Charles Brown
>>> "Frances Bolton (PHI)" <fbolton at chuma.cas.usf.edu> 04/19/99 05:18PM >>>
On Mon, 19 Apr 1999, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
> OK, I might be guilty of firing a few cheap shots - but how does that
> relate to "acting in a traditionally feminine way?" Besides, had she done
> that, it would have been even more nauseating.
>
I don't have your original comments here so I can't quote you directly,
but your comments focused on Albright's transgressing traditional gender
norms: you said she had a case of penis envy, you accused her of wanting a
phallus (whatever it is that you mean by phallus) and there was
something about Kissinger in drag. I found it interesting (in the bad
sense) that you did not simply criticize Albright on the basis of her
actions (simple enough) but you chose to focus instead on the ways in
which she is not a "real woman". You say that you find socially
constructed gender norms abhorrent (finding "trad fem" nauseating) yet it
is for acting in a traditionally masculine way (hawkishness) that you made
a specifically gendered critique of Albright. I should like to remind you
that the last time you critcized her you referred to her as "that bitch."
Again, an explicitly gendered insult. The insults you leveled at Albright
did not have to do with policy decisions, but were ad hominem attacks
which attacked her specifically because she is a woman.
Best, frances