(no subject)
Sep. 21st, 2006 02:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adrienmundiI read a lot of blogs during the day, and curiously, the majority of them could loosely be called 'feminist blogs', in that no matter what topic they write about, the writers are aware of the loose domain of 'feminism' (even if the edges are blurry and mobile, particularly as you ask different feminists). For those who humor me and follow my links, the names are probably familiar: Echidne of the Snakes, Feministe, Pandagon, Fetch Me My Axe, Bitch Lab, to name the daily reads. I read others less frequently, but widely.
I think part of the appeal to me is that the writers don't come to politics with the perspective of playing a game; they are all very focused on the fact that this affects people's lives on a daily basis, and are not abstractions. This isn't to say that there is a paucity of theory; despite thinking of myself as a round heeled theory slut, I learn a fair amount, and my horizons have been broadened.
There is a problem, though, for me, and that is what feels like the totalizing discourse in core concepts. 'Women' tend to experience much more sexism than 'men'; I'll buy that, in spades (and that's not to say it's necessarily the fault of individual 'men' that they often recieve structural preference). I'd broaden that to say that anyone who isn't a 'man' will have greater structural difficulties than anyone who is, and that's where my problem with the discursive currents begins. The default setting for most people, including feminists, is that humanity can be divided into two and only two camps, 'women' and 'men'; obviously, I don't believe that (I also don't believe humanity can clearly be divided between 'male' and 'female'). I place myself firmly in the group of 'not-men', which in my mind includes 'women', but often the discourse posits only 'men' and 'women', leaving me either out in the cold, or assigned in ways I do not want or to which I do not consent (it's a testament to... something... that I often feel the assignment is 'man', but I don't think that's merely my own neuroses; difference is ignored until it can't be, and there are rarely other conceptual categories on the table. That I reject the transsexual narrative and/or label only further pushes me into either/or in the minds of most). It's hard for me to read, and to the limited extent that I do, participate without feeling like I'm being erased or overwritten. I don't want to insist that my position of gender variance be the subject, because I don't, but damn, it'd be nice if there were nods to people other than 'women' or 'men', even if there don't appear to be very many of us.
I think part of the appeal to me is that the writers don't come to politics with the perspective of playing a game; they are all very focused on the fact that this affects people's lives on a daily basis, and are not abstractions. This isn't to say that there is a paucity of theory; despite thinking of myself as a round heeled theory slut, I learn a fair amount, and my horizons have been broadened.
There is a problem, though, for me, and that is what feels like the totalizing discourse in core concepts. 'Women' tend to experience much more sexism than 'men'; I'll buy that, in spades (and that's not to say it's necessarily the fault of individual 'men' that they often recieve structural preference). I'd broaden that to say that anyone who isn't a 'man' will have greater structural difficulties than anyone who is, and that's where my problem with the discursive currents begins. The default setting for most people, including feminists, is that humanity can be divided into two and only two camps, 'women' and 'men'; obviously, I don't believe that (I also don't believe humanity can clearly be divided between 'male' and 'female'). I place myself firmly in the group of 'not-men', which in my mind includes 'women', but often the discourse posits only 'men' and 'women', leaving me either out in the cold, or assigned in ways I do not want or to which I do not consent (it's a testament to... something... that I often feel the assignment is 'man', but I don't think that's merely my own neuroses; difference is ignored until it can't be, and there are rarely other conceptual categories on the table. That I reject the transsexual narrative and/or label only further pushes me into either/or in the minds of most). It's hard for me to read, and to the limited extent that I do, participate without feeling like I'm being erased or overwritten. I don't want to insist that my position of gender variance be the subject, because I don't, but damn, it'd be nice if there were nods to people other than 'women' or 'men', even if there don't appear to be very many of us.
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Date: 2006-09-22 01:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-22 10:52 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2006-09-22 09:16 pm (UTC)Thanks, though. I genuinely appreciate it.
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Date: 2006-09-22 09:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-26 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-23 10:59 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2006-09-23 11:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-23 11:05 am (UTC)http://jackadandy.net/blog/blog.html
or this one?
http://www.myhusbandbetty.com/
Betty has her own blog, somewhere. There are also boards; I keep meaning to post more often.
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Date: 2006-09-23 11:07 am (UTC)http://www.escortblogs.net/ladyaster.htm
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Date: 2006-09-23 11:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-24 03:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-23 11:15 am (UTC)http://trinityva.livejournal.com/