And now I’m off to the lumberyard!

http://ceceliahouse.wordpress.com/2007/03/31/pornography-and-pop-culture-part-1/

“Whisnant uses this opportunity to articulate a clear distinction between 2nd and 3rd wave feminism. She argues that viewing the difference as solely generational is a mistake.

There is a fundamental difference between the 2 waves that isn’t reflected in current literature. In 3rd wave feminism, she argues, there is a reluctance to speak for other women, and thus, most of the arguments about what counts as feminist revolve around the choice of the women directly involved.

Therefore, if a woman chooses to appear in pornographic material, that choice is necessarily feminist.

Members of the 2nd wave believed that women shared a common condition, and as they began to uncover the political implications of their private lives, they felt very strongly that their personal decisions had much broader implications for women everywhere.

Because of these divergent views about what constitutes feminist action, 2nd and 3rd wave feminists developed very different reactions to pornography. In fact, it seems like the 3rd wave arguments are less about pornography and more about personal freedom and autonomy.

But those concepts are not uncomplicated. To say that something was autonomously chosen is so complex and contingent that it becomes a meaningless statement. These accounts rarely take into account the full weight of coercion, adaptive preferences, economic and social inequality, and a whole host of other factors that constrain one’s autonomy.

We’ve been talking a lot in one of my classes about feminism being similar to membership in a union. In certain situations, you may be asked to give up something that is personally beneficial because your rejection of it works to the advantage of the entire group. This example was offered in our discussion of marriage, but I think fits somewhat into the ….”

Read the rest at the link above

NAME your School - showing porn from the activities board? Name your school! There is a NOW chapter somewhere around and they will support campus actions — This is the time and place for you to organize. It is true that most women’s studies money is now split with gender meaning transsexual studies and the left controls womens studies and has returned the analysis to their divisive identity politics as opposed to equal rights and equal opportunity bread and butter issues. But the way to save yourself is to focus on the personal things in your life and environment that oppress and demean you as an individual.

There is a wonderful post with comments on the Reclusive Leftist here:
http://www.reclusiveleftist.com/?p=671

Titled “Why morons think Prostitution is Empowering”

I suggest it because it will give you the language to fight the dehumanization of women on your campus.

That you do not name your school tell me you live in fear and isolation. Why are you so afraid? There is no light for others to find you until you light one in the darkness. Speak Up and encourage others who are afraid. You too can write for your newspaper. I do not think Twisty was unhelpful to the young woman. I think she was asking what happened to the feminism classes? Twisty, the left has co-opted them. They have become touchy feel identity politic and white guilt tripping BS.

There is no law or history or truth of women’s experience, just prostitution told by Coyote members funded by the porn industry, founded by women who were never prostitutes and the status of Muslim women taught by males with books written by convert women who live in the west. It is all cultural relativism now called intersectionality.

I will come back with a link to a report on one excellent women studies course when I can find the link.

I did get, and like, the point you were making Twisty. What I kinda hope happens to the y.o. you profile is that she figures out that she’s going to get a huge ration of shit from Dude Nation, no matter how mild her complaints, so she might as well minimize her appeasement strategies and go for the whole enchilada. (Few of us can eliminate appeasement entirely, and we don’t all agree on what counts as appeasement anyway.) The other thing I’ve discovered is that going for the whole enchilada, whatever I conceive that to be, has found me/us unexpected allies. Turns out there are lots of people out there who really would prefer not to be part of Dude Nation (including a fair number of men, IMHE) but don’t know how to articulate that.

No idea why I’m feeling so optimistic today; perhaps my obstreperal lobe is still asleep.