Life in the Empire
Andrea Dworkin: An Example of Injustice in Literary Academia
The late Andrea Dworkin, a radical feminist and a brilliant author and theoretician, wrote a book called Intercourse. She was immediately accused of having said that all sex is rape.
Anyone who actually read the book (I have, and there's a copy on my bookshelf) would know that isn't what she said. She said that sex which wasn't mutual and reciprocal, which consisted only of one person doing something to another rather than two people doing something together, was rape.
Dworkin explained that in male/female intercourse, the male penetrates the female and the female engulfs the male. This is, in mutual, reciprocal intercourse, usually simultaneous. But if the female is not an active partner and is simply penetrated by the male, even if the act is consensual, it is rape, not sex. In countries where young girls are given in marriage to older males, this may be the only kind of intercourse they ever experience. In patriarchal societies where females are expected to submit to males, it is not uncommon for any active participation in intercourse by the female (no less actual enjoyment of the act) to be considered improper and immoral. A female who actively participated in and enjoyed sex, would be considered a whore.
I had a long online argument about this with a male Orthodox Jewish Israeli settler. He insisted that all heterosexual sex was penetration of the female by the male. He was totally incapable of grasping the concept that the female might be the active partner or that the act could be mutual and reciprocal, rather than just the male penetrating the female. According to his beliefs, sex was something that males did to females, not something that males and females did with each other.
Not only was the false allegation that Dworkin had said that all sex was rape so widely propagated that Dworkin became the most hated female in the world, but it led to her being given a date rape drug and raped in France, an event that caused her to feel so deeply humiliated and depressed that she died not long afterward. As she was old, fat, and unattractive (Rush Limbaugh is an example of a male who was old, fat, and unattractive, and whose vilification of feminists didn't harm his career), and as she was unconscious during the act (she woke up to find herself in such a position that it was obvious she had been raped even though she had no memory of it), the rape was apparently due to anger by ignorant males who believed the lies and thought they were getting revenge on a feminist who'd said that all sex was rape. What was done to her was exactly what she'd written about--there was nothing mutual about it. The rapists hadn't wanted to have sex with her, they wanted to fuck her over and they did.
Many highly respected authors and academics and even some self-proclaimed feminists repeated the lie without ever reading the book. Very few copies were sold.
In most cases, anyone who critiques a book in such a way as to make it obvious that they hadn't actually read the book, would not be considered to be a respected or reliable teacher or academic. A student who did that probably wouldn't get a passing grade.
In this case, I know of nobody whose academic career suffered because they repeated something that wasn't true in criticizing a book that they obviously hadn't read. Some even claimed to be admirers of Dworkin and eulogized her after her death, while continuing to repeat the lie.
That's okay. Life isn't fair and nobody ever said that it was. But I reserve the right to remain pissed off about injustice, however weird it may make me seem.
Anyone who actually read the book (I have, and there's a copy on my bookshelf) would know that isn't what she said. She said that sex which wasn't mutual and reciprocal, which consisted only of one person doing something to another rather than two people doing something together, was rape.
Dworkin explained that in male/female intercourse, the male penetrates the female and the female engulfs the male. This is, in mutual, reciprocal intercourse, usually simultaneous. But if the female is not an active partner and is simply penetrated by the male, even if the act is consensual, it is rape, not sex. In countries where young girls are given in marriage to older males, this may be the only kind of intercourse they ever experience. In patriarchal societies where females are expected to submit to males, it is not uncommon for any active participation in intercourse by the female (no less actual enjoyment of the act) to be considered improper and immoral. A female who actively participated in and enjoyed sex, would be considered a whore.
I had a long online argument about this with a male Orthodox Jewish Israeli settler. He insisted that all heterosexual sex was penetration of the female by the male. He was totally incapable of grasping the concept that the female might be the active partner or that the act could be mutual and reciprocal, rather than just the male penetrating the female. According to his beliefs, sex was something that males did to females, not something that males and females did with each other.
Not only was the false allegation that Dworkin had said that all sex was rape so widely propagated that Dworkin became the most hated female in the world, but it led to her being given a date rape drug and raped in France, an event that caused her to feel so deeply humiliated and depressed that she died not long afterward. As she was old, fat, and unattractive (Rush Limbaugh is an example of a male who was old, fat, and unattractive, and whose vilification of feminists didn't harm his career), and as she was unconscious during the act (she woke up to find herself in such a position that it was obvious she had been raped even though she had no memory of it), the rape was apparently due to anger by ignorant males who believed the lies and thought they were getting revenge on a feminist who'd said that all sex was rape. What was done to her was exactly what she'd written about--there was nothing mutual about it. The rapists hadn't wanted to have sex with her, they wanted to fuck her over and they did.
