So about a week ago, A Voice for Men tried their hand at a
postcolonial critique of feminism and fell flat on their faces (as seen here).
For starters, the whole post never even mentions postcolonialism,
almost as if Ali (the guy who wrote it) isn’t even aware of it. So, off
to a good start, clearly.
The post is long and I’m not going to discuss it point by point. I do, however, want to point out a few things. The first is this quote:
Folks, infantilisation is part of what defines patriarchy in feminist discourse! For Pete’s sake, one of the patriarchal arguments against women’s suffrage in the U.S. way back in the late 1800s was that women didn’t need to worry their pretty little heads about it. One of the patriarchal arguments made against women working outside the home is that being “taken care of” is somehow preferable to being independent. And you’ll notice that feminists fight against this notion that women are inherently childlike and dependent all the damn time.
Actually, this issue of feminists hating the infantilisation of women is precisely what feminist critique of mansplaining is all about! So, feminists point out how patriarchal society treats women as though they are incapable children, which leads to mansplaining, and the MRAs respond with: “No it doesn’t.” And then feminists point out patriarchal problems with Iranian culture and the MRAs respond with, “but Iran can’t be patriarchal because Iran infantilises women.” OH MY GOD!
The other headdesk worthy aspect to this post is the fact that Ali seems to think that feminists aren’t aware of the problem of applying a western lens onto gender issues in non-western countries. It’s almost as if Ali has never heard of postcolonial feminism or intersectional feminism or thinkers like Spivak or Mohanty. Oh, look, Ali is manspalining!
And then finally there’s Ali’s use of a quote from Christopher Hitchens at the end of his post as an example of “feminist lies and propaganda.” Because, yeah, Hitchens was totally a big ol’ feminist.
Standard plea of validation: If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to Like it, Tweet it and otherwise share it and comment on it. Or you can do all those things even if you didn’t like it. Either way, BRING ME MORE READERS.
Source: Radical Centrist Blog
The post is long and I’m not going to discuss it point by point. I do, however, want to point out a few things. The first is this quote:
You will see how the supposed “Patriarchy” has increased the Quality of Life of women much higher relative to that of most men. In fact, in this part of the world, infantilizing and spoiling women is done to a level possibly unmatched anywhere else.So let me get this straight. Ali and A Voice for Men are claiming there’s no way that patriarchy exists in Iran because in Iran women are treated like spoiled children. Patriarchy:
Folks, infantilisation is part of what defines patriarchy in feminist discourse! For Pete’s sake, one of the patriarchal arguments against women’s suffrage in the U.S. way back in the late 1800s was that women didn’t need to worry their pretty little heads about it. One of the patriarchal arguments made against women working outside the home is that being “taken care of” is somehow preferable to being independent. And you’ll notice that feminists fight against this notion that women are inherently childlike and dependent all the damn time.
Actually, this issue of feminists hating the infantilisation of women is precisely what feminist critique of mansplaining is all about! So, feminists point out how patriarchal society treats women as though they are incapable children, which leads to mansplaining, and the MRAs respond with: “No it doesn’t.” And then feminists point out patriarchal problems with Iranian culture and the MRAs respond with, “but Iran can’t be patriarchal because Iran infantilises women.” OH MY GOD!
The other headdesk worthy aspect to this post is the fact that Ali seems to think that feminists aren’t aware of the problem of applying a western lens onto gender issues in non-western countries. It’s almost as if Ali has never heard of postcolonial feminism or intersectional feminism or thinkers like Spivak or Mohanty. Oh, look, Ali is manspalining!
And then finally there’s Ali’s use of a quote from Christopher Hitchens at the end of his post as an example of “feminist lies and propaganda.” Because, yeah, Hitchens was totally a big ol’ feminist.
Standard plea of validation: If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to Like it, Tweet it and otherwise share it and comment on it. Or you can do all those things even if you didn’t like it. Either way, BRING ME MORE READERS.
Source: Radical Centrist Blog
