Roar of approval. I’m so glad to see Paglia using her powers for good …

Kate Dinos last blog post..On The Eighth Day

Good stuff. I’ve liked a lot stuff she has written, although I know them mostly as sound bites. I think both the Left and the Right think she is one of “theirs’ which is pretty cool. She apparently takes stands that are in opposition to the majority factions. It always annoyed the hell out of me that when I was a conservative I had to be against environmentalism or gay rights. Or if I was a liberal I had to endorse Keynesian economics and be opposed to our incursions in Iraq. Hogwash.

Here is a quote of hers that one of the few ’straight’ male ballet dancers I ever met once gave me:

“Heaven help the American-born boy with a talent for ballet.”

Christian Beyers last blog post..My Son Ian Joins the Marines

Detest? That’s a strong word for someone you disagree with. Or have you met? You remind me of those folks who detest Hillary and Obama. Or the ones who maligned Andrew Jackson’s wife’s good looks (or lack there of).

I didn’t agree with Bill Clinton on much of anything. I’ll bet it would have been fun to share a beer with him though. I’d rather go camping with him than Carter or GWB.

Buddy,
My definition of a feminist is someone who believes in equal rights, under the law, for women. Earlier feminists campaigned for rights to inherit, to own property, to vote. Then they campaigned for other equal provisiions of the law nand for the right to work in some occupations that were traditionally men-only jobs. Today they are campaigning for equal pay for equal work and to break the ‘glass ceiling’ in government and business circles.

By this definition, I consider myself a feminist and I suspect you are, too. Title IX is a result of the feminist movement and one of the reasons the USA did so well in Bejing–especially in womens team sports. When my kids were growing up, my son had community football, basketball, etc. My daughters had nothing. Today, due to Title IX, girls have community soccer, basketball, softball, etc.

I am a feminist even though I did not choose to support EITHER of the prominent female candidates this year. Equal rights does not mean preference.

I’m really not sure what you have against Michele. I can see how the others might rub you the wrong way. The feminists of old–some of them, at least–were militant. They had to be to get people to take them seriously. They had to shock and then shame people. While they did have men supporting their cause, they needed a whole lot more before they could get the changes they sought. Gloria and Babs are like that. I always felt Hillary wanted to help Hillary a lot more than she wanted to help women’s equality. However, if she could USE the support of the feminist movement, she was glad to do so. As for Sarah, I’m not sure she is for the women’s movement either. She seems to me to be for Sarah and if anyone crosses her, well she will just cut him off at the knees. ‘Least that’s what I hear from Alaska. I wouldn’t suggest her for a role model either.

She seems to me to be for Sarah and if anyone crosses her, well she will just cut him off at the knees

And your point, Bill? She sounds like a woman who is making it in a man’s world, like most politicians, Left or Right, and most business people. Isn’t that the goal of militant feminism?

As far as the glass ceiling goes – it’s a myth. Taken as a percentage of those in the work force, there are more women CEO’s and more women business owners than men. And when you factor in the time that women have taken off to raise families they actually earn more on average than men do. And it only makes sense, because business’s main focus is profitability and on average women are more productive, more dependable and more loyal in the workplace (they show up more often on Monday mornings.)The bottom line cares nothing for gender.

Christian Beyers last blog post..There Oughta Be a Law

Aww man, it’s like November and I’m just checking your blog

I absolutely HATED most of my women’s studies at UMBC, mainly because of the professors and the stupid curriculum, so I understand why people don’t dig feminism. I was always more attracted to race and poverty issues than I was for gender issues, but I don’t think feminism should get as bad as a rap as it does.

Just like Afrocentrism, Eurocentrism, etc… feminism or womanism is just the study of the world from a woman’s perspective. I think women have different and unique perspectives on the world, but unfortunately throughout history their voices were often silenced, so there has now been a resurgence of interest in history, politics, education, you name it from womens’ perspectives. I’m sure Women’s Studies classes at Harvard are far better than UMBC’s, but that’s another post.

The conservative woman’s viewpoint should be heard and represented more in the feminist/women’s studies realm, but they are often left out.

Okay, okay, maybe I should have said that I detest her viewpoints, just like I detest Hilary’s viewpoints on many things. I wouldn’t mind going camping with her at all…maybe she could teach me how to roast a mooseburger over the fire. But as a politician and leader of the people I have virtually no respect for her. No street cred with me there. Sarah Palin certainly has a role in feminist/womanist history though.

~Tara