I am currently teaching a course grounded in feminist critical theory. My students – both male and female – have been very responsive to the material we are studying. I look forward to going to class. These young people 25 years younger than me are willingly embracing the curriculum of the course – better than I had expected. The response of my male students has been particularly heartening. Across generational and gender lines we are learning from each other about gender in our world today – and with a sense of humor and grace. They have made a grumpy second-wave feminist such as myself feel positive about the future with respect to all things related to gender.
Then I learned this week of an outrage perpetuated by a politically influential, radical right wing woman of my little corner of the country against the cause of women in our mutual corner of said country and I came crashing right back down with a loud thud to earth from the starry-eyed universe of hope that I’d allowed myself to believe in these past few weeks.
It’s been sobering. When I visit this blog or watch Rachel Maddow I learn of the utter idiocy of the increasingly powerful radical right in this country. Up ‘til now it’s only been hovering on the fringes of my personal world like a hazy fog. Now it has entered it like a thundercloud hurling lightning bolts. Now it’s personal. This is no longer a lunatic fringe but a lunatic presence.
Don’t ask for details – I can not give them. But suffice it to say – I am a down at heart Squid. I am pushing 50. I have been fighting this crap for so long. I get so tired of it. And maybe I’m just losing perspective – but I genuinely fear that sexism and misogyny are getting worse. That it is getting more shrill. Just as racism has lately been reasserting itself without shame – so has sexism and misogyny – perpetrated – oh so sadly – not only by men but also by women. This woman has the power to alter the paths of some of my students - that's not an exaggeration. How dare she. Yes – SHE!
There's nothing sadder than feeling dragged into battle by one of your own.
I've had people tell me it's time to start over and get back to where the country used to be. These things come from people who don't know the way things used to be and it's a problem, because yesterday, a lot of people were born and today they're being indoctrinated and by tomorrow they will be telling us the way it used to be.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure any antisocial "isms" are getting worse and I think what we're seeing is that we're hearing from lower and lower levels of intellect. Maybe the idiots are just getting louder. Of course that may not explain what you're seeing in your career, but I believe that the years of muckraking have stirred up a lot of muck and encouraged the angry and ignorant to flex their muscles.
Certainly we have no end of people with third rate grade school educations holding forth on the most complex scientific and mathematical subjects of the day. Why should they be unafraid of voicing opinionated idiocy on all subjects?
August may be an anomalous month; perhaps the timing is a tactic from the tea baggers playbook. August in Europe, for instance: Whole countries shut down; businesses close for a month; cities empty into virtual ghost towns. What better time to stage a coup or grab a headline, and we know how media sensationalizes outrageous louts who do not deserve attention.
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning, the strategy of town hall hooliganism is to appear larger in numbers than they are, to spread out and disrupt from every corner of a room, and what better time to exploit than a month when most folks are on vacation, preoccupied with leisurely pursuits.
Perhaps an argument can be made that we are in a period of paradigm shift. Notions of Disaster Capitalism have dominated American politics for almost 30 years. When we question the validity of an old order, we should expect reactionary push back. Unfortunately, our side has been put on the defensive, but we should take this time to reexamine our own strategies. Should we allow idiots to lead us by the nose, to be reactive in turn when we should be proactive?
I am not trying to appear silly as one storm-tossed Pangloss in a sea of of human depravity, but your title is more apt than it appears: A pendulum swings both ways. When winter comes, can spring be far behind? After the Empire strikes back, the Jedi do return.
Is there really a definition of "proactive?" I prefer aggressive with all that rides along with it.
ReplyDeleteThere are problems with pendulums - some have a period of a thousand or so years, some have scythes that cut you in half. I think we've already lasted longer than any democracy has and maybe our time is over.
If anyone is pushing the Panglossian paradigm it's our enemies who think our sinking ship is the best of all possible ships and we need to keep hitting those icebergs to keep it that way.
I wish I could share your optimism - hell, anyone's optimism, but I can't. The Republicans are calling for a mass demonstration against health care in Stewart today. Fortunately Floridians have to keep the weapons hid - along with their motives.
Hello Fogg and Octo - thanks for trying to respond to my somewhat vague post.
ReplyDeleteWhen I wrote it I erred on the side of emotion more than reasoning - therefore I did not express, perhaps as clearly as I ought, what about the whole thing bothered me. You, Fogg, have come close to what I was thinking.
I agree that maybe the "isms" are not getting any worse - what is getting worse, I think, is the total lack of shame with which they are more aggressively rearing their ugly heads.
The recent generation was all about being "PC" - so much so that we all began to joke about our culture's hyper-pc-ness. However - I am now beginning to realize just how much I appreciated that hyper-pc-ness now that it is waning. We fems have always argued that sexism and misogyny never really got any better - or any worse - that it just went underground. It became better masked out of fear of sexual harassment suits and the like. The same with racism. Now it no longer seems necessary for folks to mask their true color-isms.
Though - in a warped kind way - I guess that means, as a culture, we are now being more honest???
