Illiterati

Reasons I can see why you might vote Santorum:

jonnybrammah:

• You, like him, are a hateful cunt.
• That, if he wins, maybe around Christmas time he will dress up like Santa and call himself “President Santa-rum”.
• Both of the above.

Pretty much covers it.

privilege a poem for men who don’t understand what we mean when we say they have it

In Sylvia Plath Country by Erica Jong

The skin of the sea

has nothing to tell me.

I see her diving down

into herself—

past the bell-shaped jellyfish

who toll for no one—

& meaning to come back

            *

In London, in the damp

of a London morning,

I see her sitting,

folding & unfolding herself,

while the blood

hammers like rain

on her heart’s windows.

This is her own country—

the sea, the rain

& death half ryhming

with her father’s name.

Obscene monosyllable,

it lingers for a while

on the roof

of the mouth’s house.

I stand here

savoring the sound,

like salt

          *

They thought your death

was you last poem :

a black book

with gold-tooled cover

& pages the color of ash.

But I thought different,

knowing how madness

doesn’t believe 

in metaphor.

When you began to feel

the drift of continents

beneath your feet,

the sea’s suck,

& each

atom of the poisoned air,

you lost

the luxury of similie.

          *

Gull calls, broken shell,

the quarried coast.

This is where America ends,

dropping off

to the depths.

Death comes

differently in California.

Marilyn stalled

in celluloid,

the frame stuck,

& the light

burning through.

Bronze to her platinum,

Ondine, Ariel,

finally no one,

What could we tell you

after you dove down into yourself

& were swallowed

by your poems?

- Erica Jong in Women’s Studies, Vol. 2 No. 1 (1974)

Biological Sexism

makemeanon:

I want to start this post by identifying myself as a white female in the United States.  That being said, my first-hand knowledge is limited to American culture and I recognize that.  My point is, that if you’re going to disagree with me because thing’s are different in your culture, tell me about it.  I’m not trying to act like I know anything of substance about your culture.  My main point, is to explain why I am not a feminist.  I feel like my views on feminism will be very prevalent on this blog.  Also, the points made in this post are based on my own heterosexual view point.

Throughout my life, I have not noticed or experienced overt sexism often.  As I sit here and think right now, I can’t remember any point or episode where I have said “Wow, that was very hurtful and sexist”.  However, since I’ve been on tumblr (about 4 years), I’ve seen a widened definition of what women find to be sexist.  The things that tumblr has told me are sexist, are actually common in our culture, but I don’t find them offensive or even important.

The reason being, these things that are viewed as sexist, are often biologically routed.  For example, the idea that men are better at certain sports than women.  This is because, biologically, men have the hormones that cause them to have bodies that are naturally build for sports.  Now, I’m not saying that all men have to be buff or even that all men are buff.  What I’m saying is that, the male sex hormone, testosterone, causes a growth in muscle mass.  Thus, the male body is biologically built better for sports.  Females however, naturally have smaller, toned, slender builds.  This makes them good for generally feminine sports such as dancing.

Something that really bothers me is the social standard of shaving the female legs.  Testosterone also causes increase in body hair. Therefore, it’s not logical to expect men to shave.  So, the feminist movement has taken on the idea that women shouldn’t have to shave.  Of course, women don’t have to shave.  No one is making them.  If you don’t want to shave, fine.  However, don’t expect men to fall at your feet claiming that they love your devotion to the feminist movement and therefore want to marry you and love you.  Now, don’t get all upset and say that women shouldn’t have to cater to men.  I didn’t once say that they should.  However, men shouldn’t have to endure a characteristic in a women that they really don’t like when women can easily shave their legs.  Women aren’t expect to only date men who have beards because beards are natural.  If a woman likes a beard, she can date a man who has a beard.  If she prefers a clean shaven man, she can find a clean shaven man.  A man isn’t wrong for preferring shaven legs.

My final point is the idea of what is physically appealing to a man.  These things, mostly, are biologically ingrained.  It all goes back to the biological urge to procreate, for example, large hips.  In a female, large hips allow for easier child bearing.  A large opening in the pelvic region not only allows for comfortable, spacious growth for the fetus, but it makes childbirth easier.  Therefore, nature biological urges cause men to be physically attracted to hips.  Next example. large and perky breasts show that a women has matured to appropriate reproductive age.  Clean skin speaks to healthy intake of vitamins as well as cleanliness, all things that make a women more capable of caring a healthy child to full term.  As for long, shiny hair; hair has to be very healthy to grow to a substantial length because deprived hair will break off and be lackluster.  A long mane shows that hair is taken care of and healthy; another sign that a woman is capable of producing healthy children.

