8/05/2006
In last night's podcast I talked a little bit about the marginal utility of extreme political correctness and how unchecked political correctness can cause too much focus on the small stuff and not enough focus on what really matters. If you don't want to listen to some great music before and after, you can just listen to the techcerpt. Dave Winer, who I talked about in the techcerpt, has some similar thoughts, having had a lot of people spend a lot of time trying to correct his politics lately. Time that could have been spent on something far more important.
Posted by Kent @ 8/05/2006 10:53:00 AM |
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3 Comment(s):
Regrettably, I can't say what I'd like to say in reply, because of the extreme political correctness in the blogosphere.
(I mean that!)
Thanks, but as a woman, if I want to tell a guy not to speak up in support of feminism and equality, I'll do it myself, tyvm. I don't need you telling them not to for me. :)
Is it really so hard to believe that there are guys who listen and learn from feminist theory, and earnestly support it? That they're not just being chivalrous, PC or trying to impress females?
It's not a gender war with guys on one side and girls on another. Men are more than welcome to chime in on the issues, just as they were welcomed at BlogHer.
I fear that statements like you made in your podcast have a chilling effect on men who might like to "cross party lines" and speak up, ensuring that the vast majority of men who do speak are the ones who do so to criticize feminism.
Gender alone neither qualifies nor disqualifies one from taking a position--this goes both ways too. Being a woman doesn't give an individual authority on feminist issues either.
First of all, thanks for commenting. I really appreciate the opportunity to converse and learn.
I understand your point about learning feminist theory, as well as the possibility that my statements may inadvertently have a chilling effect. But I still think that some guy taking it upon himself to lead the charge of feminist reaction can be (maybe not always is, but can be) just as sexist as whatever was said to cause that reaction.
Maybe it's a matter of degree. As the father of two daughters who have been told from the time they could look me in the eye that they can do anything a little boy can do, only better (many times they have proven this), if someone said that women should get back to the kitchen, etc., I would certainly react very negatively- and I would expect other men to do so as well.
But that's the easy example. The reality is that most conversations are far more subtle than that. I am no expert on feminist thought, but I can't help but believe there is some element of interpretation involved in identifying sexist behavior- a "know it when you hear it" sort of thing.
I think in those cases, the collective thought of women is a better litmus test than what some guy, well meaning or not, decides.
I also imagine that every woman (every person, for that matter) has a slightly different definition of what is and isn't sexist, which makes it hard to draw bright lines around what is and is not OK.
For example, I will admit to being completely confused about whether it's OK to say "wow, she's pretty too," right after I say how smart, successful, etc. she is. I certainly don't think of it as demeaning when I think it, but somehow it feels wrong to say it (so I don't- at least not out loud).
I wasn't at BlogHer and I don't know what Dave said or didn't say there- though he told me about one unpleasant exchange he had, so I assume emotions were high, at least at some point.
But based on what I have read (again, which is all I really know), I think it's very much up to interpretation whether what Dave wrote on his blog was truly sexist. If someone was offended, then I guess it was on some level. But there should be an element of intent somewhere in the mix. And, candidly, I think there are some who look for reasons to be offended.
My main point is that I have read more about Winergate post-BlogHer than anything else that happened there- and I think that's too bad.
That's what I mean by focusing on the small stuff at the expense of the more important stuff.
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