Anyway - with respect to the pendulum swing in my world this week - what I found so saddening was that I had "proof" that the future was bright - that young people today were showing signs of growing into enlightened fellow adult citizens. And then - to learn that an "adult" had the nerve to presume to set up a road block on the enlightened path of young people reminded me that -
yes - there is much to be optimistic about with our young people BUT if we are not careful, people such as this woman will erect such huge barriers in our society that by the time these young people grow to maturity, the hurdles they face will be that much greater. Hardly seems fair, does it? That with each passing month, it seems, we are creating a society that will need more and more careful mending by these bright, enlightened young people.
It's all well and good to say that the youth of today are the hope for tomorrow. However - we old folk need to meet them at least half way and stop cluttering up their paths. Idealism is fine, but the reality is that hurdles that grow too large may become just that - too large.
Now I'm sounding pessimistic again. Sorry. But it is actually meant to call upon us all to work with the young crowd - to help alleviate these hurdles - to push the pendulum back in the other direction, as Octo suggests - rather than just assuming they can effortlessly leap them.
I've rambled myself into a philosophical corner . . . !!!
Help me out, Guys! Did any of this make any semi-rational sense??!!
(I should stick to commenting and stop posting!)
It's hard to draw the line between keeping it positive and keeping the blinders on, but yes, it is important to try.
ReplyDeleteIf I have any function on the web at all, it's to persuade anyone I can that madness is madness is madness.
This has always been a country of witch hunts and witch hunts aren't particular about who they call witches. That's why it's great when Reagan lies to school children and witchcraft when Obama suggests that they stay in school. How do you oppose such ideas when the idiocy is apparent to all non-idiots?
Can I or anyone else talk anyone into being smarter or more reasonable? Can anyone talk an hysteric out of hysteria? I really don't know, but I keep trying. Maybe that's madness too, but I'm beginning to think we have to ignore some of them because they're just looking for attention and engage others because they have potential - but how to tell?
A liberals and their 'isms'...
ReplyDeleteHaving been in the world of work and business for more years than I care to count and having been in a business that is about as close as you can get to the red state base (southern, low income, low education, strong religion, etc., etc.,) let me educate you...
Yes, folks will vote against their own self interests...and 'isms' involve thinking of and caring about others...and most people really only give lip service to their concern about others.
Most of my employees are decent people...but let them see that another person got something that they did not get and whew, it gets vicious! It makes no difference if it was earned and if they had a fair chance at earning the same benefit.
Women are also the first ones to attack another woman...People do not want the status quo rocked and they would rather see everyone hover at mediocracy than they would to be given an opportunity to excel. If someone gets something and they do not then that brings the them to reality, and that reality is that someone is better than they are.
The average American does not care if 47 million Americans go without healthcare...they don't want somebody to get something that they have to pay for. No one will announce that they do not have healthcare, so this 47 million is silent...and silence is death for their interests in politics as Obama is finding out. Most average Americans only care about their equality, and will worry about the group when they can benefit and they will spurn the group if it is holding them back.
Oh, I love to discuss race and have these obvious redneck bigots go on and on about how well they get along with blacks...and how many black friends they have...but then ask them if they would go out on a date with them and watch their face! :)
I always assumed that being "PC" meant that you just didn't care...
Watch a group of middle aged women around a cute young girl who happens to be an unwed mother...she is cute, so they see her as a threat and she becomes a sinful slut...
Have a big fat ugly unmarried mother and they will welcome her into their group...she is not a threat...
Now, I have been out of academics for over 24 years so I do not have the correct theories and all of that...
But a women selling the group up river for her own personal benefit? Not a surprise, ever think that Reagen changed parties for no other reason than he could better get elected as a Republican because of less competition within the party?
No convictions there....its just about personal gain...
I think TAO is pretty much spot on, and his observations are even more evident in society now that the GOP has given its minions permission to behave like vicious baboons.
ReplyDeletePersonal acheivement and responsibility? Who needs it! Mutual support and understanding? What a crock!
Dedication to country and ethical behavior? Isn't the lapel pin enough?
And women? I am ashamed of how many times I have seen women undermining and degrading each other. As if somehow by bringing someone down they would then become elevated.
I worked for a transgendered doctor who was a total maniac and rabid egotist. It wasn't long after his final surgery to become a woman (I always called it the Big One) that he addressed a group of female nurses who were talking about some current event (can't remember what it was now) but he/she said something to the effect of, "Women have got to stick together and stand up for each other."
At the time I was just pissed off that he/she had the audacity to be telling women how we should act after only joining our ranks a few short months before. But then I realized, there was not only a lot of truth in that statement but also a lot of conviction in that women hardly ever support each other.
You know, none of us, liberals, women, the uninsured, the unemployed, none of us are loud enough or united enough and if we want to change our world, we better find a way to be heard.
When we are angry or demoralized by events around us, it is easy to be cynical too. Angry, demoralized, and cynical as I am right now, I am not sure what to make of these comments and impressions without some statistically significant attitude research on the subject.
ReplyDeleteNot all of us are uncaring or self-serving. Certainly, there are at least some of us who place a value on fairness, equality, and community, who think and believe otherwise.
