Over at the Independent Women’s Forum, they’ve had a series of amusing posts about the shenanigans at the NOW annual meeting. So much about the NOW worldview, but this particular loonines, which Allison Kasic reports, really caught my eye:
At the “I’m not a feminist, but…” workshop at the NOW conference I received an amusing little card. This card, the size of a standard business card, has the following message:
“Dear Friend,
“I am a feminist.
“I am sure you did not realize this when you made/laughed at/agreed with that sexist/misogynist remark. In the past, I have attempted to alert others to my feminist/activist identity in advance. Unfortunately, this invariably causes them to react to me as pushy, manipulative, socially inappropriate, or humorless. Therefore, my policy is to assume that you do not typically make these remarks, even when you believe there are no feminists present, and to distribute this card when you do.
“I regret any discomfort my presence is causing you, just as I am sure you regret the discomfort your sexism is causing me.”
If I hear on of my friends saying a sexist comment, I’m instructed to hand them the card. Talk about being passive aggressive!
Filed under: Feminism
How hard would it be to print up a few little cards to hand back – I envision simple bold face type:
GET A LIFE
LOL, Marguerite!!! I love it
.
My own response is, “I am a TRUE femine equalitarian. That means that I form my OWN opinions independent of leftist organizations like NOW.”
Since her card is predominantly designed for men and imagining I had just received it, I would prefer a reply card that says:
IRON MY SHIRT
I expect it would get a bit more of a rise.
Everything that comes to mind isn’t fit for a family blog.
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Kevin – Yours is better, or maybe:
GET A LIFE – IRON MY SHIRT!
I’m a recovering feminist. I need a 12-step program.
Seriously, I think there is still some real sexism–and the feminuts at NOW and their ilk have completely destroyed any possibility of ferreting it out. They call you a sexist if you don’t write s/he (UGH) instead of he, or suggest that a woman might want to have the choice of taking care of her own babies (or even actually bringing them to term); but real sexism they ignore or even condone, when it fits their leftist agenda.
Sisterhood is powerful.
I’m an only child.
I’d like to print a T-shirt that says
TESTOSTERONE
THE MALIGNED & SLANDERED HORMONE
Kevin -
I’LL HAVE APPLE PIE TONIGHT
Trish: “Sisterhood is powerful.
I’m an only child.”
This is a powerful statement
. And it rings true for me, as well (even though I actually have two real flesh-and-blood sisters). I’ve always been an independent cuss, taking after a grandmother who was married 5 times, kicking out each husband as he tried to rein her in. I was all for NOW… and an original ’60s member… as long as they were about equal pay for equal work.
I think they lost me when they started doing the “he or she” or “s/he” thing. Messing with the language struck me as preposterous, since everyone knew the English “he” was gender inclusive at times. They made a claim that this had a psychological effect on English-speaking people, but failed to take note of Spanish, the language of so many hyper-macho cultures, in which many gender-neutral objects were referred to as “she” (ending with an “-a” suffix). The preponderance of “she” in Spanish… and Italian for that matter… didn’t keep those cultures from being overbearingly male-oriented, so why should people who speak English be affected by a linguistic quirk?
Anyway, NOW got into so many flakey side-issues that I just dropped out of their circle. I decided that I’d had it with them about 25 years ago.