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By idanceinmysleep • 17 years ago

Another Article that Shames Women into Accepting Traditional Gender Norms

In this article from what another commenter here termed the “Daily Hate Mail”, Anna Pasternak continues the long-standing tradition of shaming women who don’t conform to the traditional model of Western womanhood. I know that similar articles have been covered here before, but the definition of femininity that Pasternak promotes here is so constraining and, for most of us, erroneous, that I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pick it apart.

She opens her article by recounting a couple of her dating experiences with men who are clearly insecure when faced with a woman who is successful in her career. A doctor tells her that she is “not in touch with her femininity” because she doesn’t “flirt or wear much make-up”, and a “successful, high-profile entrepreneur” tells her that she is “so in control [that it’s] scary”. Instead of pointing out the rather obvious fact that these men are trying to hide their own insecurity with their moralizing, Pasternak takes their comments to heart and embarks on a quest to embrace her “core femininity” (which translates here as retrograde ideas about what it means to be feminine).
By idanceinmysleep • 17 years ago

The Modern Man’s Guide to Chivalry (or more correctly, courtesy)

One of the most prevalent complaints about feminism that I hear both in the media and from people I personally know is that feminism has killed chivalry. The well-meaning majority of these people are actually referring to are gestures of courtesy shown to women by men, even though the word really connotes a code of honor practiced by medieval European knights. In fact, I am only using the word “chivalry” here because it is so frequently invoked by critics of feminism and, despite the whining of a certain subset of the population about people having tossed it aside, the word still carries a positive connotation, at least here in the United States.

One of the most prevalent complaints about feminism that I hear both in the media and from people I personally know is that feminism has killed chivalry. The well-meaning majority of these people are actually referring to ...