One thing that has long fascinated me is how so many feminist women are very much drawn to rock music even though it seems to be the antithesis of what they claim to be about. Not only is the personal behaviour of so many rock stars - particular in their treatment of groupies - callous and misogynistic; their lyrics are often full of women-hating imagery as well.
A very lefty, feminist woman, Meredith Burgmann, talks to the Counterpoint presenters about this subject. She appears about half way through the presentation.
When asked about her attitudes to bands like the Rolling Stones, she reveals that back in the sixties she was appalled by the obvious sexism in many of their songs but didn't rebel against them, mainly because they were all about rebellion themselves - or "personal liberation" as she puts it. So, it seems to be a variation on that ancient belief that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".
The deafening silence (at least up until fairly recently) of the majority of feminists regarding the pervasive misogyny in Islam is another general example of this phenomenon.
A more specific one is the widespread and often nasty condemnation of the Swedish women accusing Julian Assange of sexual crimes (one of whom is a prominent feminist activist). When the guy in the legal cross-hairs is an anti-American hero of the left, then seemingly passionately held political beliefs are conveniently discarded. Many bolshie women (and men) who would be baying for Assange's blood were he an eeevil right-winger supporting "AmeriKKKa" are now sneering at his accusers as vengeful spurned women, or even CIA dupes or puppets. It's not a particularly edifying spectacle. And it just goes to show how emotional and tribal their behaviour can be.
No comments:
Post a Comment