Well, I just finished reading the novel Wicked by Gregory Maguire, and while it was brilliant, it pretty much demonstrates the worst cultural and intellectual trends blowing, namely filth, feminism, and just the whole all-around-post-modern-attitude.
Wish I could find brilliant novels going in my desired direction, but so be it. I started reading Wicked because I’ve heard there was a general consensus amongst feminists endorsing Wicked, as opposed to other feminist icons, like, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I remember reading an article about Taylor Swift, mentioning that when once asked if she was a feminist, and she said, “I don’t really think about things as guys versus girls.” The author then asked basically, why shouldn’t she be given that feminism was about gender equality, and fairness in the workplace.
Newsflash, folks: If feminism really is all about gender equality, and workplace fairness, then I guess that I, too, am a feminist (har har). Thing is, feminism generally comes across with an attitude, a mindset that a a lot of women, no less, find distasteful. Miss Swift may lambaste her exes to high Heaven, some feminists may even claim her as one of their own, but she doesn’t buy what they’re selling, and neither do I.
If there really is a general positive feminist consensus on Wicked, it just shows once again why feminism is widely seen as anti-man, and this is someone who can appreciate Buffy in part, and the Powerpuff Girls in particular. Some men are jerks, and just as long as they aren’t set up as patriarchal punching bags, that’s fine; the underlying anger isn’t.
You know Buffy always struck me as a mite arrogant? Then I read an article by Joss Whedon explaining that Buffy had a lot of anger, and suddenly things fell into place, because that’s where I drew the line in the stories.
I just don’t see the need for rage over issues concerning gender equality, but feminists feel it’s justified, and therein lies the social tension. You hear that, feminists? I distrust you because I distrust your attitude, infecting all society and culture with your grievances, obsessing over them, and demanding that I do too. That feminist was bothered by Swift’s reply, but that feminist probably couldn’t see feminism from outside the movement, and therein lies the disconnect. I can see the reason for wrath in other groups (always did like Malcom X), but not here.
I wouldn’t say that attitude is everything (I ain’t that shallow), but boy, does it matter.
noitartst 