Thought I’d start reposting some of Twisty’s pieces (because, really, they need to be read again and again) (sigh).
http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/2014/02/01/that-cant-be-sexual-assault-because-its-normal/
Apr 25 2017
from Joanna Russ’ The Female Man
excerpted from Joanna Russ’ The Female Man:
…I wept aloud, I wrung my hands, crying: I am a poet! I am Shelley! I am a genius! … Lady, your slip’s showing. …
There is the vanity training, the obedience training, the self-effacement training, the deference training, the dependency training, the passivity training, the rivalry training, the stupidity training, the placation training. How am I to put this together with my human life, my intellectual life, my solitude, my transcendence, my brains, and my fearful, fearful ambition? I failed miserably and thought it was my own fault. You can’t unite woman and human any more than you can unite matter and anti-matter; they are designed to not to be stable together and they make just as big an explosion inside the head of the unfortunate girl who believes in both.
Do you enjoy playing with other people’s children-for ten minutes? Good! This reveals that you have Maternal Instinct and you will be forever wretched if you do not instantly have a baby of your own (or three or four) and take care of that unfortunate victimized object twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year, for eighteen years, all by yourself. (Don’t expect much help.)
Are you lonely? Good! This shows that you have Feminine Incompleteness; get married and do all your husband’s personal services, buck him up when he’s low, teach him about sex (if he wants you to), praise his technique (if he doesn’t), have a family if he wants a family, follow him if he changes cities, get a job if he needs you to get a job, and this too goes on seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year forever and ever amen unless you find yourself a divorcee at thirty with (probably two) small children. (Be a shrew and ruin yourself, too, how about it?)
Apr 25 2017
Mentoring
Studies show that people who have had mentors, who have had someone to provide “sponsorship, exposure, visibility, coaching, protection, and challenging assignments – activities which directly relate to the protégé’s career” do indeed experience more career advancement than people who have not had mentors [1]. In a study of 1241 American executives, 67% of all respondents said they had a mentor [2]. Which just goes to show – it’s who you know. That’s how, why, they are executives.
Given that it’s a 1979 statistic, presumably the respondents are referring to an informal mentorship, which arises spontaneously, as opposed to a formal mentorship, which is arranged by the organization as part of a mentoring program. The problem in both cases, however, is that most people who are in a position to mentor, a position of power and prestige, a well-connected position, are men. Still. So sexism keeps women from becoming protégés – because even if the guy’s wife is fine with it, everyone will wonder whether she’s sleeping her way to the top and that’ll handicap her, essentially cancelling any advantage of the mentorship. Furthermore, women who could be mentors avoid mentoring other women because they fear being labelled feminist troublemakers. Why don’t men fear mentoring other men for fear they’ll be labelled – what, part of the old boys’ network?
All that aside, it seems to me that mentoring is unfair: it makes ‘it’s who you know not what you know’ true. Merit becomes not the sole criterion for advancement.
Though perhaps mentoring counters chance. Chance is unfair too. With mentoring, those who do get doors opened for them are those who deserve it. But to say ‘All A are B’ doesn’t mean ‘All B are A’: to say ‘All those who are mentored have merit’ doesn’t mean ‘All those with merit become mentored’. And, of course, I’m not sure mentors choose their protégés according to merit.
So why do mentors choose who they choose? Why do mentors mentor at all? I wonder if it isn’t just some primitive lineage impulse in action. You know… men need a son, someone to carry on the family name. And since it’s more and more unlikely that men have actual sons in a position to be their protégés … Do mentors tend to choose sons of friends when available? Do they tend to choose people who are twenty to thirty years younger, in the ‘son’ age bracket? What about women who mentor? (More likely, their motive is social justice, not personal legacy.)
I’m not saying people shouldn’t seek, or give, advice and guidance. That’s not what mentoring is all about. A mentor does more than that: a mentor introduces you to influential people in the organization, facilitates your entry to meetings and activities usually attended by high-level people, publicly praises your accomplishments and abilities, recommends you for promotion, and so on. But see here’s the thing. Introductions should be unnecessary. Meetings attended by high level personnel shouldn’t be open to others. Everyone’s accomplishments and abilities should be praised publicly. Only your immediate supervisor or some named designate should be able to recommend you for a promotion. And so on.
