FAQ
Q: Who are the Harpies?
The Harpies are six women in their twenties and thirties. Most of us live in New York; one of us lives in the greater DC area. We work in all sorts of different fields. Some of us are in long-term committed relationships; some of us are not.
Probably none of that gives you an idea of what brought us together, and that’s fine with us. We do share certain interests and I guess we could tell you about them here in the FAQ but it’d be a vague and boring list (e.g., likes: cheese; dislikes: Ayn Rand), so you might as well just read our blog.
Q: What’s the raison d’être of the blog, then?
We find each other (and ourselves) witty, interesting, and damn sharp. And we have a lot to say.
This blog grew out of a feeling that there is, well, a dearth of smart, funny, opinionated women talking out there in the world, and rather than wait for a space to open up to hear what we have to say we decided to just start yelling. You know, on a blog. In the bowels of the internet. Everybody has to start somewhere… you yourself can get started in our comments section, after you read our rules.
Q: Are you ladies (gulp), you know… feminists?
Yes.
Q: Oh, good. I’ve always wondered about feminism. Can you explain it? Please start at the beginning.
Like most feminists we’ve met, we feel generally unqualified to give you a definitive account of what feminism “is.” We have some shared parameters – for example, must not hate women, must not assume that any subject is off-limits from a feminist lens – and we think you might see a certain consistency of aim and purpose in the Harpies’ brand of feminism, but we cannot claim to have all the answers. Moreover, while you’ll hear us constantly talk about feminism on this blog, we don’t intend it to systematically set out what feminism “is.” If you’re interested in that discussion, we recommend Finally, A Feminism 101 Blog
Q: I am in possession of a penis. Am I welcome here?
We here at Pursuit of Harpyness generally believe that men can and do participate in the struggle for women’s liberation – or, otherwise said, feminism. Patriarchy hurts men, too. So yes, you are welcome, provided that your plan is to participate in the discussion rather than dominate it. We do ask that as a ground rule, men allow women the authority to be the best people to articulate “what it’s like to be a girl.”
Q: Can I get pictures of you ladies?
A: No.
Q: I’d like to comment on one of your posts. What are your rules?
A: We are too lazy to moderate comments too heavily, and we would like to encourage a fairly freewheeling form of discourse. We reserve the right to delete your comment if we find it offensive or boring, regardless of your First Amendment right to be a boring, offensive internet jerk. These are, of course, subjective standards, but as PilgrimSoul would tell you, if you think rules are objective anyway you’ve clearly never been to law school.
But we were all commenters on a blog once, and so, in order to give you some idea of things we find offensive and boring, here are some parameters
- Sexist/racist/ableist/classist/homophobic language;
- Personal narratives that, while undoubtedly cathartic for the writer, do not really advance or even necessarily relate to the discussion at hand;
- Petulant self-justification: “But I am [insert characteristic], and I’m a good person!”
- Comments indicating a profound lack of self-awareness: “Everybody who writes for this website is such a hypocrite, hiding behind an anonymous name and all!”