Many highly respected authors and academics and even some self-proclaimed feminists repeated the lie without ever reading the book. Very few copies were sold.
In most cases, anyone who critiques a book in such a way as to make it obvious that they hadn't actually read the book, would not be considered to be a respected or reliable teacher or academic. A student who did that probably wouldn't get a passing grade.
In this case, I know of nobody whose academic career suffered because they repeated something that wasn't true in criticizing a book that they obviously hadn't read. Some even claimed to be admirers of Dworkin and eulogized her after her death, while continuing to repeat the lie.
That's okay. Life isn't fair and nobody ever said that it was. But I reserve the right to remain pissed off about injustice, however weird it may make me seem.
Views: 86
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by curt on
-
How about a link to RBCone?
http://p2.forumforfree.com/rbcommunity.html
My login still works. I'm logged in just now. I was "rossini", Mark was "folkie".
The gender discussion can be found under this link.
A follow-up discussion titled "gender II" is here.
I hope I'm not opening another pandora's box with these links.
Time to pack for tomorrow. -
-
Permalink Reply by pan on
-
Pick fights. Pick scabs. Pick nits. Whatever...
Curt left you the URLs. If it is important to you go back and reread what I (panpipes) wrote. -
-
-
I want you two to (work at) get(ting) along cause I love you both.
Mark and I went over Dworkin way back when we first met. As read lazy as I am, I take people's words for fact most of the time but if I recall correctly, I did end up reading a lot a Dworkin's stuff...that I could find on the web. Dunno why I'm saying this except to maybe confirm Mark's position. But you two have already gone past that point.
Consider yourselves graduated.
Mark, quit fuckin' with Pan.
Pan, quit lettin' Mark fuck widya.
Dudes, be good to one another. Or do ya want me to get my brothers involved ? You know, the knuckle draggerz on two wheelz? (I'm grinning and it hurts)
-
Permalink Reply by Mark on
-
I got biker friends too, Hoss. But then, come to think of it, most of the ones still alive are as old or even older than I am and too doubled up with arthritis to be much use in a fight, so I'm not gonna be stupid.
The Angels used to have a jar and anytime anyone fought with a brother, they had to put money in the jar. It didn't stop people from fighting, but it was a steady source of revenue for the club.
Pan, I'm going to do my damnedest to show you the love and respect due a brother before Jeb opens a PayPal account and soaks me for every dime I've got.
Peace!
-
Permalink Reply by waldopaper on
-
wotthefeck youguys into NOW?? I always thought it was rather like being swallowed by a whale. Soul Jonahs and all that. I gotta get back to the c prompt and try to run a chkdsk again... yaaaaaaaaa somebody hep me!
-
-
I never found out what was wrong with my computer. Somebody suggested that I log out and create a new user account, and it works fine from the new user account. But I'm afraid to import anything because I don't know what the problem was. Apparently creating a new user (admin) account on Windows gives you a clean slate even when system restore won't. So I'm just using it for email and websites I trust.
-
-
Oops. You have to go to the control panel and click on "user accounts" to create a new account. Then when you log off, you'll get a screen showing the old account and the new account and you just login with the new account.
-
Permalink Reply by BO on
-
You fuckers need to trash those damn PC's and get Macs. Besides, you all be hypocrites for supporting such an evil, fascist corporate monopoly (microsoft).
-
-
LOL, Linux. I finally lived up to my word and no regrets yet. Eldest son found a way to run (some) exe apps on Linux. Just in case. But yes, Mac is it, if you have to go for that kind of OS.
-
-
http://p2.forumforfree.com/rbcommunity.html
In case you forgot your login or in case you were banned from RBC and you would like to access the forum anyway, try registering anew. It just might work. Maybe. But I warn you, going there is more than just a flashback. It brought back some less pleasant memories for me. Odeon Scream e.g. is no longer with us and news of his death shook me real hard and long. I felt partially guilty and had to shake that feeling. Some people take this internet shit way too serious. My friend Odeon was one such person. curt
-
-
I created an account and used a different email address in case mine was banned, but it has to be approved by an administrator.
Does the site still have an administrator?
I'd be very interested in seeing it, particularly to see if anything I posted was censored or changed.
As an analogy, when a gay person comes out to their family, are they requesting to stop being referred to as "our (son/daughter)" and start being referred to as, "that fucking (fag/dyke) whose name is never to be mentioned in this house again?" Many families are able to accept a child's orientation and continue to treat them the same way. Others cannot, but it is not because the gay kid requested discriminatory treatment.
What I do know for sure, Curt, is that when you and I were building up that site, there weren't any problems, and that when problems arose, it wasn't due to any request by me to be treated any differently than I had been in the past.
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next ›
About
© 2024 Created by waldopaper.
Powered by