In any case, the need for mentors means the organization isn’t structured to advance based on merit. So shouldn’t mentors’ efforts instead be directed to making sure that it is? To making sure that mentors aren’t needed? You shouldn’t need a mentor to open doors because the doors shouldn’t be locked. You shouldn’t need a mentor to give you inside information because there shouldn’t be any inside information: an organization’s policies and procedures should be written out for all to read, perhaps even presented at a new employee training session (and there should be no unwritten policies, no under-the-table procedures); any preferences for application materials, be it for a job, a promotion, or a grant, should be stated on the application form itself, or perhaps explained in a separate ‘Tips for Applicants’ sheet; and knowledge of any available job, promotion, or grant should be freely accessible to all. Influential people should use their influence only in formal channels; their authority should only be that vested in them by the terms of their job description.
Men are so proud of not mixing pleasure and business, of separating the personal from the public. Bullshit. Aren’t a lot of critical connections, let alone decisions, made on the golf course? At the bar? Between conference sessions? It seems that by ‘personal’ and ‘pleasure’ they just mean women – wives, daughters, sexual liaisons. They leave the women in their lives out of consideration. But their relationships with their buddies and their sons – these are very much brought into the workplace.
[1] “Formal and Informal Mentorships: A Comparison on Mentoring Functions and Contrast with Non-mentored Counterparts,” Georgia T. Chao and Pat M. Walz Personnel Psychology 45.3 (1992)
[2] “Much Ado about Mentors,” B. Roche. Harvard Business Review 5.7 (1979)
Apr 14 2017
The Mr. America Pageant (a short film script)
The Mr. America Pageant, Peg Tittle
(hoping there are some people out there looking for short feminist scripts!)
This is a parody of the Miss America Beauty Pageants. Basically, it’s a freeform collage of scenes (of indeterminate length – five minutes might suffice) similar to those one would see during the pageant, but all featuring male contestants instead of female contestants. Seeing men say and do such things is hilarious; why isn’t seeing women equally laughable?
Suggested scenes…
- Backstage before the opening parade of contestants, showing shots of individual men in close-up, wearing their crowns, gushing about how excited they are to be here, to have won in their home state – and to be HERE!! – oh my, this is what they have dreamed about since they were a little boy…
- Opening parade of contestants: each man in a tuxedo, wearing his home state banner and crown, walks (in that rehearsed way) from offstage to front and center, poses in profile to left and right, smiling throughout, then walks to the back to stand in chorus line, while the MC introduces each one by state, the contestants adding “I’m X, and my home state is Y!”
- Swimsuit competition: a parade of the men, most in a bikini, some in a larger suit, again with their banners on
- Talent competition: men doing the things the women tend to do…twirling a baton (and smiling at the same time), playing the piano, playing the flute (and smiling at the same time), singing a (sappy, insipid) song, dancing on pointe and singing at the same time (and smiling at the same time)
- Interview section: the individual men are asked questions, and they give the answers the women so often give – What are your life plans? I want to help people, I would like to work with children, I want to become the best person I can be, I like reaching out to young people, changing their lives…What is the most important thing to you? world peace…What do you cherish the most? children, life…What would you tell young people today? I would tell them to look inside their hearts…
- Mr. Congeniality Award: presented with lots of hugs and tears
- Mr. America crowning: the finalists are called and assemble at front and center, then the runners-up are eliminated one by one, and finally the winner is declared, crowned, and presented with flowers and a sceptre; again tears and hugs; he stands in glory, then does the victory walk out toward the audience and back, then stands again, tears streaming down his face.
Apr 07 2017
“What is Wrong with this Picture?” a short feminist film script by Peg Tittle
What is Wrong with this Picture?
