History of Feminism

When Skinner talked about how we were succeeding in raising awareness about objectification and sexism, I think it's quite possible he may have been referring, in part, to himself. I and others have asked questions in ATA about sexism in the past and gotten cursory answers that skirt the issue or, more often, have had our questions ignored. I actually didn't expect he would answer this one either, but he did. I noted more thoughtfulness and respect in that response than in many others on the subject, so while I agree that I would like a firmer line in the sand regarding misogyny and sexism, I do believe this is a step forward.

It took me a bit of time to digest his response. Before reading it, I read a PM from Seabeyond talking about how encouraged she was by it. When I then read it, I had mixed reactions that reflects much of what has been said here, but thinking about it overall, I consider it encouraging.

As for the idea of educating people, I have mixed feelings. A number of posters use the term pejoratively against me in particular. Who are you to "educate," when in my mind all I've done is present my views with some evidence to support them. They are people who read everything feminists say through a lens of hostility and never make a minimal effort to understand the arguments. Skinner notes that there are many people who read but don't post, and we may be reaching them. I know I've received many, many PMs from people thanking me for speaking out. These are generally people who themselves are not comfortable being as assertive with their views as I am, but their PMs indicate that share many of the ideas I express. I know Sea receives similar PMs and others here may as well. Yet Bjorn Against's posts indicate that was most illuminating to him was how those hostile to feminism responded to those of us who raised concerns about the bikini threads. He, and I would assume others, came to understand that misogyny was a problem on DU because they witnessed posters ridiculing women in offensively sexist ways. In that sense, it seems we've been the objects through which misogyny is revealed rather than subjects educating others by sharing our perspectives. That has been an uncomfortable process. I hope it can have some lasting benefit.