Interesting thread from Fronx who is an honest & charitable person I often disagree with. I do so again! And yet, there is food for thoughthttps://twitter.com/fronxer/status/925624625685454848 …
-
-
If I thought I lived in a society where dominant discourses were abt rigid gender roles & that there was insufficient liberal pushback...
Show this thread -
...on this, I'd be much more concerned & vocal about this. Because I do think ideas have great power in shaping society.
Show this thread -
In fact, I'm fairly sure I live in a society in which the dominant discourse on women's roles is that they can be whatever they want.
Show this thread -
And that this was hard won but we are threatened with a regress now by the rise of a powerfully divisive discourse abt identity & privilege.
Show this thread -
And that this is not being sufficiently interrogated by liberals but is being so by conservatives which gives the right credibility & power.
Show this thread -
So I do think dominant ideas powerfully impact society but I do not buy into the idea that individuals are mindlessly constructed by them.
Show this thread -
I retain confidence in the idea that individuals are 'won' to certain ideas from a big mess of them & so free discussion of them is vital.
Show this thread -
I resent being told that, as a woman, I have little autonomy to decide which ideas win my approval but simply react to dominant ones.
Show this thread -
Whether it's feminists telling me I'm conditioned to favour social jobs or anti-feminists that I'm brainwashed to think I want one at all.
Show this thread -
By that, I mean the very socially conservative idea that feminism is undermining the family & making women unhappy by extending their roles.
Show this thread -
Not the criticism of feminist approaches to gender equality by people who support gender equality. Both can be described as 'anti-feminist.'
Show this thread -
So it is not inconsistent to argue against cultural constructivist ideas of gender coz you think those ideas have power & are harmful.
Show this thread -
Ideas do have power & can be harmful but arguing against them is the way to defeat them. Win people to better ideas.
Show this thread -
Finally getting to the idea of the 'status quo' and liberals alleged support of it in a way which supports oppressive norms.
Show this thread -
Firstly, you'd need to accept the status quo is dominated by oppressive norms & this is a big difference between liberals & intersectionals
Show this thread -
(Using 'liberal' in the sense of lefties & centrists who are not conservative and also not the economic far-left or identitarian far-left)
Show this thread -
When I am accused of wanting the preserve the status quo, this is true in 1 sense. I want to preserve universal liberalism & egalitarianism
Show this thread -
There is a reason the identitarian lefties have been dubbed 'the regressive left'. But progress is also integral to liberalism.
Show this thread -
When we look at progress universal liberalism brought in last 50 years in terms of gender/racial/LGBT equality, mad to ditch this approach.
Show this thread -
The idea that people of all races, genders, sexualities should have equal opportunities & no-one be discriminated against works well.
Show this thread -
The idea that we should evaluate people by their race. gender, sexuality & foreground the interests of some groups over others doesn't.
Show this thread -
But we also need to be careful not to reactively defend the present in response to people who see it as plagued by oppressive systems.
Show this thread -
eg Not be motivated to see racism, sexism, homophobia nowhere in response to people seeing it everywhere.
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.