This film consists of a collage of scenes, five to ten minutes in length), in which women are always the superordinates and men are always the subordinates. Dialogue isn’t that important, so once the scenes are decided upon and roughed out, the cast can probably improv rather than follow a script.
Suggested scenes:
Office: Woman in executive office summons her secretary, who is a man, who enters and politely inquires “Yes, m’am?” She says something like “Ask Ms. Jordan to come to my office, then bring us coffee, please, and hold all calls.” He nods in subordinate fashion and exits.
Boardroom: Seated around the table discussing important matters are, every one of them, women.
Hospital scene: Female doctors and male nurses and clerks.
University: Female faculty and male support staff.
Bank: Male tellers; occupants of individual offices are all women.
Courtroom: Judge, lawyers, and security are women; clerk is male.
Golf course: Only women are playing.
Office: Woman executive directs her male assistant to call her husband and tell him she’ll be late for dinner.
Home: Househusband answers the phone, surrounded by cloying, annoying kids, and shows irritation at the message.
Fancy restaurant: Several women dine together and discuss business.
Doctor’s office: Female doctor giving embarrassed man a physical, which includes a close examination of his penis as well as a rectal examination.
Househusband taking kids to the dentist: The waiting room is full of fathers and kids; the receptionist is male, as is the dental hygienist; the dentist, who breezes in for the authoritative final check of the hygienist’s work, is female.
Househusband grocery shopping: All of the other shoppers and all of the checkout cashiers are men; a woman is in the manager’s office.
Home: Husband sets the table and brings out the dinner he has prepared; kids and mother sit waiting; perhaps the woman offers to help, but the offer isn’t really genuine and is brushed aside. with a smile.
Guests for dinner: Two male-female couples are sitting at a dinner table; the conversation is dominated by the women who talk about politics; the two men are silent, though they look supportive from time to time and interject supportive comments, questions to let the women shine; one of the women says something like “Let’s let the boys clean up, shall we?” and the two women retire to the living room for drinks and more conversation.
Office lunchroom: All and only men sit in small groups talking about their kids, the need for an on-site daycare, their failure to obtain promotions, their bosses; a sweet male voice comes over intercom “Danny, Ms. X would like to see you right away”, at which Danny grimaces but gets up and leaves the room.
Car: Woman at the wheel, man in the passenger seat.
Mar 28 2017
Men against Abortion
Is that why men are against abortion? Because women are, might be, killing men? Male fetuses? If the fetus was known to be female, they wouldn’t have a problem with it?
Mar 18 2017
I am Eve – by chris wind
the first piece in Thus Saith Eve...
I am Eve
the bad girl, the evil woman.
I stand accused, and sentenced. Without a trial. For life.
Because of my single action, millions of individuals have been born with ‘original sin’, have been guilty even before they acted, doomed before they started. I alone have been held responsible for this sad and pathetic fallen race. Therefore, let me begin by correcting this: if I were free not to fall in the first place, they were free not to fall after me; and if I were not free, then I can’t be held responsible—for my fall or theirs.
Now, let us further examine the charges, let us correctly define that action.
I have been condemned for choosing knowledge over ignorance: the fruit I ate came from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In a society that praises pursuit of knowledge and honours men of wisdom, why have I been viewed with disfavour? Had Adam reached out first, would he have been so rebuked? Or is the state of ignorance requisite for women only? (Histories pass on Socrates, they pass over Aspasia.)
In the same vein, I chose experience over innocence. In a context of attitudes that value experience, the disapproval of my action can only imply the desire that women, like children, live in a state of innocence.
I have also been condemned for disobedience. If that were the issue, then why wasn’t the tree so named—‘the tree of obedience and disobedience’ or ‘the tree of temptation’. By naming it what it was not, God either deliberately tempted me or deliberately deceived me. And he should be judged, not I.
Perhaps though, the tree really was a tree of knowledge. In that case, one should wonder what insecurities led God to prefer obedience over knowledge. Indeed, one should wonder why he went so far as to forbid knowledge. The reason is evident in Genesis (3:22-23): he didn’t want us to equal him. He sent us out of Eden to prevent our eating from the tree of life, because already we were as wise for having eaten from the tree of knowledge, and if we had made it to the tree of life before he found us, we would’ve been immortal as well—we would’ve been as godly.
