dgross@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Dave Gross) (06/05/91)
According to tittle@alexandre-dumas.ICS.UCI.EDU (Cindy Tittle Moore): >Let me make a minor point here. I have never seen men stop themselves >from oppressing men. In the last point you made, actual beating up of >gay men is done by men in probably 99% of the cases (I am *not* >dismissing the impact of female homophobia) -- when is the last time >you heard about a gang of women beating a suspected homosexual up? > >My question then becomes, how do you attribute the causes behind your >six points TO WOMEN? Or, more accurately, only to women? Why is it >that the idea of men holding power means to you that *no* men will >suffer? (Is it because you think that no women will suffer if women >hold power?) > >--Cindy I think we can relate this to other sexist acts. For instance, foot-binding in China was done mainly by the mothers to the daughters. The majority of viewers of the Miss America pageant are women. Many believe that women were more responsible for defeating the ERA than were men. Female circumcision is often performed by women. Similarly, it has been mostly male legislators who have created and sustained the sexist draft. The majority of boxing promoters are men. Men are no less likely than women to support the wars their brothers are being sent to die in. Male circumcision is often performed by men. Feminists have often been able to twist cases of women oppressing women into cases of men oppressing women by turning the perpetrator into either a slave to the patriarchy, or an unwitting dupe of men. Thus: Arguments like "the reason foot-binding was perpetrated by women is because they were told by men that their daughters would not be desirable wives if they did not have properly shaped feet." Some masculists have tried to use this type of logic, too, saying that the men who support an all-male draft are only doing this because they are afraid that women will label them wimps otherwise, or alternately because their mothers (being the dominant parental figure) and the matriarchal school system molded them into being cannon fodder. I don't think either of these approaches is very accurate. My opinion, and I think it makes sense if you think about it, is that we live in a sexist society -- one in which sex roles play an important part, and one which most everyone manages to support either consciously or subconsciously. In fact, I'd wager it takes a conscious and deliberate effort to avoid living stereotypically and with sexist viewpoints in this society. I don't think men created this sexism; I don't think women created this sexism. I don't think either group can be entirely blamed for its perpetuation. To both groups, certain advantages and disadvantages are given by this sexism. Both groups, I think, have a stake in dismantling sexism. -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- dgross@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "There is not a single `feminine' role that any female is required to perform, but it is still a criminal offence for a man not to do what men-only are required to do." -- Fred Hayward, on military draft registration