I don’t often read the blogs over at the National Review because ordinary, everyday stupidity makes me angry enough; professional-level idiocy makes me want to pull a Sylvia Plath. It reminds me there are people out there who are paid good money to suppress natural logistical impulses in favour of right-wing angry mobbery.
However, I maintain a Google alert on the word “feminism” and as you can imagine, my sense of snark is irrevocably titillated when said alert turns up a gem like this one: “What Feminism Wrought” by one Ms. Kathryn Jean Lopez.
Ms. Lopez has come to my attention before by way of the eternally dank smell wafting from her columnery. But here she displays a special level of nutfuckery that is deserving, I think, of special attention from my talons.
Ms. Lopez begins by recounting the sad statistic that half of teenagers surveyed believe it to be Rihanna’s fault that Chris Brown beat her to a pulp. I’ll not keep you in suspense: she places the blame for such attitudes squarely on feminists. Why? Well, that’s a little difficult to decode, because for some reason she then segues into coverage of that stupid O magazine article about how women are increasingly turning to lesbianism. (Good Christ if only I could.)
In this jumble she seems to be making some kind of weird argument that when feminism blurred and inverted and otherwise pulverized gender roles in its Highly Successful drubbing of the helpless menz (good Christ if only we could), women nonetheless, in their essentially subservient nature, wanted someone to dominate and control them – to “take charge” as it were. And so, they blame Rihanna and venerate Chris Brown because he… takes charge, I guess:
We’ve so confused ourselves that now many teenagers in Boston are excusing Chris Brown. Why wouldn’t they? He and Rihanna are equal, and we expect no more from men — in fact, we’ve conditioned a generation or two now to expect less.
Ah, right. Back in the day, when men were men and women were women and bonobos were… bonobos, there was absolutely no domestic violence or confused teenagers or women attracted to other women. You know how we know this? Well, we don’t, we just make up stories about some golden bygone era in which right was right and wrong was wrong and John Wayne kicked some major Indian ass (but them Injuns weren’t humans anyway so we don’t care what they thought of that, amirite, K.Lo????) and everyone went home to have some good old corn on the cob.
Jesus, K.Lo. Jesus wants you to read a book, any book, written by an actual, self-identified feminist. And you know what that book will tell you? It will tell you that people finding refuge in traditional gender roles and behaviours, and particularly in traditional gender roles and behaviours that involve violence, are doing the EXACT OPPOSITE OF FEMINISM.
Anyway, to be slightly less angry/snarky about it: in a world where women were actually the equals of men, where their stories were taken as seriously as men’s, there would be no question of “blame” here. Because in such a world, we all would know that women are hit, all the time, celebrity or no celebrity, provocation or no provocation, because they are women and because (some) men derive pleasure from controlling women. We would not be afraid of this essential truth. We would not be afraid of it because we would know the only way to change it to to be up front and honest about what actually happens to women, all the time, everywhere, sometimes for a “reason” and sometimes “just because.” We would not need to write a false history in which we gloss over a long history of men hitting women (and other men and women excusing him for it) with golden sparkles and heart-dotted i’s because it makes us feel better about ourselves.
In short, this world of Feminists Gone Wild that Lopez imagines we live in: it doesn’t exist. If it did exist, if we had had more than very modest success in decimating this “real men” and “real women” rhetoric, we wouldn’t have such trouble talking about (let alone ending) domestic violence. We wouldn’t have fundamentally confused columnists like Lopez. We would all be sitting on porches tossing tennis balls at the coterie of dogs we’ve adopted and reminiscing about our idyllic youthful escapades.
Instead, we’re blogging about rape and abortion and Rihanna and persecuted nuns and idiot popes who think no one should use condoms. We are not doing this because it is fun or because we would rather talk about these issues than bake bread or watch stupid movies or drink excellent wine. We are doing it because as of yet, as of today, March 23, 2009, at 1 p.m., feminism is not a success. Let me say that again: FEMINISM IS NOT A SUCCESS. People still think we are making this shit up. They tell me so all the time. My good friend Kat put it very well a little while ago:
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that feminism is inconvenient. It will make you less “fun”; it will make you seem humorless and crazy in the eyes of others; it will make you think ugly thoughts about the people you love.
Were feminism the ascendant, transcendent social movement Lopez and her ilk imagine it to be (and how close she is, btw, to certain strains of so-called “sex positive” feminism that say they’re so tired of women being victims) none of these things would be so obviously true. But they are. And as long as they are so plainly, obviously, hurtfully truthful, there will always be teenagers out there who think it’s worth talking about whether Rihanna “caused” her own assault.
