I
was somewhat enraged by this poster, which I think illustrates
something
on
many levels. Apart from anything else, if you try and make
constructive comments on feminism, the post-feminists and other
rubbish comes out of the woodwork.
But
in particular it illustrates the false assumption that if you focus
on one thing in one situation, this is a negative statement about
other situations. Take for example:
Feminist: Men
shouldn’t rape women.
Humanist: People
shouldn’t rape people.
Are
we to assume women are indifferent to men being raped? Absolutely
not. They might be the first to offer advice.
When
we hear the clamours of Fathers for Justice, can we assume that they
are indifferent to justice for mothers? Er, well... we may not be
entitled to assume that, but one is very inclined to think this is
the case.
Essentially
we jump to conclusions that reinforce what we already believe.
And
I am going to jump to the conclusion that the author doesn’t
respect women.
I
think feminists are right to focus on disrespect for women. Women
don’t get enough and in ways men get too much. Unfortunately,
while it is sometimes intuitively clear, sometimes it is far from
clear what respect consists of. There was a time when it was felt to
be sexist to say women should have greater representation in
Parliament and on company boards because they have something special
to offer.
Nowadays
this is regarded more positively. Provided of course that focussing
on this doesn’t imply we ignore other more ‘mainstream’
contributions they might make.
Martin
Prior
