Everyone is a number in this dystopian near-future where cameras track your every move. Score above 90 and your set for life. Score below 75 and you’re on your own, kid.
The Cycler Series
The Cyler Series: What would you do if you woke up one day as a member of the opposite sex? For Jill McTeague, this is no hypothetical question. It’s real life!
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And I quote:
We do not stone women to death in this country. We do not prevent them from driving. We in the West have much to be proud of in our evolution toward greater equality between the sexes. However, at a deep fundamental level I believe we are still engaged in a pernicious cultural debate about exactly what constitutes the proper exercise of approved femininity. This is why we argue about abortion. This is why we have “Mommy Wars.” Women are the means through which society defines itself. And it’s not okay. I am not a symbol. I am am not a means whereby you may establish your own self worth. I am not a vessel for your theological spewings or a moral nitwit who requires your guidance. I am a flesh and blood human being who happens to be female. All I want (and this is a demand not a request) is the freedom to succeed and fail according to my gifts and limitations. And I’d like to thank Joss Whedon and all of our heroes who fight for the dignity and equality that is our birthright. 9 Responses to “My Hero”Leave a Reply |
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There are many reasons to love Joss Whedon, creator of the 
After reading this inspiring post, I found myself at my desk with a heart bursting and a song on my lips:
Oh yes, I am wise
But its wisdom born of pain
Yes, I’ve paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to
I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
You totally rock. Go ahead, “succeed or fail according to [your] gifts and limitations.” You have my permission although it is not needed. I would hope we all could be as lucky — to rise or fall on our merit and effort — in the pursuit of our dreams or, at the very least, in the furtherance of a worthwhile undertaking.
Thanks, dude. And right back at you.
I never could resist trolling a good debate.
1. Gender Roles:
You can’t have your cake, and eat it too!
Men who are feminists should cast off any vestiges of gender-based chivalry.
Women feminists should expect to initiate during mating rituals, pay their way, and not expect doors opened by males.
In fact, women should decline entering through a door that a male has gallantly opened.
Women feminists should fully expect to be punched back in physical altercations. The no-hitting-a-woman rule is obsolete.
2. Women and “morality”:
As for women being “morally unfinished”, violent crime statistics tend to support the opposite — Women as the more docile, more socialized, less violent gender.
That’s not the whole story, though.
3. Women in the workplace:
I am a capitalist, answerable to my shareholders.
I need to staff my company with robots.
Robots come in two models — model A & model B.
Model A is usually heavier, physically stronger, and has more physical endurance.
Model B is generally lighter, and physically weaker in running, hand-to-hand-combat, and lifting weights.
The CPU’s of models A & B are equivalent, on the whole.
What mix of these robots should I order?
The government says they should cost the same.
The government even says I need to order roughly equal numbers of models A & B.
But really, what would I do, if the government weren’t breathing down my neck?
I’d try to get the most bang for my buck.
Of course, this amounts to crass reductionism of genders.
Women are stereo-typically held to be more empathic, and have better people skills to compensate for physically weakness.
I’m still confused about the gender equality issue.
I skimmed through “The Myth of Male Power”, and found it hair-raising!
Comments? Please email me!
Cheers!
- Ashwin.
http://www.livenudejournal.com/
Ashwin, your bitter tone is a perfect example of why women should eschew their infantile attachment to chivalry. As a hollow display of power rituals designed to get women out of their panties, chivalry offers women free dinners in exchange for a crusty build-up of ill will on the part of their knight-poseurs. Pay attention, ladies, this is the man who will buy you a cocktail, bitch to his friends about it, then discriminate against you in the workplace because you’re the wrong robot model. You’ve dated him. You’ve worked for him. This is what he sounds like.
Lauren, let’s not get ad hominem, and skirt the issue conveniently.
I wish to bring into question, the a priori, but strongly held belief that genders are “equal”.
Perhaps feminism will emerge stronger for having been thoroughly examined.
If you have the time and inclination to discuss further, I’ll be glad to correspond.
