*(editor’s note – As this post has been rebutted, I’ve given it a second time over to improve readability and fix some of the more egregious construction errors)

I’m kinda glad people can share their opinions on WordPress (mostly), but there seems to be a category of dudes that take it upon themselves to write important(?) words about radical feminism. While discussing the great satan and how it is destroying men, society, and the universe (clutches pearls), it becomes markedly clear that the author(s) in question know sweet fuck all about how society works, and if possible, even less about feminism.

 

“Dear the People,

I’m sure you’ve heard it before: radical feminism is targeting men, harming them, and making them victims of sexism against males.”

Sometimes the punter in question gets close to the truth, but almost always quickly veers away; asymptotically doomed to forever miss the point.  As is the case here.

Radical feminists correctly deduce that the class of men oppress the class of women in society.  That we should change the structure of society to get rid of the oppression is the crucial factoid that dudes just seem to gloss over.

Instead we get the pablum presented in the quote.  I don’t pretend to understand what this first sentence is saying.  I’m gonna apply my bafflegab to English translator and roughly interpret the point our beleaguered dude is trying to make.  Best guess folks:  The argument being made is that radical feminists are calling men out for their bullshit behaviour and this is making them have a sad.

Sorry my dude, but enough men are still on board the good ship patriarchy and thus continue to treat women as second class citizens.

“While all of this is true, there are victims here of third-wave feminism that we don’t talk about as much (and no, I’m not actually addressing the unborn babes that are slaughtered by the thousands). “

Good, because it sounds like, unsurprisingly, you are against female bodily autonomy.  (*shocked*)

“That’s right. For as much as the Left would like to make it seem like they’re truly concerned with the plight of females, they’ve proven time and time again that the last thing they really care about is raising up the females around them. You may have heard about “sisterhood”, “female power”, kumbaya around the campfire, etc. But while strong female relationships do thrive in different situations, this idea of “empowered females banding together” isn’t quite as accurate as we’d all like to believe. Don’t believe me?”

No, you’ve demonstrated an astonishing allergy to even the most basic features of society and how it works.  The best part is, you’re going to start making assumptions and arguments based on nothing but your sheer ignorance and the power of your uninformed opinion.  Buckle in tight, my lovelies, because the nothing good can come when your argumentative building blocks are made of high-octane stupid.

“Take for example, the statistics. Men are often cited as being the ultra-violent, over-aggressive beings that are causing workplace abuse and bullying. “

Men perpetrate the most violence in the world.  The current shite state of things is a direct result of the ‘male way’ of handling problems.

“While men contribute, it’s actually women that tend to target women in work situations.”

Based on what?  You are making an assertion of fact right here.  Where is it coming from other than the dark recesses of your arse?

“While men contribute, it’s actually women that tend to target women in work situations. This is not due to men’s “crippling” of women and turning them against each other, but instead due to the fact that women are naturally very competitive and intellectually aggressive [see HERE and HERE for examples and studies proving this point].”

I do love it when people cite research.  It is also good to read the sources and see what they actually say, rather than just what you think they say.

Quote from the first source:  “I recently conducted a survey focused on women in the workplace, and found that approximately 70% had been the victim of either workplace bullying or covert undermining by a female boss”

Methodology?  Sample Size?  Where the results were published?  Nothing like that to be found?  Okay then, first source is trash, disregard.

Quote from the second source:  “More recently, research has shown that women may not support each other’s progress specifically in situations where they are outnumbered by men. Ryan et al. (2012) found evidence that female supervisors were less supportive of female employees in male-dominated organizations.”

Less supportive, in situations where males outnumber females does not support what you’re saying – “but instead due to the fact that women are naturally very competitive and intellectually aggressive “- your claim that women are ‘naturally competitive’ is not backed up by even a charitable reading of your source, and claims that people are “naturally x” is usually fallacious (see genetic fallacy).

“Keep in mind that women were designed to compete for the best resources. For as long as time has begun, women have competed for the best man, the best home, and in a modern day when marriage is no longer the only way to financial and physical security, the best jobs.”

Tests for genetic fitness of partners is indeed a part of our system of drives.  But it is not a single totalizing endeavour.  We are a complex social species and it is wrong to attribute motivations of people based on one factor, especially without consider the current context (the workplace).

