Monday, December 05, 2005
Blogosphere catfight!
Women - you can't live with 'em...ahem.The claws have come out folks! There's an almighty catfight brewing in our humble Irish blogosphere! Yes, these bloggeresses have left the kitchen and the dinner-making to debate....wait for it...feminism. (shudder)
From Sigla, I learned of this post by Auds over at Reality Check who bravely explained why she is not, and never has been, a feminist.
"Now more than ever is the stereotype of the weak woman unable to hack it reinforced by those sisters claiming to speak for all," wrote Auds.
She continued:
"But most of all we need to reclaim the freedom to be feminine."
Seems fair enough to me, but, as expected, the Feminazis were outraged at any sign of support for people without a vagina. As Auds explained in her follow-up post:
"So far I’ve been called foolish, witless, bad mannered, complacent, poorly educated with suspect intelligence with stereotyped, ill-informed, fanciful ungrateful opinions. Fair enough – maybe I am and more."
Well I don't think it's very fair. I think the detractors should stop forcing their views down other people's throats. Lay off the Oprah, ladies.
However, as highlighted above, the ladies of the Irish blogosphere were about as impressed as they would be by the local talent at a Cork disco. Here is what Beth Bond had to say over at 'Broccoli for Breakfast':
Men are not the 'official enemies' of feminism...Feminism is not a single ideology and since its inception has never been. If, as Auds suggests, claiming to be a feminist depends on the definition, then I suggest that she and women of her ilk educate themselves in the many definitions of feminism out there – Marxist feminism, eco-feminism, liberal feminism, post-colonial feminism and black feminism – take your pick, just don't assume that all feminism is radical or separatist, please."
Meow! I just checked the list of blogs Beth here links to. Are there any male bloggers there? At all? Hmm. This post by the way was a follow-up from her earlier post, 'Are Men Necessary?'
Next we had Maura at Babblogue join the melee:
"Women are under more pressure to be the all-round superwoman who is a sex-kitten and domestic goddess while having a non-threatening career than ever before, and it's not feminism that's shovelling that unrealistic goal, but the glossy world of commercialism...Sure, we've achieved a lot, but we still have a ways to go. I don't think it's time to ignore feminism just yet..."
It was time to ignore feminism years ago! Yeah women are real oppressed by commercialism! Remember that Diet Coke ad where the women stand around leering at the hulking brute doing his work? Oh those poor women!
Then Fiona at Mental Meanderings decided to stop doing the ironing temporarily and to add her two cents (more likely her husband's two cents seeing as men are the natural bread-winners):
"Auds simply bashes feminism in this extract and fails to offer any justification for her self-confessed hatred of feminism: she doesn’t engage with the theory, she doesn’t explain her point of view. This kind of polemic is reflective of the ignorant dismissal of feminism rife among young women who have the opportunities they have because of the feminist movement and who now shun that label, shun the movement that helped to liberate them, fail to recognise the inherent patriarchy within a liberal system such as Ireland’s and refuse to inform themselves about feminism for fear of being labeled the undesirable man-hating feminist."
Patriarchy within the Irish system? This anti-penile hysteria has reached breaking point! Were things really that bad for women in Ireland? We're all aware of the stereotype of the 'Mammy' culture and it's widely known that 1916 rebel James Connolly pushed for women's rights. Women played a big role in the Rising and in Irish history in general. I think some women are letting themselves be influenced by Feminazis from America who seem to want to completely get rid of men from society.
In closing, I'd just like to say this. There is NO agenda against you, ladies. Actually us guys quite like you if truth be told. And, when you're not doing the ironing, making the tea, cooking the dinner and doing all your other mandatory chores, we are quite willing to spend time with you believe it or not. It's high time you abandoned this tired old guff about women being neglected. You aren't. Deal with it.
Don't blame us because we have a penis and you don't.
Now if you'll excuse me, writing this long post has made me thirsty and I need a cup of tea. Where's a woman when you need one eh?
# posted by United Irelander @ 4:36 PM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