And that takes me onward, for counted among my sins is that of pride. Considering that later, through his son, God commands us to ‘follow in his footsteps’, I find the label of pride odd for the action that would do just that—make me like God. Furthermore, I find it odd to be condemned for being like God when, after all, he created us in his image (Gen 1:26-27). And God certainly is proud: to create us in his image can be called narcissistic, and to prefer us to spend our time admiring him rather than learning about him is equally evidence of pride. (As an aside, I would think that my knowledge would increase my admiration; that wasn’t why I ate the fruit, but if it was, would it have mattered? Did God ever ask my intent?)
I have also been charged with a lack of faith. Yet I took it on faith in the first place that God told us not to eat from the tree: remember, he gave the command to Adam before I even existed (Gen 2:16-17). (I don’t rule out the possibility that the command therefore was meant only for Adam—God knew that knowledge in the hands of men is a dangerous thing.) Further, I had faith in the serpent, I trusted the serpent to be telling the truth. Is it dishonourable to trust?
And is it reprehensible to act on that trust, as I did then in offering the fruit to another, to Adam? God commanded innocence, then held me responsible for an act of innocent intent. For how could I know my faith was misplaced? How could I know the serpent was evil until I had knowledge of good and evil? By telling us not to eat of the tree, he insisted on ignorance—but then held us responsible, for an act of ignorance.
Lastly, I have been condemned for using my reason, for it is through the exercise of reason that I decided to eat the fruit. The serpent’s explanation of God’s motives, that the knowledge of good and evil would make us godly and he didn’t want us to equal him (Gen 3:5), seemed very reasonable to me. God’s command on the other hand, not even to touch the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil because then I’d die, seemed so very unreasonable. Where is the fault in using that faculty given to me by God? The fault is not mine, but God’s: he made reason guide our will and left our reason prey to deceit.
Or did he? History has it that the serpent’s words were false, that I was deceived. But God’s words after the fact (Gen 3:22 “Behold, the man is become as one of us”) verify the serpent’s prediction (Gen 3:5 “Ye shall be as gods”): the serpent was telling the truth. (And in fact God lied: he said we would die (Gen 3:3) if we touched the fruit of that tree, and we didn’t—at least not for several hundred years.) And so I stand condemned, for listening to truth. And for offering that truth to others.
Mar 07 2017
Ten years later, she meets Dick, and he’s so –
You’re so – different. Not such an –
Yeah. It’s like before I was so – driven. It’s like I was in a car, no, I was the car. And it was always in high gear, in screaming high gear. I had to get somewhere, I always had to get somewhere. I couldn’t sit still without revving my engine, roaring my engine. Every car was a car I had to pass, and every time another car passed me, it was such an affront, it was so – humiliating.
And then it stopped. And the silence – the not being driven, not being pushed – I could think. For the first time in my life, I could just – think. And feel. All sorts of things. Subtle things. I don’t know how to describe it.
For a while I was so – sad. I thought if I could’ve lived my whole life like that – I wanted a ‘do over’ so bad. I wanted my life back. It’s like it had been – hijacked or something.
So what happened? I mean, what changed everything?
Oh. I got in a car accident. Lost the family jewels.
(inspired by reading about burdizzos)
Feb 22 2017
Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, Sheri Tepper
Although I read this fantastic novel years ago, I was recently reminded of it by Judith A. Little’s Feminist Philosophy and Science Fiction: utopias and dystopias.
At the end of the novel, five options for human reproduction are presented:
- Only partners for life will be able to reproduce, and only once every decade.
- Parthenogenesis, with a few males born every eighth or ninth generation.
- Heterosexual reproduction, but no woman will ever conceive unless she chooses to conceive.
- Heterosexual reproduction, but with a short period of fertility.
- As it has been.
What would you choose and why?
