A: That's not funny. I enjoyed the piece. Thanks.
-- Sarah Lawsky
Sweeney has it exactly right. I was a Ms.-subscribing, card-carrying member of NOW, NARAL, etc., who has slowly disengaged myself from the groups but not the general basic beliefs. The shrillness and pettiness of the various extremes have nothing to do with my life or that of any of the women I know who are all trying to struggle with the "feminist" issues so ably described by Sweeney.
I want freedoms and choices for me and my daughters (and my son for that matter). I find the hysterical and judgmental rantings of Dworkin, Shalit, MacKinnon and company (both left and right on the spectrum) to be disappointing and unproductive. I have three kids, a male-dominated profession, a house and all of the trials and tribulations of life to deal with. I don't need any of those people to tell me that I am not really a feminist. I have made my choices (good and bad), and I am grateful to the women before me who made it possible to make them--that is feminism.
-- Jeri Rouse Looney
Thank you, Jennifer, for casting a most clear light on the ridiculousness of proving one's credentials. I find this attitude abounds in artistic circles, in macho men, in certain careers, in relationship models and so on. We'd all be much better off with a larger dose of tolerance and compassion for everyone's choices. And now I have a phrase for my mode of living: "personally free and publicly dignified." Thanks!
-- Kim Tilbury
Jennifer Foote Sweeney is absolutely right when she says that there are more important things for feminists to do than pick at one another's personal choices and "feminist pedigrees" -- which leaves me to wonder why she wrote a column teeming with insults aimed at those feminists she considers egocentric, pretentious, irritating and even paternalistic.
It seems a couple of points of clarification might be in order. Many of the "brands" of feminism (for example "Do me" feminism) Sweeney attacks are not categories created by activists but by media, who have always had more of an interest in predicting feminism's decline or death than in accurately representing the movement's goals and work. Likewise, some of the women she has such problems with -- like Ms. Modesty herself, Wendy Shalit -- have built their careers not by fighting for women's rights but by bashing the feminists who do. The reality of feminist activism in the trenches is hardly reflected by media distortions or dismissive gals with grudges.
After listing worthy topics from drug law imbalances to welfare policy to educational and workplace biases, Sweeney asks, "Where is a feminist when you need one? On a beach somewhere, apparently ..." With all due respect, it is easy to find feminists working on those issues and a wide range of others if you look beyond what is represented in carping book reviews and academic arguments. But it is unsurprising that Sweeney or Salon readers in general might believe feminists missing in action: Salon provides a regular platform for anti-feminist pit bull Camille Paglia and feminist ankle-biter Cathy Young, but has no feminist columnists addressing the many ways in which women's rights advocates are tackling violence against women, poverty, health care, child care, reproductive rights, media representation, workplace issues, sweatshops, trafficking in women and a host of other issues on a national and international stage (from a variety of sometimes opposing liberal, progressive and radical perspectives).
I couldn't agree more with Sweeney's assertion that "neurotic rationalizing and self-conscious crowing" is a profound waste of time in the face of the continued biases women (especially women of color and low-income women) face. To that end, I'd encourage Salon to publish fewer hit pieces on feminists, more articles about sexism in Life and in the news sections, and to balance columnists like Paglia, Young and Horowitz with a few progressive feminist writers like Molly Ivins, Laura Flanders, Katha Pollitt, Farai Chideya, Barbara Ehrenreich or Julianne Malveaux. Salon, which is often a valuable resource for perspectives not found elsewhere (Greg Palast's election pieces were a great example), could benefit from broadening its approach to gender politics.
-- Jennifer L. Pozner, Women's Desk Director, FAIR
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