Okay, a few things before we get into a thing so I can explain what I mean. Especially about Rush Limbaugh, Feminists versus “Feminazis” and why yes, that plaque is and also can be sexist (amongst a few other ‘Ists’). Keep an open mind here, shit is about to get real.
WALL OF TEXT. BUT. Read it all. Please?
I’ll start with the whole concept of a Feminazi and why I think it’s like Schrodinger’s concept. It’s real and fallacious all at the same time.
The whole term by itself, Feminazi, is actually sexist. It puts a Feminist back in their place by accusing them of “Going to far”. Remember, we women are socialized to be “nice” and “nurturing” since birth and to call someone this terms pretty much means they were being a Feminist without molly coddling anybody. Now, slow down, think for a moment about who it was coined by. Rush Limbaugh. The reason I said it was saddening is because normally it is the rabid Right who co-opts terms for the railroading and oppression of anyone who disagrees with them. Terms like bullying, racism, [insertsomethinghere]Archy and discrimination. These terms have been co-opted to silence the people who hold the original rights and evidence to use them. Such as gender/sexual minorities, women and so on. Examples being people screaming about “Reverse racism”, the Christian majority claiming to be oppressed, people challenging Fundamentalist factoids with fact being called “bullies” and MRAs pretending to be oppressed. That said, it’s upsetting to see us (especially Feminists) co-opting a term from the most rabid of Right wing talking heads to ‘police’ and silence each other.
You’re not even using a term to bring light to a sexist’s supposed failings. You’re using it against a Feminist for being too radical. Supposedly. To me, this is internalizing patriarchal and hetero-normality in a way that contradicts what Feminism is about. “Be Feminist! But not too Feminist or the very people I feel are holding us back might get upset.”
I despise this mentality. But that’s not the core of the issue. The core of the issue is fellow Feminists co-opting right-wing born insults to play The Oppression Olympics. Which is what you’re doing here.
You’re calling the teacher an untrue Scotsman (Feminazi, other, etc) for talking about the plaque. Because she’s on a level of Feminism I suppose you are not comfortable with. Someone else in this thread brings up the fact that a woman helped to design the plaque as if that would make it impossible to have been misogynist…as if women cannot be misogynist. As if simply featuring a woman as an afterthought absolves all mistakes. This is completely wrong. As I said in another post, the plaque is sexist because the woman is tossed into the frame as almost an afterthought. She is submissive and unlike the man, she’s not even standing with confidence. She does not have the privilege of standing tall and even looking directly at the extra terrestrial lifeforms who may theoretically learn something about us from this engraved message.
You might be thinking now that I’ve crossed the imaginary thresh hold into “Feminazi” from whatever level cap tells you is an acceptable level of Feminism. That’s okay, but let me go on.
What I mean by the Oppression Olympics is that it’s a derailing tactic made by people who consider something some of us would rightly consider unfair as ‘Perfectly normal’. They’re used to it and it does not actively harm them. This problem pops up when it comes to race, as well. Caucasian people normally are not made aware of being “other” day in and day out. They do not experience what a person of color experiences. So, they may sometimes say one of two things born from a place of ignorance: “Get over it, things are nowhere near as bad as they used to be” or “Why are you making a big deal out of this? Don’t you know people in Russia are being murdered for not being white?”. In a nutshell.
Its the same as saying “Women in Saudi Arabia are being murdered so every problem here that doesn’t quite measure up is null and void”. Because Saudi Arabia, colored people in Russia and black people in the 1950’s have won the “Oppression Olympics”.
The best way to instantly silence someone is to apply your “Proportions” to them. Such as saying that the teacher talking about the plaque is “Blowing things out of proportion” along with other so-called Feminazis. Your “proportion” AINT her proportion. As said, to you, that shit is perfectly normal. There’s a hierarchy of ‘problems’ I’m guessing for you and if people do not in some way pay lipservice to this stacked method of filtering social issues, well damnit…they’ve gone too “Far”. This is fallacious at it’s core.
There should be no “considering the bigger problems”. There are no bigger problems. These issues are all a part of one big problem that needs a solution. I am extremely anti-racist. No, I don’t take someone joking about the texture of my hair or dropping the N-bomb for a terrible overtold joke just the same as I would hearing about a modern day lynching. But I do not write off the slurs and jokes used at my expense as ‘nothing to worry about’. They are part of the bigger picture.
Do you see what I am saying? Calling someone a Feminazi for bringing up a point on an issue that you consider low on the Oppression Olympics totem pole is the same as telling them “You’re allowed to care. But not too much. Only within limits.”
Do this less. Please. For the good of all of us who identify as women. Or even just human.
PS, to follow up: Lets talk Feminazis and then “Radical Feminists”. Some Radfems could possibly earn the name “Feminazi”. And it is not because they never bring up any valid points. It’s because they employ a complete miscarriage of empathy and reason in some cases such as when it comes to being transgender. They claim not to believe in gender and gender roles yet still believe in Lesbianism. There is a sharp disconnect there. They claim to be against all mistreatment but throw their privilege around and completely ignore if not insult the concept of Intersectionality. You know, gender before race…which is why many women of color hesitate to call themselves Feminists and instead choose “Womanist”. Because too many Radical Feminists have all but demanded that they eat this bullshit with a silver spoon.
