Guest post: Desperately trying to be Anything But Female
Originally a comment by cluecat on We are talking about identity here.
How people cannot see that this is a male-supremacist idea/movement is beyond me, I’m afraid.
If it was really about Identitay, and everyone being able to force others to see them as they see themselves, women & girls would be able to make everyone see us (and therefore treat us) as Real People. This would mean much less sexual violence committed by males against us, the obvious fact that bodily autonomy trumps anyone else’s wants regarding using us as brood mares, the pay gaps/work gaps would vanish (the Second Shift would be a thing of the past), and so on.
What we get instead is this deliberate conflation between biological sex, and sex role stereotypes. It should be obvious, but apparently it isn’t.
What it comes down to is: Doodz get to do whatever they want, as usual. Whatever ridiculous pronouncement a dood makes is to be taken as word from On High. If dood puts on a frock, it MUST make him a Laydee, because he says so.
Women & girls apparently only exist as accessories to the Very Important Journey of these doodz. We can’t possibly be an actual group of people with specific characteristics that differ from those of males, because that would spoil all the fun. Women are what men say we are, and any actual differences must be ignored.
Again, it seems to come down to the fact that we are the ones who make Life. Males cannot have babies, and they hate the idea of us doing something they can’t. Something that is outside their direct control, and punctures their fantasy of being in charge of everything.
The bit I really don’t get is, how can these women arguing in favour of male supremacy not see how much men hate us? They really do. That “breath play” thing that’s mentioned (in a later post) – choking someone is not an action performed towards someone one loves. Women don’t need to be told that it’s unsafe and cruel. It would never occur to someone who isn’t obsessed with having power over others.
I can see why so many girls & young women are desperately trying to be Anything But Female. They see the hatred and degradation being heaped upon us, and are rightly terrified – “If that’s what Female means, I want none of it!”. What I don’t understand is the women who are happy to beat down any of her “sisters” who notice the problem. The problem being MALES, and their fixation on death, humiliation, cruelty, torture and destruction.
I like this. We should adopt this spelling.
“She has a cracking pair of identittays”
Yes, well said, cluecat!
It also seems to me that the driver towards self-mutilation in young women and girls is terror at becoming victims, whereas the driver in men towards announcing that they are now women is the opportunity to access more victims.
The term “Identitay” is being used because it seems like almost a red herring – a distraction from what’s actually going on.
Women are talking about basic human rights for women as a group – privacy, safety, medical-related aspects, but also cultural aspects. Lesbians are disappearing into the Background again, their culture being trampled by aggressive men. Women are talking about needing time away from surviellence from males. It’s all about what women as a whole will benefit from, and should already have access to without doodz stomping all over them.
The doodz (and their cheerleaders) are all about individual Identity – as if the only thing that could possibly matter is “Being Their Authentic Selves” – whatever that means. It’s all about individual wants, about what this individual can impose on others, There’s no consideration for the impact of the oppressed group by having oppressors just waltz on in, and take over. There’s this assumption that everything should be made availible to the doodz, because “Respect mah Identitay!!”
It’s this strange Libertarian (as in Rand) idea that you can change reality by declaring it so. That only your individual wants matter. That reality isn’t real. It’s O’Brian saying to Winston “I can float off this floor like a soap bubble if I choose”.
Thing is, we already know that this isn’t the solution, because you can’t identify out of oppression. If one could, then all the problems would be solved – you’d just have to say the magic words. Reality doesn’t work like that.
Also, TiggertheWing, yes, I’ve noticed that females are trying to avoid victimisation, and a lot of the males are hunting for new targets. Yes, there are still a few of the Old-School individuals trying to avoid toxic homophobia – but they were never the problem to begin with.
(I never thought my annoyed rant would end up as a guest post! Thanks for the great honour!)
Thank you! Annoyed rants make excellent guest posts.