Recall these examples of legislation based on a concern for others: Social Security, Civil Rights, Medicare, SCHIP, the Heddy Ledbetter Bill, the recent minimum wage bill.
Forthy seven million people without healthcare and no spokesperson? Why can’t we be their voices!
Corporate interests blocking banking, energy, and healthcare reform? Why not identify them, expose them, and characterize them as bad actors! Show how corporate interests puts our people and our country at risk!
Do we wring our hands? Play dead? Spin our wheels on media clowns? Or spend time focusing on the source of these problems … and the bad actors behind the noise?
Sometimes we need to question our basic assumptions and strategies, subject ourselves to a validity test, and change course as the situation demands. Shouldn’t we be talking about this instead of flailing aimlessly?
Octy, why do you believe that one can talk the truth to power? Why do you believe statistics and logic are the best way to educate the stupid?
ReplyDeleteWhy don't the unisured speak up? Because to speak up means acknowledging that one is unemployed and or uninsured.
So, you want to draw attention to Corporations and CEOs? Good, and who do you believe is going to read your efforts? No one because you are too intelligent and we have a mistrust of intelligent people in this country.
Options? Why not fight fire with fire? Why can't liberals get on television and pull a Fox News? Who needs the truth? Who needs to research facts? Get you a couple of blonde, big chested bimbos and call them "Analysts" and then just gripe and bitch...
Two blondes and a recovering drunk Irish guy with an attitude and you have yourself a movement! :)
Truthfully, Americans at this level see opportunities slipping them by, but they hear about equality and affirmative action and they think that the blacks are getting something that they are not getting.
They think insurance actually costs what is deducted from their pay.
Liberals talk about ideals and achieving them for everyone and most people can't comprehend ideals. You think of a future and they are living in the here and now...
Back when the Civil War ended do you really believe that all the slaves took their freedom and moved on? Look again, you might find that many of them stayed on the Plantation because it was all they knew...
Rather than promote "A Public option" or "single payer" option you should have argued for "Medicare for Everybody!" Then the old folks would have realized that we would get more benefits if everyone could partake of it and younger folks believe Medicare is a right that is earned....but it is not government and it is not socialized medicine.
Then just increase the percentage of payroll allocated to medicare on payroll taxes (which is already being deducted) and since there would be no insurance deductions any longer most workers would have a net increase in their tax home pay and viola! We now have the means to cover everyone!
Had Obama proposed THAT he would have found the right much more agreeable to a public option...
TAO, I can’t see what purpose is served when we fuss and obsess over every dumb bastard in the DumbBastardSphere. Seem pointless. My last comment was an invitation for ideas. Got any?
ReplyDeleteDon't fuss over them...
ReplyDeleteBut label them and then turn them into what the conservatives have turned the word "liberals" into.
Look at the stats, most Americans want healthcare reform, yet they are against healthcare reform.
Most Americans believe CEO's get paid too much and should be punished for the financial mess...and wait till that debate gets going.
Read Obama's speech to the kiddies, its a conservatives dream! Match it against Reagan's speech and see which one is more political?
Yet all someone has to do is yell, "Socialism" and everyone hides and runs...
Why did civil rights and the Great Society get passed? It was the vision of unrest in the streets night after night on television...
So what do we see today, do we see Americans kicked out of their homes, families struggling? The dead soldiers coming home? Nope, we get tea bag parties and astroturfers...
So the average american thinks that something is wrong with Obama.
Take Mike Steele and his comment about the woman's whose mother died...broadcast that over and over and over....
Financial system reform...lets talk about those S16,000 shower curtains, the multi million dollar office remodels for the CEO when the company is laying off employees.
Lets talk once again that supply does not create jobs but demand does and the consumer is the demand side of basics economics...and the consumer is the American worker. Right now liberals have been painted as a bunch of intellectuals who care only about the poor and while the average american worker is poor they will be the lasts one to acknowledge it.
Just like where are the 47 million folks without healthcare and who represents them?
No one does but the democrats are the ones most likely could...
The trees have their representatives, the environment has theirs, the poor and the homeless has theirs, the blacks, the indians, the seals, and the whales all have spokesmen for their interests...the gays, the transgender, everyone is represented in the demcoratic party
But the democrats have yet to come up with someone who represents the working and middle class white guy and his family....who is probably the most extinct critter in our society....
8pus - I think you have identified the crux of the problem; we have no central theme to rally around.
ReplyDeleteThere is no definitive healthcare bill. It looks like the Dems have thrown everything out there and are waiting to see what sticks. There is just no cohesiveness.
President Obama is backing down on several different fronts in an effort to "reach across the aisle." In doing so, he is alienating his base.
The way I see it, the White House, the Dems and those of us who support them must ignore the crazies and all their noise and keep pushing through the sane, rational changes we voted for in the first place. Let the nuts yell socialist, communist, whatever.
But it will have to start in the White House because we need a leader and so far, Obama has not been that inspiring.
Tao,
ReplyDeleteI like your attitude. I can't afford a network though or get time on an existing one, but if you are hiring wingnut bashing radio blowhards, consider this my job application.
I notice you're following the fake Capt. Fogg blog -- or is that really you?