Logic alone suggests that feminists have nothing at all to fear from masculinity, that it is our closest ally and dearest friend -- but that is if and only if it is all that it claims to be.
Indeed, masculinity -- if and if it is what it has been deemed to be throughout history -- should have nothing at all to fear from the strongest minds that society and feminism have to offer. Feminism is the manifestation of what is female rational and clear thinking and males who are not afraid of mental clarity ought not to be afraid of feminist thinkers.
One never fears anybody's independence of mind if one has an independent mind of one's own -- that is, unless one has taken one's marching orders from priests of duplicity, who perpetuate their power by smoke and mirrors. In the latter case, one's guilty conscience and sense of inner authenticity gives one everything to fear and everything to hide.
To be audacious, to attempt to try new things (even at the risk of failing) to dare to go against the grain of conventional mores, in order to discover new ways of thinking and being that correspond with one's higher degree of courage -- these are not values that any clear-thinking feminist would oppose. Rather, it is important for us to see such new and dangerous approaches to life come to life. Our sense of well-being and satisfaction depends on these.
Despite this, like Mahatma Ghandi, we are positioned to take an ironical stance towards certain dominant ideologies of the day. The introduction of masculinity to the contemporary political and social sphere seems like "a good idea".
No longer would we have to put up with the petty mind-games of those whose entire quota of masculinity consists in the degree to which they can make various women look idiotic and inferior in comparison to their good selves. No longer would we have to bother with counteracting this ultimately futile and severely delusional relational model of masculinity (which puts women down in order to trumpet its cause). Rather we would, for the first time, encounter something that would stand on its two feet, being assured of what it was, and happy to be that way.
Indeed, masculinity -- if and if it is what it has been deemed to be throughout history -- should have nothing at all to fear from the strongest minds that society and feminism have to offer. Feminism is the manifestation of what is female rational and clear thinking and males who are not afraid of mental clarity ought not to be afraid of feminist thinkers.
One never fears anybody's independence of mind if one has an independent mind of one's own -- that is, unless one has taken one's marching orders from priests of duplicity, who perpetuate their power by smoke and mirrors. In the latter case, one's guilty conscience and sense of inner authenticity gives one everything to fear and everything to hide.
To be audacious, to attempt to try new things (even at the risk of failing) to dare to go against the grain of conventional mores, in order to discover new ways of thinking and being that correspond with one's higher degree of courage -- these are not values that any clear-thinking feminist would oppose. Rather, it is important for us to see such new and dangerous approaches to life come to life. Our sense of well-being and satisfaction depends on these.
Despite this, like Mahatma Ghandi, we are positioned to take an ironical stance towards certain dominant ideologies of the day. The introduction of masculinity to the contemporary political and social sphere seems like "a good idea".
No longer would we have to put up with the petty mind-games of those whose entire quota of masculinity consists in the degree to which they can make various women look idiotic and inferior in comparison to their good selves. No longer would we have to bother with counteracting this ultimately futile and severely delusional relational model of masculinity (which puts women down in order to trumpet its cause). Rather we would, for the first time, encounter something that would stand on its two feet, being assured of what it was, and happy to be that way.
1 comment:
Masculinity as opposed to patriarchy, yes.
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