Max Davine's Blog - Posts Tagged "feminism"
Female Power
the difficulty with women in film and literature is similar to the cultural minority, in that they are often a plot device rather than a character unto themselves. For example, even a strong woman may appear alongside a man in a story, but she ultimately is part of the hero's overall goal; something to be won, or an element of his proving himself is winning her affections, or being captured or killed in order to send the hero into overdrive to complete his mission. In a story where she is the main protagonist, she often has to shed her femininity in order to complete the task. The fact that they are women overtakes from their serving the story as a character, rather than an object. Cultural minorities often appear to portray a view of their culture; the Russian will be a Russian and do Russian things. The woman will be contrary, or compensate for her womanhood by being overtly tough and masculine, or sexy and seductive therefore manipulative and ultimately something for the hero to either deny or conquer. A great example of the culture stigma NOT being exploited is in Wentworth: Doreen is an aboriginal, we see that, but being an aboriginal doesn't play as a device. It's a part of her, not the overruling definition of her, and while issues pop up regarding the fact, they are not at the forefront of the character. Women, it seems, are even more ingrained in our minds as elements or objects which only appear in order to have a titillating effect on the audience, or to serve another character's journey as either a challenge or a hindrance. What we want is to see women in stories who's sex is noted, drawn strength from without compromise thereon, but not of consequence to other characters or the evolution of the story.
Adventures in Moral Outrage Land
So...it was a bit of a first for me today. I got involved. I jumped on the hashtag wagons and promised that #iwilllistentowomen . I want to see it get the coverage that the Coward's Punch did, when it changed King's Cross forever, and the AFL and Danny Green spoke up, and the tragic deaths of young men who were merely in the wrong place at the wrong time were condemned universally. Justly. It was outrageous, and it drew outrage from us all. I want to see that level of support for women who are victims of circumstance.
Maybe not.
After all, those victims weren't dressed in a way that allured their attackers. They weren't warned by nursery rhymes not to walk home alone at night. So maybe I won't see that. Maybe I can get the same coverage as Thomas the Tank Engine, when Sunrise falsely claimed it was being removed from preschool reading lists. What did poor Thomas ever do? It was outrage - Australia was foaming at the mouth over the cruel, heartless lefty agenda. Director Luke Launer even said it was "Satan's work". The fire was so intense it continued to be the topic of conversation on Fox FM's Fifi, Fev and Byron AFTER IT HAD BEEN DEBUNKED.
But, maybe not.
After all, the lefties are trying to change things that were when we were kids. Rapists were stalking the streets then, too, and "I grew up just fine."
It seems at times that I treat social media like my own personal social experiment and to a degree that's true, but this was much more than that. I shared this post because I am a white, heterosexual male. And single. In other words, I fit the description of the perpetrators of the rape and murder of Jill Meagher and Eurydice Dixon, as well as an astonishing number of others who go unreported and unrepresented. When a woman walks through a Victorian park late a night, it's man of my description she's thinking of while she clutches her keys like a weapon, or pretends to be on the phone to avoid. A man just like me would send cold shivers of fear through her for merely walking in the same park, at the same time. And I can't stomach that anymore.
So, whose fault is it, that this is how it is? It's not women's. Remember when Muhammad Ali compared white people to ten thousand rattlesnakes? He said, "if ten thousand rattlesnakes came at me right now, and one thousand were coming to protect me, would I let them all in, and hope that the one thousand do their job, or would I shut them all out?" - he had a point.
That makes it men's fault.
Men who commit these fathomlessly monstrous acts, yes. But also men who don't see the favoritism happening. Men who hear what women are saying, day in, day out, all as fibers in the tapestry we collectively call "feminism", either with favor or disdain, and choose to be offended, because they personally wouldn't do that, so why assumption? Men who conveniently block out the message that women - feminists - are trying to send us. It is not "accept everything we are saying unquestioningly", it is not "don't hold us accountable" and it is not "you are the cause of your own problems". It is one thing, and one thing only: listen to them, as though they were men.
