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Lucy |
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"Women speak because they wish to
speak,
whereas a
man speaks only when driven to speech by something outside himself
- like, for instance, he can't find any clean socks." |
Jean Kerr |
The
greatest mistake made by most women is to start any conversation
on the topic with the phrase, "I'm not a feminist but...".
This is a defensive and, as all good
bullshitters know, the important thing is to
take the offensive
whether you know what you
are talking about or not.
The great mistake of most feminists is to be angry. It's not that
there isn't good reason to be angry
(reference #
1 at the end)
but the fact is that there's nothing less convincing than
rage.
The typical tactic of men when feminism is mentioned is to use
ridicule and sarcasm
so as
not to address
the
issues. The best
weapon against this tactic is
vitriolic
humour and disdain. |
Putting Men In Their Place |
Some men are still stupid enough to argue that they are more
intelligent, mentioning great men of the past. You could answer
that Pythagoras and Socrates were taught by women
(reference #
2 at the end),
but then again most men will probably think that they were two
Brazilian football players! It's probably easier to quote what men
have said about the matter. For example, Ashley Montagu
summed up the situation when he declared: "In
revolutionary terms, females are more advanced than males. Women
are more human than men". They should be able to understand
that. |
Being A Feminist |
As
we will see there are different types of feminists. However, all
feminists agree about certain things: |
-
At present,
men are bad. Popular historical author, Mary Reanault
stated:
"In
all men is
evil sleeping;
the good man is he who will not awaken it, in himself or
in other men".
-
Men are
responsible for the bad things in the world, like war.
"If a woman gets nervous,
she'll eat or go shopping. A man will attack a country -
it's a whole other way of thinking",
according to Elayne Boosler.
-
For the moment, marriage is bad for women.
"If you want to sacrifice the admiration of many men for
the criticism of one,
go ahead,
get married".
So said Katharine Hepburn.
-
Equal
opportunities don't currently exist.
"Whatever women do
they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as
good. Luckily this is not difficult"
(reference #
3
at the end).
-
Feminism
shouldn't be about making women more like men, but about
making men more like women.
|
|
|
There are two types of feminist: moderate/optimists and
radical/pessimists. The optimists believe that men are redeemable.
They think that with an appropriate education and an adequate
legal system it is possible to reform men and turn them into
decent human beings. In contrast, the pessimists think that all
men are bastards. The evidence of the last seven thousand years of
human history is clearly in favour of the pessimists. It is much
easier to argue from the pessimist
standpoint.
However, male pro-feminists have to adopt the position of the the
optimists (otherwise they would just have
to go
poison
themselves!!) |
The Moderate/Optimists |
The
optimists can cite a long series of men who have defended women's
liberation such as the philosopher and Member of Parliament John
Stuart Mill (The Subjection of Women, 1869), Norwegian
play-wright Henrik Ibsen or Friedrich Engels. The Romantic poet
Percy Bysshe Shelley (reference
# 4 at the end)
declared: "Can man be free if woman be a
slave?". But as Erica Jong said, "Beware
of the man who
praises
women's liberation; he is
about
to quit
his job".
The moderates believe that the present system is
capable of making laws that effectively protect society from men.
My favourite
dates
from 1837. A
legal ruling
in London declared that
"When a man kisses a woman against her
will,
she
is
fully
entitled
to
bite
off his nose
if she
so
pleases". |
The Radical/Pessimists |
Radical feminists don't believe that men can be reformed. Instead,
men have to be controlled, repressed and eventually exterminated.
They can also quote a man (though they probably wouldn't want to)
to justify their conclusions. "You can
think of
maleness as a type of birth
defect" -
Dr. Stephen Wachtel.
One great radical feminist was Valerie Solanis, founder of
The Society For
Cutting Up
Men (SCUM) and
would-be assassin of Andy Warhol. She wrote that:
"Women should... destroy the male sex. It is
now technically possible to reproduce without the aid of males...
and to produce only females. We must immediately do so... The
male, because of his obsession to compensate for not being female
combined with his inability
to relate
and to feel compassion... is responsible for War, Money, Marriage
and Prostitution... Mental Illness, Prejudice... Ugliness... Hate
and Violence... Disease and Death" (The SCUM
Manifesto, 1967).
Radical feminism has statistics and history
on its side.
