What Happens Next: A Gallimaufry

melancholic romantic comic cynic. bi & genderqueer. fantasy writer. sysrae on ao3.

Anonymous asked: Watching your Twitter shakedown with that BHwriter and his cohorts--the thing that gives me the worst heebie-jeebies is the women coming to his defense with statements like--embroidery is for women, radical feminists are horrible, etc, etc, etc. It's just... eesh. What inspires some women to champion causes that are potentially harmful to themselves?

Honestly, I think it’s probably a myriad of things. After Schlichter made his initial comment about how I was unlikely to find a husband because of my views, two women joined the conversation to echo his sentiments. The fact that I’m already married seemed to surprise them, though one went as far to express her belief that my husband must be a “real catch”.

It’s a species of feminine pride, I think - which is sad, because feminine pride is something I’m normally in favour of. Having accepted traditional gender identities as being innate, correct and necessary, it’s understandable that some women then go the extra step of taking pride in their adherence to and support of gender norms, so that anyone who diverges is seen as backwards or inferior. Under those circumstances, it’s hard to convince people of the inherent sexist and circularity in the logic that says men who behave in feminine ways are weak, because they don’t see it as being a slight on either femininity or women to say that femininity is only good when practised by women. Probably, they’d argue that the reverse is also true - that masculinity is only good when practised by men - yet so much of what used to be traditionally masculine has now become feminine or neutral that it’s a harder position to maintain, especially if you examine it closely. 

I respect the right of women to choose and follow traditionally feminine paths, choose being the crucial word. The idea that it’s all innate, or that we should be punished for diverging, is anathema to me.

  1. dukenarrativium said: I suspect their being Tea Party activists can’t have helped. Those two squicked me out the most, too.
  2. fozmeadows posted this