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As I was assiduously avoiding planning my lessons for my upcoming classes, I happened to redirect myself to this list from the Blog Mistress Mom.
It is a simple post really, just a list of reasons as to why her son is wearing pink. I stopped at this particular point:
“Because even if pink is for girls, what’s wrong with being (like) a girl?”
What a brilliant question. What brilliantly loaded question!
Just what exactly is wrong with being like a girl? I mean, women represent more than half of our population and are prominent role models in the majority of our lives (for better or worse).
So what is wrong with being like a girl?
When I deal with problems I rely on my critical thinking skills and rationality; they are the first responders to the majority of situations. Even when I need to produce a response with a emotional basis there is that precursor thought of ‘oh…this requires my emotional intelligence…lets spin up the empathy/feelings centers and put them to work’…(I realize this is quite “meta” and is certainly not 100% accurate, but necessary for where I am going.) So my first response to this question was of course what I’ve learned of feminist/gender theory:
The hetronormative values of our Patriarchal society implicitly and explicitly diminish, dismiss and marginalize females and the idea of femininity. The assumption: To be female or associated with femininity is to be inferior.
This underling assumption is appallingly prevalent in our society, it permeates every facet, every interaction, every assumption we base our reality on.
What this question did was prompt one of those delicious “Ah-Ha!” moments when a deeper understanding of a theory or notion finally sinks in. Where does rape culture come from? How can women still be oppressed when they have, in theory, equal rights? Why are the standards we live by so permeated by hetronormative values?
“To be female or associated with femininity is to be inferior.”
I am usually quite a fan of gaining knowledge and expanding my horizons and what not, but sometimes I wish I could claim the protection of ignorance, to shield myself from the profound sense of injustice and sadness that accompany such melancholy revelations.
Studying history brings similar moments; for instance discovering that we in the West are not the ‘good guys’ and more often than not are just as ruthless and inhumane as our official ‘evil’ enemies. What is worse (of course it gets worse) is that most of the people refuse to accept their unhappy role in this oppressive, exploitive, blood-drenched narrative we as a race have written. It is the same with the patriarchal nature of our culture, people refuse to see the superstructure because they have internalized the values the patriarchal structure presents. They are not defending “oppression” they are defending what is “right”. And what is “right” is rape culture and the oppression of half the human species…how dare you challenge those assumptions?
I challenge those patriarchal assumptions because they are fundamentally unjust and irrational. By default that makes my opinion an outlier…*sigh*… but given my political and historical views of history, this is nothing new under the sun.
All I can say now is thanks for the “Ah-Ha” moment Mistress Mom, I owe you one.
It is a cross-posting extravaganza. (Many thanks Intransigentia) But no, really, if you ever need to explain to your friends about Patriarchy or white male privilege or hetronormativitiy or any of the diverse topics along those lines, these two posts are not bad places to start.
The first is a post from Shakesville. It is long for a blog post but well worth the read. Check out the article here.
The second is a post from the Pursuit of Harpyness, it is a personal anecdote, but a good look into the hetronormative standards which pervade our society. The comment section is also quite informative for this article. Find it here.
I would feel better if this was not really the par for the course from Alberta politicians. I would think by now that they would have taken a page from Harper’s federal playbook and kept the loons muzzled and in the background. The recent kerfuffle with Bill 44 (and the mess it is going to cause) coupled with statements like this:
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“Men are attracted to smiles, so smile, don’t give me that ‘treated equal’ stuff. If you want Equal, it comes in little packages at Starbucks.”
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I’ve just posted the highlights of the train-wreck from CBC. For a detailed analysis please see The Intransigent One’s comments. Insightful and well worth the read.
Well on the bright side, aside from social conservatism, Alberta tories do a wonderful job of mismanaging our natural resources. It is comforting to know our beloved conservative party possesses a solid, fail enhanced position on resource management, once they are finished mucking about with social issues.
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Edmonton-Calder MLA Doug Elniski, seen in a photo posted on Facebook, took down his blog on Monday. 
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