Feb 13 2017
The Problem with Business Ethics Courses
The problem with business ethics courses is that all too often they’re taught by business faculty. And ethics is, after all, a field of philosophy. And with all due respect to my business colleagues, philosophy faculty are far better qualified to teach ethics than business faculty.
As far as I can see, business ethics when taught by business faculty is superficial at best. The so-called ‘media test’ and ‘gut test’ are in essence nothing but appeals to intuition and childhood conditioning. I think it far better to teach the many rational approaches to ethical decision-making which consider consequences, rights, values, and so on.
A further weakness of business ethics when taught by business faculty (and medical ethics when taught by medical faculty, and so on) is that what takes place is preaching, not teaching. The course is essentially ‘This is the right thing to do’ or ‘Do this in this situation’ – what is taught is simply the current conventions, standard practices, and/or legal obligations. Far better, I think, that a critical thinking approach be used: provide students with a toolbox of approaches so they can figure out what to do for themselves (after all, they are responsible for the decisions they make).*
Unfortunately, philosophy’s disdain for business is matched only by business’ disdain for philosophy. So even when a philosopher does teach a business ethics course, it is unnecessarily difficult and sadly unsuccessful. Students can be quite hostile when things they have been taught as fact (such as ‘The purpose of business is to maximize profit’ or ‘As long as it’s legal, it’s okay’) are challenged. They take it personally and spend a lot of time trying to win – and so miss much of the course. But that’s what philosophers do: we challenge the assumptions that arguments are based on.
And we insist opinions be based on arguments! Clear and logically sound arguments no less! That’s a lot of work! Students are especially hostile when a lot of work is required for what is, after all, ‘a bird course’! If the student is used to knowledge and comprehension courses, then teaching ethics, requiring arguments to support opinions, is doubly difficult. (And business students have led me to believe that the kind of critical and abstract thinking required in these ethics courses is significantly different from anything they’ve had to do before – which is worrisome because this kind of thinking, at a much more advanced level, is required for the Reading Comprehension and Logical Reasoning sections of the GMAT.) (Of course, that’s the least of the reasons why this is worrisome.)
And in ethics in particular, we navigate through grey: there is no right answer; there are only degrees of right. Students resist this, they stand on the sidelines, never really getting the value of the course. They are far more comfortable with the black and white they seem to be taught in their other courses.
And sad to say, though I was a philosopher teaching business ethics, one day I was informed that I would not be asked to teach ethics again. (Well actually I wasn’t really informed – talk about the need for ethics: if it weren’t for the phone call of an administrative assistant acting on her own initiative, I probably would’ve found out I was ‘fired’ by seeing an ad for an ethics instructor in the paper….) Why? I asked the Dean for confirmation and an explanation. Student evaluations have been “mixed”, he said. True enough. In any ethics class, there is a handful, usually the less mature and less academically apt, who react with the hostility and resistance described above. And there are others who nominate me for an Excellence in Teaching Award.
It’s quite possible, though, the ad won’t appear. It’s quite possible the course will simply not be offered anymore. Such was the fate of the IT Ethics course I also taught for a couple years. As it is, the business ethics course was offered only every second year, as an elective, sending a message of unimportance that also makes the course so difficult to teach successfully (after all, since business is profit-driven, ethics is irrelevant, and anyway, everyone already knows right from wrong).
* These weaknesses, by the way, are horribly magnified in business ethics practitioners (consultants, officers, and the like). To my knowledge, most have no training in philosophy/ethics at all! And that’s considered okay! Would you accept an accounting consultant who had no training in accounting? After all, anyone can add and subtract (just as everyone knows right from wrong). Ethics practitioners are either legal people or management/human resources people and so their approach to an ethical issue is either ‘Comply with the legislation’ or ‘Comply with the company’ (but in either case, remember that bottom line). Articles on ethical issues that get published in business magazines (as opposed to those that get published in ethics journals) are, frankly, embarrassing in their lack of depth; business codes of ethics are laughable for their simplicity, their naiveté….)
Postscript: Since this piece was written, a business graduate has been elected president of a country.
fiction