- Ashwin.
PS: I’m everything you say I am, and then some.
Thanks for educating me about feminism!
You inspired the following blog posting:
http://dj-perl.livejournal.com/50692.html
OK, I’ll bite.
A priori belief that the sexes are “equal” does not mean starting from the position that the sexes are equivalent.
A big fat “duh” that men are generally physically stronger than women (although, even there, quite a lot of women are stronger than most men). And, for the sake of argument, let’s not even quibble that women are generally more empathic (or whatever, although, again, quite a lot of men,…)
I just want to make the very humble semantic point that the proposition that women are equal, as in, alike in dignity and in potential to men does not even really actually suggest operating from a complete ignorance of the differences — physical, socialized, whatever — between the sexes (let alone the genders).
Feminism says go ahead and pay attention to the differences WHEN THEY ARE RELEVANT. You need to hire someone to do heavy lifting. Who ya gonna ask for a referral? The PTA? Or your brother’s basketball team?
It also means endeavor not to let them cloud your judgment when they are not relevant. Does the person who shows me how to operate the oxygen on my airplane need to turn me on? Maybe no. Can we only have astronauts with the upper body strength to manoeuver the equipment? Maybe we just need to invent better equipment.
And it means be open to what people bring to the table that defies gender expectations. My son’s daycare provider is better at that job BECAUSE he is male. How hard is that?
Well put, Astrodon. I’ve often thought that some of the “artificial” gender traits socialized into men and women are a double edged sword. On the one hand, I don’t want to be constrained by someone else’s prejudices. On the other hand, there are aspects of stereotypical femininity that are quite lovey and which the world could use a bit more of. I think the trick is to see gender for what it truly is–a maleable fluid game we play. We can either play it for fun or play it for blood. I prefer fun.
As the saying goes — it’s all fun & games till someone gets hurt; then, it’s just fun!
I do believe in the intrinsic right to dignity for everyone. At the same time, I realize that this is a bit idealistic.
Non-atheists believe that everyone’s equal in the eyes of god.
Democrazies profess equal rights for all citizens.
But really, who in their right mind believes that everyone is equal, or equivalent?
Harper Lee acknowledges this in “To Kill a Mockingbird”.
By examining this apparent contradiction closely, I hope to chip away a chunk of the ineffable, the essentially ungraspable. If we’re going to hold contradictory beliefs, let us do so consciously, and acknowledge contradictions openly.
My belief is that mystery is not so fragile as we might think. Let us boldly question what no man has questioned before.
Here’s a model I find delightfully ugly, and hair-raising:
Genders might be functionaries of their genes.
Men as virile broadcasters — “I’m gonna hose down the entire Universe with my sperm, and try to impregnate everything in sight.”
Women as finicky receivers — “I’m going to filter the genetic noise, and be picky about which male gets to penetrate.”
This dynamic plays out in everyday life, even when no pregnancy is involved. As a bisexual, I find that it’s much, much harder to hook up with a female, than with a male. Quantitative analysis of Craigslist’s “casual encounters” sections is a PhD thesis waiting to happen.
An (outdated?) notion is that of women as repositories of morality, the civilizing gender that sometimes witholds sexual pleasure to soften and tame male brutes.
A surreal image (somewhat like Stanislaw Lem’s “Solaris” ) is that of men as imperfect, individual egos, sperm cells, surrounding Earth, which is one giant polymorphic Ovum, manifesting itself in various guises. Gaia is here to civilize the primitive invaders from Mars.
Nothing could be more anti-feminist of course, than to deny women the status of flesh & blood human beings. The flip side of the coin is the Madonna/Whore complex –
women are mysterious creatures who are either goddesses, or doormats.
That’s why I thoroughly enjoy femme fatales like Xena, and River Tam!
Most of the Jedi High Council is male.
Capt. Janeway is one of the few female Starship captains.
Many (most?) positions of power are held by men, which is exactly what one would expect if women were running the world.