Proof that all men are bastards can be deduced from the fact that
children
are
94%
less likely to be abused in all female homes and that 25%
of all crimes involve violence by husbands against wives. The
short-term solution is, of course, castration. This is not as
extreme as it may seem. Castration was practised in the ancient
world by the Egyptians, Persians, Assyrians, Ethiopians, Medes,
Chinese and Hebrews. In Native American societies castration was
exclusively performed by women. In Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome
castration was specifically applied for sex crimes. In France
castration was only finally abolished by Napoleon.
Other temporary solutions should also be put into effect.
Since men are
exclusively responsible for war and crime there should be a
special tax on men to pay for the army and the police. There
should also be a law which specifically
bans men from
carrying arms.
However, the ultimate objective must be the extinction of men. The
good news is that men are no longer necessary. New jobs favour
dexterity over
strength. Over a quarter of births are now outside married,
marginalising the father. Technology also
points towards
the elimination of men. Artificial insemination and cloning
suggest that men are no longer needed. Dolly the Sheep was female.
But it has
to be
admitted that
many men are actively participating in their own extinction. Men
die earlier than women at every age from all major causes of
death, and four times as many men commit suicide as women. Falling
average
sperm counts suggest that men's bodies
acknowledge
that they are destined for extinction. According to Margaret Mead,
one of the most highly-respected 20th. Century anthropologists,
"Mothers are a biological necessity; fathers are a social
invention".
Whether you choose to take a moderate or
a radical position, remember: you have several millennia of
oppression
to avenge,
but say it with a smile!! |
|
(1) |
For example, 65% of work is
done by women but women receive only 10% of the world's
income. Women own less than 1% of the world's land and
property. Women in developed countries earn only around 60%
of what men receive. |
(2) |
Aristoclea and Diotima,
respectively. |
(3) |
Charlotte Whitton, mayor of
Ottawa, Canada (1963). |
(4) |
Husband of Mary Shelley,
who wrote Frankenstein and was the daughter of Mary
Wollstonecraft, the mother of feminism. |
|
|
Source:
Think in English |
GLOSSARY |
whereas: while, by
contrast (mientras que)
bullshitter: persons who try to convince other
people that they are expert on a specific subject(engatusadores)
whether: "if" (you cannot use if before or)
(si).
rage: anger, fury (la ira. la rabia)
so as not to address the issues: so as not to think
and talk about the real questions (para no tocar
el tema en cuestión)
weapon: arm, instrument (arma)
vitriolic humour: acid, caustic, malicious humour
(humor ácido, cáustico)
summed up: summarised (resumió)
stated: declared (declaró)
in all men is evil sleeping: immorality is latent in
all men (la inmoralidad está latente en todos los
hombres)
go ahead!: do it!, continue! (¡adelante!)
standpoint: point of view, perspective, position
(punto de vista)
to go poison themselves: to commit suicide by
poisoning (consuming a toxic substance) (envenenarse)
beware of: be suspicious of, take care with (ten
cuidado con)
praises: admire (alaba, admira)
about to quit: about to abandon or leave (a punto
de renunciar a)
dates from: belongs to year (data del
año)
legal ruling: legal decision (decisión legal) |
will: wishes, preferences,
desires (voluntad)
is fully entitled to: is completely justified in
(tiene todo el derecho a)
bite off: amputate with one's teeth (arrancarle la
nariz de un mordisco)
if she so pleases: if she wants to (si así le place)
maleness: masculinity (virilidad)
cutting up: slicing, cutting into little pieces (hacer
añicos, pedacitos)
would-be: aspirant to (aspirante a)
to relate: to empathise, connect emotionally (para
empatizar)
on its side: in its favour (a su favor)
are 94% less likely to be abused: have a 94% smaller
probability of being abused (tienen un 94% menos de
probabilidad de ser abusados)
since: as, because, given that (dado que)
bans: prohibits, forbids (prohiba a los)
dexterity: ability, skills with your hands (la
habilidad)
points towards: intends, is oriented to (apunta a)
to be admitted: to be recognised (que admitirse)
sperm counts: the estimation of the number of
spermatozoa (los recuentos de esperma)
acknowledge: accept (acusan)
to avenge: take vengeance for, punish (para vengarse) |
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MAS "EL MUNDO DE LA
MUJER"
FORO
INICIO |
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