 Dusty:Starlight:Culture
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stop the presses...please (ba dum dum)
2008-01-17 8:16 a.m. I got this gem from Rutgers' Focus magazine: Researcher turns tables on feminist stereotypes – and causes a stir The news started in the Chicago Tribune and rocketed around the world last month: Feminist women have satisfying romantic lives, and their men are pretty happy too. Or, to put it conversely: Feminist women are not bitter, man-hating harpies. Oh, put it conversely, Ken. And then, get right out of town! This is indeed SHOCKING NEWS, nearly impossible to believe! Thank gods the magazine is right on the cutting edge of revolutionary information. This is very important for me to know, given my research. I must say I was disappointed to read that I am not, after all, a bitter harpy. That can be an immensely satisfying role to occupy on occasion. The entire article is devoted to a "study" a psych prof did. Disappointed that stereotypes still plague Feminism (she might also be interested to know that stereotypes still plague gays, Catholics, blacks, Jews, the poor, Muslims, Latinos, Canadians, whites, frat boys, soccer players, penguins, blondes, Scientologists, meat eaters, people who shop at the Gap, runners, people who wait tables, and psych professors), she gave out a few surveys and found that FEMINISTS DO NOT HAVE UNHAPPY LIVES! Wow! Ok - I agree with her statement that the sort of stereotyping aimed at feminism in mainstream media would not be tolerated (post-PC revolution) if the target were the African American community, etc. In other words, we do have a greater tolerance for the lampooning of feminists - and women, in general - than we do other "groups". However, is this "study" such new information? Are we surprised that some "students have no idea who Gloria Steinem is", or that they "buy into" the assumption that all feminists are gay, abused, or gay and abused? And so fucking what if they are? This is REALLY what she's doing with her research expenditures and time? Is there not a worthier subject in need of an investigator with her skills and resources? Creepier: An academic journal published the psych prof's results, and then - and this is the creepiest - issued a press release that got picked up by the Chicago Tribune, as well as some "international papers", one of which had a headline reading: "Marry a Feminist!" or some such crap. This is WORLD NEWS? Really? We had NO CONCEPT that "self-identifying as a feminist has no correlation with homosexuality" and "feminists are capable of having rewarding love lives"? Maybe I shouldn't be condemning the professor's research - if indeed this seemed to be shocking news the world around, we're in a sorrier state than I realized, and I've been isolating myself in my socially-conscious environment for too long. But then again, even the most reluctant, sexist, grumpy-old-man professor I've encountered in my let's-address-the-gender-bias-on-campus project at our tech school seems to buy that I'm married, wearing lipstick and a dress and yet still a feminist theorist!. So I figure there is something else we might do with our time and money besides telling the world that feminists can have some good sex once in a while. geeeez. xoxo Oh yeah - in googling "marry a feminist" the other day, I found THIS on a website called "eHow: How to do just about everything". Uh...huh huh huh. |
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