Big fan of Ms.Fine. :)
“My risk of an unwanted pregnancy and being denied an abortion is not a random fact about me. It’s a fundamental part of what it means to be born female, shoved into the class “woman” and hence devalued as an autonomous human being. It will remain so even when I can no longer conceive. I won’t shed my perceived lack of bodily autonomy; it will have different manifestations but it will persist because I was born into this body. To claim “not everyone who is born female can bear children therefore bearing children has nothing to do with being female” is rather like me arguing that because I was born with three nipples, any biology textbook which claims having two nipples is a feature of being human is making a random assertion rather than an obvious generalisation. And generalisations matter. To argue otherwise is not only to dismiss the history of discrimination but to perpetuate it.”
-Cordelia Fine, Manbrains and ladybrains: Squaring the circle
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
15 comments
March 3, 2016 at 7:37 am
violetwisp
It depends what ‘woman’ means to you. I prefer to think of myself as a human being first. I have in common with most other women that I might get pregnant – but that’s nothing that defines me, that’s one possible aspect of my life. I have more in common with a Scottish man than a Chinese woman. But again, that doesn’t define my existence. I don’t think it’s useful to see life through just one lens, particularly if you want to project your one chosen lens to the rest of humanity.
Can I ask how you became so interested in feminism?
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March 3, 2016 at 8:09 am
stchauvinism
Reblogged this on things I've read or intend to.
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March 3, 2016 at 9:10 am
Cindy
Excellent.
Just found this resource today.
About what it means to be female, and how trans-MRAs have hijacked it and claimed to be oppresed by women born women:
http://thenewbacklash.blogspot.ca/p/3-birds-and-bees-bigoted-hate-speech.html?m=1
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March 3, 2016 at 9:22 am
The Arbourist
@VW
Actually it doesn’t. And I think that on this point is key to so much of the distance, perceived or otherwise, between our points of view on many issues.
I want to be very clear that I’m not telling you how you should think or even what you’re thinking is particularly wrong. It’s just this –
When it comes to certain concepts what you think as an individual just isn’t relevant because said issue is a class issue.
‘Woman’ is class of people that you are assigned to and when society reads you (not me, not any one individual) a certain set of assumptions is assumed.
The fact that you agree or disagree with those assumptions isn’t relevant – they exist independently of your assessment.
Our society places you in the class of women(the sex class), and that means that by default you are a second class citizen without the same rights and benefits of those in the dominant class (people like me).
This isn’t slam. Just the reality of the situation – you can think of yourself as a human being – but that won’t change the material reality that you, and the class of people like you (women) – will not be treated as full human beings in society.
It is not fair, not even a little bit. And yeah, for that I’m sorry, because we all play our part in keeping said crappy system going, and we shouldn’t because of the damage it does to the people inside of it. :(
Agreed.
Certain methods of analysis provide greater clarity when looking at the issues people face in society. Again, this is not to disparage an individual focus, but rather to show that there are limitations to that particular model of looking at the world – as there are with sticking with a class based analysis of how the world works.
On a less emotionally charged ground, a symbiosis of the two ways of informing ourselves about how the world works would be ideal.
I had peripheral interest in feminism after I finished University. My readings at the time included a great deal of work by dissident authors – the likes of Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Taraq Ali (et cetera) – much of their focus is on how (historically, geo-politically, socially) the world works and the intentional way that life has been structured to be so shitty for the majority of the people in the world.
The catalyst for my interest in feminism was my partner, now wife, The Intransigent One is her moniker, here at DWR. She, at the time of our meeting, was a radical feminist and quickly opened my eyes – as much as a member of the privileged class can have their eyes opened – to the idea that living life as female is radically different then living life as male.
I might not have started the journey if I had known exactly(as exact as second hand knowledge gets) how oppressive it is just to exist in society as female – it’s quite a downer. But, being all lefty and progressive by nature, how could one not gravitate toward feminism – as you will find females inhabiting the lowest rung of every society – and that shit isn’t right. So yeah, that’s a thumbnail sketch of how I came about to being an ally/advocate for feminism.
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March 3, 2016 at 11:19 am
Emma
Re: your wife’s influence
This is statistically rare(-ish), Arb, as research indicates that women in relationships tend to be more influenced by their men’ attitudes on gender issues than the reverse. There was a recent study showing just that, but I’m on my phone and can not post links.
One additional reason for women to stay away from religious / right-wing men. :)
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March 3, 2016 at 11:29 am
The Arbourist
@Emma
I have no doubt about that veracity of that claim, given that men inhabit the dominant role in society/relationships.
I’d have to say though, thank goodness for being an outlier. :)
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March 3, 2016 at 11:31 am
Cindy
I thought that Arb was a woman my first two years reading this website.
When Arb talked about the wife, I assumed he was a lesbian.
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March 3, 2016 at 1:17 pm
Emma
I did too.
That’s what everyone thinks, apparently. Assumptions, assumptions… ;)
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March 3, 2016 at 1:18 pm
Emma
Thank goodness, indeed.
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March 3, 2016 at 3:06 pm
The Intransigent One
As I recall it, when Arb and I first met, at best I was one of the “conforming to patriarchal beauty ideals is empowering! (TM)” type fun-feminists. Then (true story!) he bought me a pair of Birkenstocks(1) and I had a major emotional freak-out/Saul on the road to Damascus moment, about walking around without pain in my feet and what had I been putting myself through and why (I was an avowed high-heel wearer before that) and I started reading feminist blogs and eventually got radicalized. Like, to the point that I was considering whether I could even be in a relationship with Arb, given that he’s a man and all. Then I burnt out on rage and internecine fighting and I’ve pretty much disappeared from feminism and politics both online and off.
Edited to add footnote:
(1) Arb has always been kindof evangelical about things he likes. And he’s the kind of person who not only has multiple pairs of Birks, he knows the names of each of the styles he owns and many he doesn’t but wishes he did.
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March 3, 2016 at 4:58 pm
Miep
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/the-texas-sharpshooter
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March 3, 2016 at 10:40 pm
The Arbourist
@Miep
Who is your comment directed toward? I don’t do the nesting thing here on DWR, hence the @ nomenclature. :)
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March 4, 2016 at 12:44 pm
The Arbourist
@TIO
The moral of the story is the overarching goodness of comfy footwear – it brings people together, 10 years+ in our case. :)
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March 4, 2016 at 12:52 pm
The Intransigent One
There’s a pun to be made here, about arch support and emotional support, but it’s not quite coming together in my head.
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March 4, 2016 at 4:29 pm
being a mere woman | violetwisp
[…] This isn’t slam. Just the reality of the situation – you can think of yourself as a human being – but that won’t change the material reality that you, and the class of people like you (women) – will not be treated as full human beings in society. (The Arbourist) […]
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