I read “the corner” almost every day, just out of some masochistic influence (blame feminism?) K.J-lo is an amazing, amazing thinker. How on earth one could interpret a widespread acceptance of relationship violence on the part of adolescent girls to be due to the wild success of feminism is bewildering. Who does she think invented the domestic violence shelter? Passed domestic violence statutes? Established dv courts? Reformed family law to allow women to leave their batterers and protect their children? Was it traditional family structures? Why no, KJ-lo, it was FEMINISTS. And traditional family advocates resisted such movements at every turn, insisting as you do that somehow a retreat to “traditional” gender relations will induce all men to care for the women in their keeping instead of beating them, despite ALL HISTORICAL EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY. Does she seriously think that all these young women who don’t blame Chris Brown feel that way because they believe so fiercely in the equality of the genders that they believe a woman should be able to fight back? Has any feminist anywhere ever made such an argument? The only one I can think of who has come close is Camille Paglia, who, Ms. Lopez, you will notice is a famous ANTI-feminist. Get a clue lady. Your people are the problem
Ahem! My point being (I always forget my point mid-rant!) that I disagree that feminism is not successful. It HAS been successful at building a movement against dv. However, the opinions of young women on Chris Brown’s assault of Rihanna are decidedly NOT the evidence of its success. The evidence of its success is the fact that Kathryn Jean Lopez has even heard of domestic violence and knows it is wrong and against the law. Not that she will ever thank feminist for that.
The idea that feminism is behind all these teens thinking Rihanna was culpable is laughable. Except I can’t laugh because my blood boils. Why the hell would Lopez think that their behavior and beliefs with regards to this would be so incredibly influenced by feminist ideals is beyond me. I guess if we’re living in a post-racial society, we also must be in a post-gendered one too.
The attitudes displayed by those teenagers are evidence that feminism has not gone far ENOUGH.
@JD: Jesus invented all of those things. Also, tradition. Or something. All good things flow from tradition.
“Jesus wants you to read a book written by a feminist” is a sentence I have had so much use for in my life I am shocked it’s never come out of my mouth prior to today. I will definitely start saying it now, and often.
JD: I read the corner too, in fits and starts, I reach my breaking point and need to go away for a month or so. Kathryn Lopez is the absolute worst. Her ravings during the campaign were just off the wall insane.
Ok, I just read it. Beyond incoherent as usual. She writes all these articles from the perspective of her own “feelings” on the matter. I’d love for her to cite one damn statistic that changing gender roles are responsible for domestic violence but of course she can’t.
I want to say that KLo is not worth your time, except for the fact that this nonsense should not be left unopposed.
bluebears, there are so many articles i read from her and think, oh god, this poor woman is MISERABLE in her own marriage. i can’t think of a good example but just the way she talks about the institution as something that has zero to do with one’s personal happiness and everything to do with making sure society does not get away from us and go and progress without the Pope’s permission, sounds so sad and defeated to me.
So is it a good thing or a bad thing that an anti-feminist writer is as incoherent as KLo is? Looking on the bright side, it would seem like an opportunity. On the other hand, what kind of following does she have? Are there many people that don’t find her incoherent?
dude she’s the EDITOR of NRO. Is there any other conservative magazine that is widely read? no doubt the conservatives are in a serious state of decline. there hasn’t been an idea from the right in at least a year.
JD: good point. She also strikes me as a lonely person. Purely speculation. The other NR writers talk casually about their lives outside of politics at times but she never really does.
JD: I actually think its pretty sad what has happened to NR over the last decade. They didn’t use to be simply the print version of fox news.
bluebears, where ARE the thinking conservatives? I suppose it will take Obama completely fucking the economy up for the next four years to give them some new/old ideas.
Great, great article. Now you’ve got me wondering what a Feminists Gone Wild world /would/ look like.
Pregnant women being adequately counseled and presented with all their options, and not judged for whichever choice they settle on no matter what!
Women being paid equally!
Chocolate available at ballparks!
A major quibble: in a world where women were truly equal to men there would be no essential truth that women are hit all the time just for being women. In a world where feminism was somewhat respected, people would face that essential truth, but that is far from equality.
Fair enough, Nepenthe, although I do not know that I think women being equal to men would bring about the end of violence by itself.
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