Saturday, August 08, 2009

Goodbye To All That (by Hecate)

Atrios is right, of course, that, in one sense, our culture's obscene treatment of women hurts men, as well. And, yet, reading his post today, I couldn't help remembering what Robin Morgan had to say when women seized Rat and Morgan penned "Goodbye to All That."

And let’s put one lie to rest for all time: the lie that men are oppressed, too, by sexism—the lie that there can be such a thing as men’s liberation groups. Oppression is something that one group of people commits against another group specifically because of a threatening characteristic shared by the latter group—skin color or sex or age, etc. The oppressors are indeed fucked up by being masters (racism hurts whites, sexual stereotypes are harmful to men) but those masters are not oppressed. Any master has the alternative of divesting himself of sexism or racism; the oppressed have no alternative—for they have no power—but to fight. In the long run, Women’s Liberation will of course free men—but in the short term it’s going to cost men a lot of privilege, which no one gives up willingly or easily. Sexism is not the fault of women. . . .