Category Archives: spot the strawfeminist

Call for links: debunking the malicious stuff

May 11, 2007 · by · in spot the strawfeminist

Mandolin had a suggestion I’d like to highlight and get some input on: Andrea Dworkin/Germaine Greer/someone else said something complicated, and I have a reductionist summary of that which comes out to “men hate women” / “all sex is rape” / “something else catchy” … why am I wrong? Only, competently stated. The competent concise […]

FAQ: But men and women are born different! Isn’t that obvious?

May 10, 2007 · by · in clarifying-concepts, FAQ, FWW, gender, identity, oppression, privilege, sexism, spot the strawfeminist

That idea is known as “essentialism”: the belief that there are uniquely feminine and uniquely masculine essences which exist independently of cultural conditioning. Both actual (minor) and alleged (major) differences between the sexes have been used to justify inequities and constraints which harm women emotionally, financially and physically. Even where (and if) such differences do […]

FAQ: Why are you concentrating on X when Y is so much more important?

April 12, 2007 · by · in FAQ, FWW, netiquette, spot the strawfeminist

Short answer: People talk about subjects that interest them and that they are passionate about because these tend to be the areas in which they have the most experience. Choosing to concentrate on one thing does not mean that the person thinks that it is the most important subject, or that it’s the only subject […]

FAQ: Why "feminism" and not just "humanism"? Or "equalism"? Isn’t saying you’re a feminist exclusionary?

April 12, 2007 · by · in FAQ, FWW, introductory, privilege, sexism, spot the strawfeminist

This question implies that one must be either one or the other. People and philosophies are far more complicated than that. A feminist may also be both a humanist and an equalist. There’s no law that says only one box can be ticked here, and it’s hugely important not to get sucked into thinking that […]

FAQ: Isn’t "the Patriarchy" just some conspiracy theory that blames all men, even decent men, for women’s woes?

March 21, 2007 · by · in clarifying-concepts, FAQ, FWW, man-hating, Social Justice

Patriarchy: one of the most misunderstood critical-theory concepts ever, often wilfully misunderstood. Patriarchy is one form of social stratification via a power/dominance hierarchy – an ancient and ongoing social system based on traditions of elitism (a ranking of inferiorities) and its privileges. Societies can be (and usually are) patriarchal, oligarchal and plutocratic all at the same time, complicated by current and/or legacy features of sectarianism, imperialism and colonialism, so the gender hierarchy is only one source of social disparity. Because of the limited capacity of the word “patriarchy” to describe the full operation of intersecting oppressions, some now prefer to use the word “kyriarchy” instead, but it is not yet in common use.

FAQ: Aren’t you all just a bunch of "feminazis"?

March 19, 2007 · by · in FAQ, FWW, sexism, sleazebags, spot the strawfeminist

The word “feminazi” is a false construction, a strawfeminist, created to scare people away from the juicy crops of equality, equity and the end of female subjugation. (See the “strawman” entry in the Logical Fallacies section at the Critical Thinking Website.) stealthbadger (Stealth Badger): A dudely introduction to feminism (utterly debunks the arguments made to […]

FAQ: I asked some feminists a question, and instead of answering they sent me here. Why?

March 14, 2007 · by · in FAQ, FWW, introductory

Updated 03May07 Your question probably covered ground they have gone over many times before, and they didn’t want to derail the interesting discussion they were already having. People find ignorant questions frustrating, and questioners find being ignored frustrating, and such mutual dissatisfaction can totally disrupt a discussion. By sending you here the feminists hope to […]

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