti-feminist woman but sadly divorced yet benefitting from family law reforms (allowing you to have custody of your children, for example) -- you didn't build that.

If you are an anti-feminist woman who practices safe, legal family planning including contraception and abortion (we won't tell anyone) -- you didn't build that.

If you are an anti-feminist woman who wants to or needs to work 'outside the home' -- you didn't build that.

If you are an anti-feminist woman who works and is paid the same as the man in the next cubicle -- you didn't build that.

If you are an anti-feminist woman who has achieved higher education -- you didn't build that.

If you are an anti-feminist woman in a profession formerly seen as 'male' -- you didn't build that.

If you are an anti-feminist woman with recourse to sexual harassment/discrimination remedies in the workplace -- you didn't build that.

If you are an anti-feminist woman who needs daycare for her children -- you didn't build that.

If you are an anti-feminist woman who took maternity leave to have those children -- you didn't build that.

And if you are an anti-feminist man whose mother, sister, daughter, wife, girlfriend, and female friends benefit from any of those things -- you CERTAINLY didn't build that.

Anti-feminist women love to SHRIEEEK: 'Feminists don't speak for me!'

No. We don't.

But our accomplishments -- and ongoing struggles -- benefit ALL of you.

You're welcome.





16 comments:

JJ said...

**APPLAUSE**

CanNurse said...

Brilliant! Sharing! THANKS, fern!!

Unknown said...

absolutely brilliant! thanks!

Beijing York said...

Well played, fern!

Sharon Fraser said...

I will chime in to share a comment I left on Suzanne's blog in response to an article she linked to by a Mark Richardson. It's a view I've expressed often elsewhere but this is the most recent.

Her headline -- and his point -- was "Why feminism doesn't work." The suggestion was made that it might not work for her but it works for other women. And I said this:
_______________________________

But feminism does work for Suzanne.

Suzanne, your life is so immeasurably better because of feminism. Not very long ago, in my lifetime, women had few rights. A couple of examples: in my first career (I’m a writer/editor now), I was a nurse. I, and my fellow nurses, used to spend countless hours on the phone looking for husbands/fathers who may have abandoned their family years before – or who were simply not in the picture any more. We needed them to give consent for their wives or children to have life-saving therapy – even emergency surgery. I have clear memories of standing by with a woman who’s already prepped, anaesthetist at the ready, surgeon scrubbed, while we frantically followed leads all over the country looking for that elusive consent from some long-gone husband.

If we didn’t find him – and if she had no adult male family member – we had to call the Chief Surgeon who would come to the hospital, review the efforts we had made to find the husband, and then sign the consent form.

Women couldn’t get bank loans or mortgages on their own. If they didn’t have a husband, a father or brother might be able to help out.

These were LAWS that feminists fought to get changed — not attitudes. It was certainly socially accepted that husbands could beat or rape their wives — but it was also LEGAL.

Women did get fired for becoming pregnant – in some positions, they’d get fired for getting married. And contrary to an often-expressed anti-feminist notion: feminism doesn’t automatically honour women who succeed in the corporate world. It depends a lot on what they do with the power they may hold. In my feminist world – second wave feminism – there has always been more emphasis on putting value on “women’s work.” Feminism does honour choice and recognizes the work of mothers, teachers, nurses, the CWL or the Women’s Institute etc. a lot more than such jobs were ever recognized pre-feminism.

I’m not going to respond to this specific article – it’s a little silly. But this author refers to “feminists” as if legions of women of all different ages, interests, political beliefs, sexuality must all hold the exact same opinions on everything if they self-identify as feminist.

I've been an active feminist for decades now; I know and have known feminists in the professions, in academia, in high school, in minimum wage jobs – many of them would not recognize themselves as they’re so often portrayed on this site.

Feminism is a big world. It has benefitted – and continues to benefit – all of us, women, men and children. Including Mark Richardson. And Suzanne.

Anonymous said...

Merci~

fern hill said...

Brava! Well and powerfully said.

Sharon Fraser said...

And fern, I neglected to say -- which I shouldn't have: the "you didn't build that" post was brilliant. Thanks for doing that.

Wisewebwoman said...

Twice I had to hide my pregnancies to keep my job.

Gad how obtuse are some people?

XO
WWW

Anonymous said...

Well said. Thank you!

Dawn said...

I am giving you a standing ovation.

Godel Noodle said...

That was nothing short of spectacular! Both Fern Hill and Sharon Fraser. I thank you both.

This is one of those times when I thought back on an argument I had in the past, and said to myself, "Argh! Yes! Dammit! THAT'S what I should have said!" All too often, I go all apoplectic in heated arguments, but reading stuff like this keeps me better prepared.

I don't comment here very often, but I read almost every post as soon as it appears. So keep up the excellent work (Fern Hill, deBeauxOs, and everyone else who posts here).

fern hill said...

*blush*

The 'meme' (I suppose; we used to call such things 'catch-phrases') got taken up and improved on on Twitter. Lots more examples of stuff anti-feminists didn't contribute to but readily avail themselves of.

Anonymous said...

This should be a poster. Well done.

babbletruth said...

FABULOUS!!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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