Comments on: The Great Feminist Denial – more than just pole dancing and brazilians, although they do feature

By: Feminist Book review « Penguin unearthed

Feminist Book review « Penguin unearthed — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:40:14 +0000

[...] of the Australian feminist blogosphere has done a review of it – see here, here, here, here and here. It is mostly an exploration of the contradictions I described above – [...]

By: worldpeace and a speedboat

worldpeace and a speedboat — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 12:57:52 +0000

What is MUP?

Also: Editing? Ahahahaha… don’t get me started. There’s a lot of sh!thouse editing these days, so it’s no surprise this book is as sloppy as it sounds. There is no excuse: it is sheer laziness. That, and appalling lack of grammar not having been taught in schools for the last… ummm… 30 years or so. I can has adjective now? I can’t remember the last book I read published in the last decade where I haven’t wanted to thump it on the table and get a red pen. My personal theory is that Editors are in fact employed solely to increase the page number for a nice fat-looking book, and spelling, coherency or clarity of vision be damned.

Ahem.

Now… where were we?

Feminism.

Something which has disappointed me lately (aside from the woman-hating) has been… the apathy. I can’t believe how little some teenage girls/young women actually couldn’t give a toss. Perhaps you don’t have to carry a torch, but, you know, a little bit of care and/or passion would be nice. It seems to go hand in hand with political and social apathy in general. It saddens me.

I know a number of 18 year old girls who have recently had babies. I don’t deny them their right to start a family, although I think some of them are being outrageously naive. I just have a feeling that their eyes are going to be opened quite wide quite quickly to how they are going to be categorised and dismissed. That saddens me too. Are they just going to continue to be apathetic and accept it?

By: blue milk

blue milk — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:57:35 +0000

Hmm well you’ve piqued my interest in the book. I’ll have to look out for a copy.

By: Rebekka

Rebekka — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:45:10 +0000

I'm rather wishing this was a t-shirt:

By: Pavlov's Cat

Pavlov's Cat — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:59:05 +0000

I’ve got a fave t-shirt I wear to the gym (when I go …) — it says POST-FEMINISM: KEEP YOUR BRA AND BURN YOUR BRAIN.

Everyone gives me a wide berth, which is a great thing in a gym.

By: Zoe

Zoe — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:56:41 +0000

Maybe we all need to start wearing some feminist t-shirts this summer so that other women can tell who we are? I suggest this work of genius, from torsopants: and this is a fave from the Californian branch of the National Organisation of Women:

By: another outspoken female

another outspoken female — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:40:59 +0000

I am one of those old wave feminists. Often my legs and underarms are indeed hairy. I’m happy that whatever wave of feminism we are up to ‘allows’ me to wax/shave/pluck to my heart’s content. I can wear lipstick and pretty frocks and be a feminist. I may also flirt and be sexy with any gender. Go the revolution!

But in all these years things haven’t really improved for women. There is still a massive disparity in pay and domestic labour. Childbirth has become increasingly medicalised to the point that women are encouraged to lower their expectations of a natural birth and go with the flow if a c-section suits their private obstetrician better. Now the worst women-haters seem to be members of our own gender and I’m not sure from all the reviews of this book that I read that this is taking us any further to equality.

Great review Zoe. I’m just feeling nostalgic for the good old days when we marched the streets together and formed collectives.

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:59:45 +0000

Zoe, don’t sell yourself short. You explain very clearly how the book strikes you.