Because there is not one man who can talk, and be shut down because of his "feminist agenda". There is not one man who can talk about the plight of men, and find himself bombarded with questionable news articles and anecdotal tales about how "we have it worse". It is listen to us, and judge us as you would a man. And for those who say "we do!" - you don't. Do you do not. Because there is not one word like "feminazi" for men. There is not one man who would call another man that word for speaking out against the coward's punch. There is not one man who would try to tell the victim of a coward's punch, or his family, that he was dressed inappropriately, or that he is responsible for his own safety, that he shouldn't have been out late at night and alone. Nobody is out there myopically teaching men self-defence classes in case they get coward's punched. There is not one council out there trying to educate men on how not to get coward's punched. And there is not nearly as many men out there getting anywhere near as outraged over women being attacked and killed in public places as there was over Thomas the Tank Engine.
We don't know what it's like to live with the fear that Crystal is expressing. We don't know what it's like for society to think it's normal that we bring horrifying violence down upon ourselves. That's why we have to listen. That's why #iwilllistentowomen.
Maybe not.
After all, those victims weren't dressed in a way that allured their attackers. They weren't warned by nursery rhymes not to walk home alone at night. So maybe I won't see that. Maybe I can get the same coverage as Thomas the Tank Engine, when Sunrise falsely claimed it was being removed from preschool reading lists. What did poor Thomas ever do? It was outrage - Australia was foaming at the mouth over the cruel, heartless lefty agenda. Director Luke Launer even said it was "Satan's work". The fire was so intense it continued to be the topic of conversation on Fox FM's Fifi, Fev and Byron AFTER IT HAD BEEN DEBUNKED.
But, maybe not.
After all, the lefties are trying to change things that were when we were kids. Rapists were stalking the streets then, too, and "I grew up just fine."
It seems at times that I treat social media like my own personal social experiment and to a degree that's true, but this was much more than that. I shared this post because I am a white, heterosexual male. And single. In other words, I fit the description of the perpetrators of the rape and murder of Jill Meagher and Eurydice Dixon, as well as an astonishing number of others who go unreported and unrepresented. When a woman walks through a Victorian park late a night, it's man of my description she's thinking of while she clutches her keys like a weapon, or pretends to be on the phone to avoid. A man just like me would send cold shivers of fear through her for merely walking in the same park, at the same time. And I can't stomach that anymore.
So, whose fault is it, that this is how it is? It's not women's. Remember when Muhammad Ali compared white people to ten thousand rattlesnakes? He said, "if ten thousand rattlesnakes came at me right now, and one thousand were coming to protect me, would I let them all in, and hope that the one thousand do their job, or would I shut them all out?" - he had a point.
That makes it men's fault.
Men who commit these fathomlessly monstrous acts, yes. But also men who don't see the favoritism happening. Men who hear what women are saying, day in, day out, all as fibers in the tapestry we collectively call "feminism", either with favor or disdain, and choose to be offended, because they personally wouldn't do that, so why assumption? Men who conveniently block out the message that women - feminists - are trying to send us. It is not "accept everything we are saying unquestioningly", it is not "don't hold us accountable" and it is not "you are the cause of your own problems". It is one thing, and one thing only: listen to them, as though they were men.
Because there is not one man who can talk, and be shut down because of his "feminist agenda". There is not one man who can talk about the plight of men, and find himself bombarded with questionable news articles and anecdotal tales about how "we have it worse". It is listen to us, and judge us as you would a man. And for those who say "we do!" - you don't. Do you do not. Because there is not one word like "feminazi" for men. There is not one man who would call another man that word for speaking out against the coward's punch. There is not one man who would try to tell the victim of a coward's punch, or his family, that he was dressed inappropriately, or that he is responsible for his own safety, that he shouldn't have been out late at night and alone. Nobody is out there myopically teaching men self-defence classes in case they get coward's punched. There is not one council out there trying to educate men on how not to get coward's punched. And there is not nearly as many men out there getting anywhere near as outraged over women being attacked and killed in public places as there was over Thomas the Tank Engine.
We don't know what it's like to live with the fear that Crystal is expressing. We don't know what it's like for society to think it's normal that we bring horrifying violence down upon ourselves. That's why we have to listen. That's why #iwilllistentowomen.
