So I’ve been slowly reading through the foundational documents of the 2nd Wave of feminism (now nearly 40 years old) assessing them for lost opportunities and potential late points of entry for a progressive philosophy of gender for men that complements feminism without reacting to it. (I think too much of what passes for earnest, um, masculistism or whatever, has tended to be in reaction to feminism when in fact we’ve got our own bridges to cross as well.)
And whereas I arrived at an understanding of the “no-sex” class paradigm independently, and while I derived it entirely in, from, as, and for a men’s perspective on our socially dysfunctional, cuts-two-ways misconceptions about women, I think it’s possible that was also, as usual, 37 years late to the show.
I’ve only barely cracked the covers but it looks Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch
If it does I couldn’t be happier. We’ll see.
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Note: Again I’ve barely started the front matter but if the introduction by Jennifer Baumgardner is accurate then Greer may be a bit of a patron saint of 3rd-wave feminism. We’ll see about that too.
Stay tuned.
Submitted by 1619 (not verified) on Tue, 2007-09-25 17:09.
even if GG has already covered this, I hope you will still keep pursuing this analysis. I look forward to the book someday.
[Thanks, Heidi! I'll keep thinking about it. --fl]
Submitted by 1619 (not verified) on Fri, 2007-09-21 08:39.
I think The Female Eunuch is terrific; I think you'll find a lot to like in it. I'm looking forward to finding out what you think of it. I'm also glad you're feeling better! Take care, O
[Hey O! Yeah, we've got company this week and so spare time is *very* sparse, but based just on the first page or two I think you're right. For instance from just the first page of her revised (for 1991) introduction I've already got a hook for a post about the Xeno's-paradoxy nature of feminism where it keeps getting harder each time it advances another half the remaining distance towards its objectives. Part of the paradox is the quote I'm going to use could have been written a year ago instead of nearly twenty. Thanks! --fl]
Submitted by 1619 (not verified) on Sat, 2007-09-22 10:52.
Wow! you are taking me back to my college years here... if not earlier... I read Germaine Greer quite early in life, maybe in 1974... and yes, you should go in it... It is possibly the most important publication on the subject, covering the real reasons of women rebellion... the shame and the hate of themselves... of their sexual being...
Yes... the double standard we still have to see and hear about daily...
I feel somehow we are actually into passing that stage, with the hypersexualization of girls... We may hate Paris Hilton (or any other of the same kind by the way...), but isn't she doing it all?? And why is she so hated by so many (not that I like her either, but I feel she is good example of what I'm trying to express)? Could it be because she is assuming her sexuality, displays as a free woman (thanks daddy money, but whatever...), doesn't hide her body and her multiple partners? Isn't what we find scary about her(Out of her singing...)? That kind of life that was publicly allowed to men only not so long from now?
When I look today to young women presenting themselves in such sexual ways, and assuming it, I'm a bit jealous... because it is kind of too late for me to go there, and was too early for me to be in while I was at an age where it is nice and not ridicul... but it is a place I would have love to be... Being a woman is a strenght and should be considere as it... but yes, it is scary for men, because women sexuality is still so underestimated... And, yes... that book was writen more than 37 years ago, and not only 20... Changes are slow...
[I'm not so sure exactly what Paris Hilton is up to so, in the realm of celebrities anyway, maybe Madonna would be a better example. But yeah, that idea of self-hatred for sexuality seems to align perfectly with the "no-sex" class sensibility that's imposed from without. Thanks, SeaRabbit. --fl]
Submitted by 1619 (not verified) on Wed, 2007-09-26 16:04.
Hmmm... Not to make you feel of anyway.. but madonna is actually quite an hasbeen... ;-))
[Yeah, but Paris is just so last week -- with Mags at least we get points for nostalgia. :-) Thanks, SeaRabbit. --fl]