From: slarsen@beethoven.helios.nd.edu (susan larsen)
Newsgroups: soc.women
Subject: Re: Hating Men with Full Force
Date: 28 Aug 92 15:16:05 GMT
Organization: University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame

In article <1992Aug27.184925.2741@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com> bhv@areaplg2.corp.mot.com (Bronis Vidugiris) writes:
>In article <1992Aug25.203023.476@news.nd.edu> slarsen@mozart.helios.nd.edu (susan larsen) writes:
>
>Another noted feminist, Andrea Dworkin, in a keynote speech 
>to a conference entitled "Women in a Violent 
>Society," called on women to become "part of a secret life" and 
>to take it upon themselves to judge and execute 
>abusive men. "I am asking you to stop men who beat 
>women...get them jailed or get them killed." (Montreal Gazette, 
>13 May 1991). 

Good grief!  

>Barbara Jordan: (keynote speaker at Dem. natl. convention in an earlier
>speech to a woman's group)
>
>"I believe that women have a capacity for understanding and compassion
>which a man structurally does not have, does not have because he cannot
>have it. He's just incapable of it."

Yeah, I remember wincing at that one, too.

>)As a single working mother, I feel personally affronted at the characterizations 
>)of single motherhood that the Republican clowns have gotten away with, on 
>)prime-time TV, no less.  No, check that, affronted is not quite accurate, 
>)I feel threatened by those folks!
>
>That's a good point - do you have any other examples of female-bashing that
>you can think of?   Especially ones that don't immediately backfire
>and 'blow up' on the basher?

Hmmmm.  Not backfiring?  That leaves out Andrew Dice Clay.  Randall Terry 
was jailed the other day, so I suppose he is getting his......

This summer, the American Catholic Bishops group met on campus and generated
a lot of news articles regarding the prohibition of women in the priesthood.
Unfortunately I did not keep the articles, but I do remember bishops 
claiming that women could not be "Christ-like" enough to be a priest and that 
women do not have the extra measure of grace necessary for the priesthood.
Makes me wonder how hard a Catholic woman has to work to get into heaven!

Also, there have been some news articles from congressional hearings regarding
combat roles for women in the Navy.  Some of the military types were quoted 
as saying women should be barred from these roles because the women would 
cause morale to drop (how?  beats me), women would purposefully get pregnant
to avoid combat, women would desert, things of that nature.

Thinking more about gender-bashing, the most egregious man-bashers seem to 
stick with a "man as hard, violent animal" theme, while the woman bashers
feature two very opposite themes:  either "woman as uncontrollable sexual 
demon" or "woman as vulnerable, yet nurturing caretaker." 

From my perspective, all things being equal, it should be easy to 
counter the "violent animal" claims since such imagery is so repre-
hensible to mainstream minds and since there exists thousands of years 
of evidence of men's kindness, compassion, and intellect.  Same with
the "sexual demon" imagery for women.  However, the woman as caretaker 
conveys a relatively positive image, a role to which many women do 
aspire.  Yet, this view of women's nature is just as limiting as 
defining all men as violent, or women as sexual beings.  Especially 
when this role for women is used as a basis for legislation and/or 
social policy.  It is pretty obvious to me that this female stereotype 
is held forth in custody decisions, for instance.

You know what is truly ironic about Andrea Dworkin, is that while she 
is forwarding the violent male stereotype, she is at the same time 
rebelling against the "passive woman" stereotype by advocating female 
violence.  Quite a bit different than Barbara Jordan, who seems to 
cling to stereotypical notions about both men and women in her quote. 
Or a Randall Terry who would fight the female sexual demon while at 
the same time using tactics just this side of violent.

Sue Larsen
slarsen@berlin.helios.nd.edu
Xref: sparky soc.women:15981 alt.feminism:276