The article, by one Mark Manson, entitled "Why I'm Not A Feminist," begins with the following paragraph:
"It’s with much trepidation that I wade into the rough waters of gender discussion. Few subjects bring out as much impassioned accusation and irrationality as discussing the state of gender relations in western culture. And I’m sure I’ll be digitally tarred and feathered regardless of what I say here."There are many, many things wrong with the article, including a wash of what-looks-like-feminism, MRA-twisted theory, as well as the title of the blog it's hosted on, "Post-Masculine: Because Fortune Favors the Bold." But those are too obvious and too many to deal with today. Instead, I stopped reading after the first paragraph and really tried to take those words at their face value.
First off, yes, few subjects bring out such impassioned debate as gender in our modern society, and for good reason. I have a problem with people who, like Mr. Manson, feel that something is detracted from the pristine, logical basis of a debate when a person in said debate feels passion, or emotion, for what they're talking about. I don't know if it's a privilege thing (although it might be), or if it's an inherently anti-feminist thing (and wouldn't that fit in nicely), but there's this sense about the internet that, especially in debates about gender, emotions have no place. Impassioned arguments get dismissed, exactly as Manson dismisses them above, as "irrational," simply because of the presence of feeling.
Maybe it's because, when arguing about gender, lived experience (something also rampantly dismissed) is a big part of why many women I know (myself included) feel so strongly about the importance of talking about feminism. Maybe the men who I so often find myself on the other side of the proverbial table from don't have that same experience, and so don't understand (and, as a reaction to not understanding, decide to cut down at every opportunity) the enthusiasm and rage that comes from that lived experience.
Or maybe it's because, based on the gender stereotypes we've operated on forever, men aren't really permitted to examine their feelings much, or give them any credence. Emotion isn't considered a player int he gender war, based on the very thing the gender war is fighting about. How's that poetical?
It goes back to that old saying, "The personal is political," and flipped around the other way, that the political is personal. Yes, I care about feminism. Yes, I'm going to argue with said care and said emotion. No, that doesn't mean my facts are wrong, or that the simple presence of fiery rhetoric somehow washes away the logical basis of my argument in a waterfall of womanly tears. I might get frustrated, because... well, arguing with people who are, at the basis of their perspective, telling you that your beliefs are pulled out of thin air: that's a frustrating thing. But it doesn't mean I'm somehow inferior, or less academic or intellectual, than you are.
And even in my own language, there's an assumption that emotion, or passion, as an ingredient to argument is somehow invalid; that to have passion without the über logic behind it would be some kind of blasphemy. And while I know a good argument is based in fact, emotion and emotional experience, have their place as well. The ancient Greeks knew it, but we've somehow forgotten: there's more than one way to appeal to audience, to make an argument, and while logos and ethos are key, pathos has a place in there too.
It goes back to the whole idea of emotion as, in general, bad or biased; this modern idea that the "objective perspective," when backed up with logic, is somehow infallible in the face of all other types of plea (as is, in fact, preferable to any other type of plea). No, the world doesn't care if you've been offended or hurt, as, based on it's calculated analyses, you have no logical reason to be. Well, guess what? Human's aren't machines, and yeah, we all have feelings, regardless of the genitalia between our legs or the names we put on our gender identity.
So yes, logic is important, but emotion, passion, and lived experience get a seriously short shrift in the whole gender-war thing; as a result of this, there tend to be big disclaimers at the beginnings of articles like Manson's. A sort of "Okay guys, I KNOW this is a super touchy feely subject, and I KNOW you're probably all not gonna wanna talk about it, but let's grit our manly man teeth and wade through this mess with some manfacts."
To which I say, especially to Mr. Manson: the waters don't have to be so rough. If reading Caitlin Moran recently has taught me anything, it's that feminism can be very, very simple, and that by using things like humor and emotion as appeals, discussion of feminism become all that more accessible (which is, greatly, the point of all this: having communities and safe spaces are important, but I'm most ecstatic when I can be accessible enough to bring somebody around on the topic). Beginning an article with a big "WARNING: GENDER DISCUSSION AHEAD" is like never saying Voldemort's name; yeah, gender discussion can get emotional, but the way that we view that emotion as somehow invalid: that's the bullshit part. I like the rough water; that chop can be pretty fucking fun, and just like feminism, it can be pretty easy to get into if you try.
So I'd ask you, Mr. Manson, to go ahead and try. Tap into your pathos; I know it can be hard, especially with all the pressure that masculinity puts on men not to feel anything (and yeah, challenging that is a part of feminism too). But it's not so scary, Mr. Manson, and you don't have to be tarred and feathered unless you set yourself up to be.
You might get challenged on the internet for the bogus assumptions you make about theory and philosophy, but... well, that's your logic failing, not other peoples' pathos getting out of hand.
Off to read more of Moran. It's a seriously great book. Previews for up and coming entries include:
- The Finale of the Fifty Shades is Bullshit series
- Why Fifty Shades of Grey is Specifically Anti-Feminist
- What's up with the whole Gorean thing
- Baby's first kink, part three
- My Corset Collection (pictures included)
Here's hoping I find some time to actually write them.
Until next time,
The Good Girl
No comments:
Post a Comment