Jonathan Dean: Rethinking Contemporary feminist politics
“…existing academic works either completely ignore more recent instances of feminist activity, or assume that genuinely radical feminism (e.g. feminist separatism, political lesbianism, etc) was over by the beginning of the 1980s.”
Hailing from the UK, Jonathan Dean speaks of his research on the “radical” side of feminism. Recently authoring a book of his own entitled, “Rethinking Contemporary Feminist Politics,” Dean offers a review of his book, as well as his ideas of radical feminism, by exploring so-called radical feminist groups. In addition, he speaks about one of the more common assumptions pertaining to feminism insisting, “a lot of academic work tended to assume that the most radical kinds of feminism are those that are most purist and separatist.” Dean argues that there is a possibility of an evolution (of a sort) within feminist groups, causing them to become more radical over time.
Radical Feminism
“…many women falsely claimed that we were cultural feminists.” “BUlshit!!!”
This comes in the form of a compilation of emails aiming to define radical feminism. Composed in November and December of 1998, academics in the field weigh in on their colleagues definitions, while offering their own. Reading the emails, one quickly starts to recognize how differently most of those contributing here view the topic. Offering a unique look at the ways in which radical feminism is defined, it’s clear that even those who are considered masters of the topic don’t completely agree on who or what is truly radical within the movement. Warning: This thread of emails may cause one to question those favorite, pioneering radicals of the past (i.e. Freidan, Stanton, etc.)
The Failure of Feminism
“Feminism’s goal was to remove all sexual barriers and make women equal to men—including being equally promiscuous.”
This article, dated September of this year views feminism from a “where has it really gotten us” perspective. Speaking unkindly of the effects feminism has had on the female population, the authors, United Families International, seek to persuade the reader to believe that most efforts of the feminists in the past were thwarted by the radical beliefs of those that “would have women believe that their own feminine characteristics were the problem…” Simply put, the authors feel the movement was “hijacked” by those eager to make women more male-minded and promote males as oppressive, due to their masculine nature. Taking a pro-choice stance—they quote pioneers such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul. Before concluding, the reader gets an eye full of a very conservative approach to the issue, including a pretty lengthy list of feminism’s failures. Please pay special attention to the sections on “Disintegration of Marriage and Family” and “Life/abortion.” One “radical” turn apparently deserves another.
Radical Feminism
“To equate radical feminism to man-hating is to assume that patriarchy and men are inseparable…”
Here we see the offering of a definition of radical feminism, with an obvious bias. The author expresses their own beliefs, while setting forth a pretty simple, clean-cut explanation of radical feminism. Also listing some very influential, well-known reads on the topic, the site concludes with links to information found “Elsewhere on the Web” concerning the topic, as well as some articles. Short and sweet!
Anti-Feminist Quotes
I included this site as somewhat of a bonus. This is a compilation of anti-feminism quotes, many from some of our favorite conservative minds. Undoubtedly, there’s something here for everyone!
Note: All of the information used for the reviews can be found on the site (link) provided for each review.
Note: All of the information used for the reviews can be found on the site (link) provided for each review.
