Deirdre Saoirse wrote:
> On Mon, 7 Aug 2000, lou wrote:
> > The point is that there is a handicap on how we were raised and if you
> > have been able to do that, good for you, not everyone has the
> > resources to do that.
>
> No, you'd rather be a downtrodden soul, right? Or am I missing something?
You're missing something.
The first stage in being able to change yourself is recognising
yourself,
recognising parts of yourself, and recognising blindnesses you have.
Most people who are sexist (to themselves or to others) don't recognise
it in their own actions, statements, or assumptions. This does NOT make
them 'downtrodden souls', or even 'willing victims',it just makes them
human.
Actually, I could make a good cause for that statement 'you'd rather be
a downtrodden soul' to be sexist and even self-victimising... it implies
that
"it" (whatever "it" is) is one's own fault. It creates blame where none
exists.
> > "women create sexism as much, if not more, than men do" Here is that
> > buying into our own oppression I was talking about. The patriarchal
> > system has been here for well over a thousand years and you blame
> > women for it?
>
> Yes. Without their participation it wouldn't have happened. Sorry, that's
> the way it is. Who performs genital mutilations in Africa? Hint: it's not
> the men.
The patriarchal system is participated in and supported by the entire
culture, male and female. Calling it 'patriarchal' isn't blaming the
men,
nor is it stating that males are the prime movers or the main cause.
Mind you, I don't feel that either gender is necessarily more
'oppressed'
than the other. Equalism could have been generated as readily by freeing
males to do lower-status work, as by freeing females to do higher-status
work...
Of course, humans being human, which is more likely to be desired? :)
> In my book, no sexism is OK, not even yours. Until we have people willing
> to admit that individuals, not classes of people, are sexist and help
> them learn to correct their behaviors, we will just have a society of
> children in aging bodies.
Accusing someone of preferring to be a downtrodden soul won't help.
It'll just anger them and make them more resistant to your words.
Accusations at all, or statements which can be taken as accusations,
don't help. Of course, I'm guilty of that too. :) It's the easy way
to get your point said.
Of course, it doesn't get your point /heard/. :)
Jenn V.
--
"Do you ever wonder if there's a whole section of geek culture
you miss out on by being a geek?" - Dancer.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Jenn Vesperman
http://www.simegen.com/~jenn/
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