Apparently This Needs to be Said

[qos]

I strongly object to any and all terms which characterize women's bodies and beings as being "less", with being a failure -- especially when explicitly contrasted with warrior culture. I particularly object to women's genitalia being used in this way. Make any case you like criticizing the current state of our culture (or anything else), but do not use women, women's sexuality, or femininity to characterize what you think is wrong.


Criticizing individual women is as valid as criticizing individual men, of course. My objection is using the "idea" of women, of feminininty, as inherently derrogatory.

Comments

+1

[9thmoon.livejournal.com]

You know I have a thing for war movies, and the kind of machismo soldiers are supposed to display typically involves calling each other by the names of feminine body parts or otherwise making reference to girls, sissies, etc., and I seethe inside every single time. It is a real part of the culture, so I can't really blame the writers for using that kind of language, but I don't use it myself and get upset when people I know use it.

Re: +1

[qos.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on all of this.

In this case, the usage occurred in a personal exchange with me, so I was disinclined to let it go as a general cultural characteristic.