These are basic characteristics that biologically signal to men that women are going to be good candidates to breed with.  This is a biological urge just like eating and sleeping.  Don’t blame society  or sexism for these things, blame evolution.  All of the above examples show that men and women are not the same.  We will never be the same unless evolution continues and eventually streamlines gender to the point that we are all getting large amounts of the same sex hormone.  

I hope you don’t see this as too aggressive a reply, I just thought I’d provide some points that contrast your idea of “biological sexism”. I am not American, nor hetero, but I am white and cisgendered. Being British I believe my culture not so dissimilar to your own.

Firstly, the fact that something may be common or inoffensive to the majority of people who are a part of our culture is not evidence that the thing in question is not sexist. The nature of patriarchy is social, and we are all a part of it. This means that we are all socialised (brought up to) believe the divisions between men and women are natural. It is a social construct that all women must look and behave one way, and that all men must look and behave the other way. Consequently, I personally find myself surrounding by sexism. Can we explain the pay gap by saying that men are biologically better at all kinds of work than women? Can we explain away the commonality of rape, and the miniscule conviction rate of rapists, by saying that men are naturally more violent and exploitative than women, and therefore can’t help it? I find that some men, or some institutions, assume me not to be intelligent, funny, rational or reasonable on a daily basis because of the myth of gender and sex essentialism, the myth that because I am a woman I must possess certain characteristics.

Here, I will agree with you. It is a fact that higher levels of testosterone promote muscle growth, and certain other bodily characteristics such as being hairy, or having a deeper voice. Higher levels of oestorogen mean breasts, wider hips, a less hair. However, I know, as I’m sure you do, women who don’t have all of these physical characteristics, and men who don’t either. Some women excell in the sporting arena, at a whole manner of sports beyond dance and netball. Some men, likewise, are able to become beutiful dancers. I believe that the emphasis on competition (chiefly through sport) for men is damaging and sexist, and promotes a lack of emotional honesty (which is psychologically damaging) and maybe even violence. I’ve been reading a book by Carolyn Heilbrun recently, written in 1973, that gives an example of a girl being allowed to join a little league baseball team after besting all of the boys in try outs. Logically, this girl was better at sports than the other boys on the team. However, there was an outcry. The girl was kicked off the team and replaced with a boy of less ability. This is the blatant sexism that assuming gender and ability must necessarily correlate in any and all fields causes. 

To the body hair idea. Men are generally more hairy than women. I’m not going to argue. Women, however, still do have a significant amount of hair. A man who chooses to grow a beard is not treated in the same way as a woman who chooses not to shave her legs. The act of shaving, for anybody, is not a natural or biological occurence. Therefore, the idea that men are naturally attracted to hairless legs is illogical. Men are socialised to be attracted to hairless women. You cite large breasts as a biological indicator that a woman is at a fine reproductive age, yet fail to notice that the fashion of the hairless woman notifies quite the opposite; lack of body hair biologically signals pre-pubescence. You perfectly sketch out the punitive nature of this beauty myth; if a woman does not shave, or look how she is told to look, she will not be loved, or even remotely interest, men. She will be relegated to a life as a spinster, possibly what is painted as the least desirable circumstance for a woman to be in. Yes, of course a woman should be able to choose whether or not to shave any part of her just as a man chooses to shave his beard, but as you pointed out, she cannot do so without risking social rejection.

The idea of natural biological attraction is also a flawed one. I know few women who aspire to be wide-hipped, large breasted edifices to the maternal, regardless of the fact that these qualities may or may not be biological signifiers of fertility and, therfore, attract male attention. In fact, the beauty myth appears to set somewhat different standards. In spite of this, to perpetuate the idea that ANY body type is required to gain and fulfil your status as a “woman” is damaging to women who do not fit into that narrow category. It creates issues of self esteem, amongst other things. While we’re at it, can we “biologically” explain away other differences of gender? High heels? Tights? Skirts? Make-up? Not having a valid opinion?

To sum up, yes sex hormones exist. Yes, to an extent, some sex differences exist. But society polarizes all things into the ultimate categories of male or female. Active/passive. Strong/weak. Rational/irrational. Almost always the “negative” side of the scale is also the female side. Furthermore, not all men are strong, not all women are overly emotional. These are myths that lead to unhealthy states of being for both sexes, and they cannot satisfactorily be explained away by biology.