You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘Radical Feminism’ tag.
I completely need this book.
Whoa…
I am so beyond tired of English speakers misinterpreting this quote and making it mean the exact opposite of what Beauvoir meant by it.
Here is the explanation that immediately follows it in The Second Sex:
“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman. No biological, psychological, or economic fate determines the figure that the human female presents in society: it is civilization as a whole that produces this creature, intermediate between male and eunuch, which is described as feminine.”
I don’t know how much clearer she can be: she defines “woman” as “the figure that the human female presents in society” and goes on to criticise the fact that society has made this figure into something “intermediate between male and eunuch” and called it feminine. To Beauvoir, “woman” is a harmful social construct forced on females, so this word doubly doesn’t apply to transwomen, who a) are not female and b) are not forced into womanhood.
When people use “one is not born, but becomes a woman” to mean “anyone can become a woman”, they
– are conveniently forgetting the part where the political construct of “woman” is inextricably linked to the condition of being born a human female (I mean, the first chapter of that book is called The Data of Biology…) and the part where Beauvoir is criticising this man-made concept of “woman” as well as the, in her words, “hierarchy of sexes” (also known as ~spectrum of genders~) it helps create; and
– are essentially saying that transwomen are feminine eunuchs. That is what “woman” is in this book, a restrictive patriarchal construct that could best be described as an inferior, castrated male with feminine clothing and behaviour, and that female humans are not born as (as patriarchy would like us to believe) but are forced to grow into, which is the main component of their oppression.
(Please keep in mind that this was written in the 1940s when the belief that women were naturally inferior and born to serve men wasn’t publicly challenged at all. When everyone defines “woman” as “naturally inferior”, saying “the human female is not born a woman, she is made one” is revolutionary.)
The point of “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman” was not that male humans can also become women despite being born male, it was that female humans should not be forced to become a “woman” as defined by our patriarchal world. But trust our modern-day “feminists” to take a quote about female oppression and make it about male fantasies instead.
It is blatant gender criticism by SdB so you can see why it would need to be repurposed by men to serve men.
-Found on Ses Purs Ongles.
Have you considered your patriarchal stereotypes today? Let’s take a peek at a few.
http://tehbewilderness.tumblr.com/post/152784450929/poly-x-jackorino-p0tbarbie-p0tbarbie
Whelp, looks like we just need another dose of equality and we’ll get there…
Or, perhaps, working to dismantle the systems that oppress women in society might be a more effective way to advance the cause of women. Some thirty years after the Second Wave, women are still remorselessly objectified, not in control of their reproductive capacity, and are under the near constant threat of harassment on the street and in the workplace.
Perhaps a more a return to the effective practices of the second wave might be in order, if affecting societal change is a priority.
“They made it clear from the start that the slightest deviation from the norm would be punished. They turned everything into prisons, even our own bodies.
Wear pink. Play with dolls. Look in the mirror. Go to school. Learn to smile when they abuse you. Diet, wax, apply make-up, and swallow your medication. Follow fashion. Work. Consume. Be silent. Give him a porn star experience. Get married. Shop, cook, wash, iron, dust, vacuum, scrub and polish. Work a 15-hour shift (but don’t call housework ‘work’). Get into debt. Have children. Stay married (or they’ll destroy you and your children). Watch TV. Wear stilettos. Obey their laws. Save for your old age. Now repeat after me: ‘I am free’.Just to make sure I knew who my masters were they spat on m, groped me, pinched me, grabbed me and shoved me at school, in the street, in homes, on buses, in parks, pubs, clubs, everywhere. They shouted at me from cars, building sites, pub windows and doors, everywhere that I was a slut, an ugly bitch, a fat slag, a stupid cow, a skinny cow, a sexy dog, that they would fuck me, hit me, damage me, and destroy me. They made grunting noises and flapped their tongues. They raped me, beat me, pulled the hair out of my head, and kicked me. They threatened to kill me and told me to kill myself. They always wanted to know my weight, size, age and height as though this information was useful for their plans. They harassed me when I studied or worked, they just wouldn’t leave me alone. Then they told me I lacked a sense of humour.
…
They told me to practise positive thinking and to cleanse myself of toxic emotions. They told me to live in the ‘Now’ like a toddler, or a goldfish with a five-second memory. They treated me like a child, demanded that I behave like a child and look like a 15-year-old, and then they told me I was immature and childish.They said, “Consider yourself lucky, this is a democracy and we’ve given women the freedom to choose their own lives and be what they want to be.”
When I mentioned the word ‘misogyny’ they called me a man-hater. When I spoke up against fascist pornography they told me I needed a good fuck. “The answer to your problems,” they said, “is between our legs.” When I spoke about the rise of rape culture they told me I definitely needed a good fuck. But by then I had stopped taking it personally.“Listen,” I said, “what we really need is a vigorous, earth-shaking, relentless, uninhibited, wild, passionate, intoxicating, angry, unapologetic, long-overdue, exciting, luscious revolution.”
Because this was never personal, this was always political.”— Abigail Bray, “The fascism that has no name” in Misogyny Re-Loaded
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
Your opinions…