Re: NOW and Marxism

[Peter Frase <pefrase@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> It would be much more useful if comrades who were knowledgable about
> feminist issues patiently explain them to those who need edification. When
> Carrol started bellowing about "scabs" the other week, it was exactly what
> was not needed--especially from somebody who was the moderator of a
> Marxism-Feminism list. Nor do we need to say things like kiss my lesbian
> ass. We should view any misguided post by one list member as an
> opportunity to raise everybody's consciousness. We need history. We need
> data. We need theory. Unsubbing or making rude comments is not the answer.
> Okay?

I understand that some men on this list may feel a bit bewildered by all
these uppity feminists, and perhaps some patient explanation could help
improve the mood around here. But I think a certain amount of outrage is to
be expected--Tony is right, the level of feminist consciousness on this
list is atrocious, and unconscionable for Marxists. It is not the
responsibility of the women on this list to explain what's wrong with the
attitude of some of the men here--it is our (men's) responsibility to be as
self-critical as we would be about class or race.

You have said before that the purpose of this list is not for the
politically confused to be taught the basics of class analysis--it is for
serious discussion between people with a certain political common ground
between them. It would be nice to see you treat feminism this seriously. Do
you honestly think reactionary patriarchal positions like "children need
both parents" are within the bounds of what this list is supposed to be
for? I can quite understand why a lesbian would regard this as a personal
attack. Shall we argue over the merits of "The Bell Curve" next?

I'm not going to unsubscribe (or threaten to), because I find a lot to
learn from on this list, and I don't believe these kinds of political
battles are won over the Internet. I merely wanted to add another male
voice to the fray--far too often, men think that this sort of dispute is
best left to the women, and thus it comes to seem that there are no
feminist men.

Peter Frase



~~~~~~~
PLEASE clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.