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Careening with Conviction, from Mission of Burma's 2006 album: Obliterati
IMAGINE you met me at one of the fancy dress parties I frequented during my 20s (the scene: a Siouxsie and the Banshees CD plays in the background, a green eyed brunette curled in my lap, smiling wickedly while whispering pleasant scenarios on how to end the evening) and, for no immediate reason, asked: what is feminism?
'The idea that men and women should be treated equally', I would have answered. Straightforward and to the point, like a shot of vodka or a missile warhead meeting its target. I was certainly aware of feminist theory but, to be honest, didn't think that much of it. How could any such theory compare with the beauty, rigor and elegance of say, Niels Bohr's work? For appearances' sake, I kept these thoughts to myself; many of my politically minded friends spent hours debating the 'male gaze' and allied topics. I wasn't in the mood for arguments or denunciations. Better to talk about Christopher's trip to Chiapas or where to get cheap saki.
...
This is how things stood for years...
Until bitchlab.com.
When the blog, bitchlab.com launched a few years ago - founded and operated by our very own "Bitch" - I was introduced to feminist theory all over again. This time however, I paid close attention. "Bitch" conducted blog seminars (is there a new word for this yet?) which introduced her readers to some of the critical texts and ideas of feminist theory. It was from B that I acquired the necessary tools to properly dissect Ariel Levy's moralist heavy breathing about so-called "Female Chauvanist Pigs". This was an important turning point in my opinion of feminist theory because, for the first time, I clearly saw its ability to address real world problems (in that case, Levy's lefty sex panic which, for a little while, had me snowed). Bitchlab taught me the history of the Cohambee River Collective and its influence on widely held beliefs about authenticity via oppression. I also learned about sex positive (sexpos) feminism - what it is, what it isn't and, perhaps most importantly, what it's usually caricatured to be. This is only a rough remembrance of the wealth of topics covered.
Good times.
Through bitchlab.com I learned about other feminist blogs - and there are many - and read them too. I was particularly interested in the 'women of color' (WOC) blogs. In my reading experience they tended to be less fixated on the 'what's wrong with men!?' and male atrocity of the day posts which seemed to be such a regular fixture of blogs written by white women - at least the ones I came across. WOC blogs were designed, it seemed to me, to be platforms for real world movement building, for providing solidarity and support and for having fun with words (an often underrated pastime in earnest activist circles).
Reading these many blogs, I began to notice - rhetoric about "sisterhood" aside - the existence of several distinct groups, organized by temperament, political philosophy, attitudes about the concept of patriarchy and even sense of humor (or the lack thereof). That wasn't surprising - we're attracted to and tend to associate with people who share our interests and general outlook.
It wasn't long however before disagreements between individual feminist bloggers turned into total war as their supporters contributed to an array of internecine conflicts. Lines were clearly drawn between, for example, sex positives and the "I blame the patriarchy" group over authenticity, commitment to feminist ideals and, at one point, whether or not sexpos supporters were excessively (and selfishly) concerned with their orgasms over and above the struggle against male domination.
I must admit that I was truly surprised by the ferocity of these battles which sometimes (often!) became incredibly nasty.
There were fractures within groups as well. Disagreements arose between white and WOC feminist bloggers - who otherwise often identified as being part of the sexpos camp - over unacknowledged racism, suppression of topics ('silencing') and the hand waving dismissal of concerns and complaints as being unable to 'move past race.'
All of this is natural enough (sisterhood may be powerful, but simian clan building is, it appears, and even greater force) but does raise questions about the feminist blog project.
That is, while the goal of at least some feminist bloggers (and some of the brightest, funniest and most engaged) was to build a new movement using new tools, the Internet's matchless ability to heighten the contradictions - between people - appears to have served as an amplifier and accelerator of our capacity for balkanization.
In other words, instead of building a single movement, or even a fleet of allied movements pursuing different but ultimately converging goals, what I witnessed was the founding of virtual nations - perpetually declaring war upon one another over real and imagined injuries.
.d.
-- "We're candies, not job applicants, give us a shot!"
...................... http://monroelab.net/blog/