“As such, everything that leads to a better quality of life and more security is something that women will bully each other over. This is why (biologically, at least) girls tend to dress nicer not just to impress men, but also to outdo their former females, all of whom have the same motivation of getting a mate.”

*sigh*  Biologically speaking you’re full of feces.  We have the social construction of society that great affects how we act and are how we are expected to act in society.  The wearing of clothes (nice or not) is a social construction and has little to do with biological precursors.

“Radical feminism, however, rejects the idea that women have this natural competition and instead embraces a group mentality where all women band together to fight abusive male. “

Please quote the Radical Feminist source that says this?  The only branch of radical feminism that embraces this idea exists only in your head.  For bonus points, historically speaking, our societies have been based around the principle of cooperation.  Only when hierarchical structures have been introduced (see patriarchy) do we see competition in society become a lauded virtue.

Women need solidarity to fight the patriarchal structures in society because going against societal norms individually is not effective and is quite dangerous to undertake without support.  Do not mistake action against patriarchy as action against particular men – it is the system that empowers them that is the problem.

“So why do feminists want to ignore the damage perpetrated by females and focus primarily on that spread by males?”

Because male violence is endemic within the structure of society?  Women literally mold their lives around reducing the threat of rape and male violence.  Violent males and their aspirations exist in every facet of society and if you happen to be in the class that receives most of unwarranted aggression, then it becomes a problem.

“For one thing, it means females can continue inflicting this damage on females while crying “victim”.”

Oh, so if women would just shut up and let men do their thing, the problem of violent male behaviour would fix itself (?).

No.

It doesn’t work that way, the problems of society need to be identified, deconstructed, and replaced with ones that acknowledge the base humanity of all members of society.

“And it means they can continue to shift the blame of their bullying onto men so they can talk about what they really consider to be the “problem”. “

Men need no help in the bullying department, no blame shift is required.

“ Girls who are read this book will be taught that they are discriminated in every circumstance without reason”

Truth hurts, no?  Living in a patriarchy is not a fun time if you happen to be female.

“They will be taught that all-guy’s club are sexist and that any activity in which they are not the first chosen is due merely to their gender.”

Being educated, or allowed to vote, or have a credit card/bank account in their name was once only in the domain of males.  So one must look with a certain amount of skepticism to ‘all-guys’ clubs or organizations.”

“And for girls who don’t submit to this narrative? They are taught that they are being sexist or even worse, that they have no minds of their own and that they are being bowled over by men.”

Plugging your ears and denying the reality of women’s station in society doesn’t fix the problem.  Feminists realize though that each woman must strike her own patriarchal bargain within society and do what she must to survive.

“Their problem isn’t that they dare to think differently; their problem is the evil patriarchy who has stuffed their oppressive, sexist ideas down their throats. “

The patriarchal norms of society are passed on through both the father and the mother.  The mother does what she can to help her daughter survive in a society that is fundamentally arrayed against her and her personhood.

“Girls in the past were faced by ideas that kept them in their station in life and the same is true today. Not much has changed unfortunately.”

Glad to see that you (unknowingly) acknowledge patriarchy is a thing and its bad for women.

 “Girls are still being told how and what to think. The only difference? Those distributing this wisdom are not their fathers, their brothers, their husbands, or their friends. Instead it is their sisters, who insist that the girl who refuses to believe is the girl who refuses to rise above her circumstances. “

Because men know the solutions to female problems.  Right…  Right?  Most men cannot even fathom (see this post) what being female in society is like, and what women do to survive within it.  It is only from a position of assured ignorance does drivel like this get written.

“It is the poor female who must choose between obeying the louder members of her own gender or allowing herself to be crushed beneath the “patriarchal” heel. “

You have a very strange notion of what a patriarchal bargain is.  The choice women face is how to deal with the fact that they are treated as the submissive class in society and their base humanity is always in question.  Sure you can go along with the ‘proper’ feminine prescriptions of society but how much of yourself and your ambitions are you willing to sacrifice to guarantee(?) your position/safety in society?

Feminists ask the question, why should there have to be a sacrifice in the first place?

 

Oh hey we have a rebuttal ping back.  I went a typed a response over there, but nothing’s come through yet.  Being somewhat experienced in dealing with people who are perhaps not the most intellectually honest spoons in the drawer, I’ve replicated my response in the comments below.  Good fun. :)