Wendy McElroy was obnoxious enough two weeks ago. (Personally, I've been all set on the McElroy tip ever since reading: "the alarmism of mainstream feminism often blows problems way out of proportion and reports them out of context".) But lately, she's officially gone too far.
First, there was her lovely FoxNews.com article on domestic violence. Check this:
"The underlying ideology of domestic violence is politically-correct feminism which considers women to be oppressed by male power and the institutions of society, including traditional marriage. Accordingly, domestic violence has been subjected to a black-and-white analysis that rests upon stereotypes...The inadequacy of the stereotypes became clear to me through one question. 'Why did I stay?' It is a question PC feminism never asks because to do so would acknowledge a fact that contradicts its theories. Namely, some victims choose to stay, which means they could choose to leave."
Had enough? Too bad -- there's more. On Friday, McElroy was at it again with the gem "In Defense of Beauty Pageants" on lewrockwell.com. She wrote:
"A beauty contest at Lakehead University aroused sharp protest from campus feminists....The feminist contention that beauty contests are unfair to the average woman has a Rawlsian ring. It also sounds like envy."
Ohhhh, so that's what we've been missing? Thanks, Wendy. It wasn't enough to have our own government and media misinterpret and mangle our message. What we really need is women calling themselves feminists and writing this crap.
I'll leave you with one more choice McElroy quote, just for kicks:
"In recent years, feminism has come to be associated with anger toward men....Many feminists have called for the government to impose affirmative action policies and speech codes....The liberated woman of the 21st century does not resemble the ghosts haunting '80s feminism. Who is she? She is the estimated 17 million women who... reject the concept of 'victim.'"
Right on, Wendy. You've captured the essence of the feminist movement perfectly.
CAN YOU DETECT MY SARCASM?
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I agree that Wendy McElroy is a bit fo a nut, but I think she does have a lot of true things to say. And shouldn't the feminist movement have room for women who disagree? I'm not talking about right-wing nutjobs like Feminists for Life here, they're just pretending to be pro-woman.
But Wendy and other self-described individualist feminsts think that a lot of mainstream feminist rhetoric is as damaging to the autonomy of women as anti-feminists can be, and in terms of the culture of victimization that a lot of groups espouse, I agree.
I think there should be room for us to disagree and still be feminists.
I couldn't agree more that there needs to be room to disagree amongst feminists. What I'm not so down with is McElroy's consistent (public and offensive) misrepresentation of what "feminists" think. I don't think 80s feminism was about victimhood, and I don't think rhetoric surrounding domestic violence should be changed to blame the victim. THAT's where my beef lies, not with her broadening the discussion.
I agree. How can we clump all feminists into one tiny facet of views?