The Eighteenth Carnival of Radical Feminists

Welcome to the eighteenth Carnival of Radical Feminists! This edition is entitled ‘Exploring a Radical Feminist Understanding of Hierarchy and Class’ and is packed full of brilliant, thought provoking, illuminating and inspirational writings. I’ve checked the links and they all work from this end but if you find one that doesn’t, please let me know. If something you’ve written is featured in this Carnival and you’d rather it wasn’t – again, let me know.

This Carnival has been put together by resisterance, Laurelin and me and it’s been a pleasure and a joy for me to collaborate so closely with two solid radical feminist sisters and real life friends. Thank you both.

EXPLORING A RADICAL FEMINIST UNDERSTANDING OF HIERARCHY AND CLASS

Hierarchies are institutions common and integral to patriarchal societies. Hierarchies place individuals in an ascending order of importance, power and access to resources; in a capitalist society in particular, the goods and rewards produced by the labouring classes go up the scale, accruing to those who have the most, and not to those who produce. Women are commonly found at the bottom of hierarchies. Even though women are found in every strata of a hierarchy, they are inevitably placed beneath the males in that same stratum, with less access to resources than their men. Women’s place in the hierarchy is usually determined by their relations to men- and thus their places in hierarchical structures frequently rely upon acquiescence with men. Women who do not please men in their class or stratum rapidly find themselves relegated and cast out.

Western hierarchy and class structures rely on the ideological image of the rational, intelligent, capable and controlling white male. The traits considered masculine are those that are attributed to those highest in the hierarchy; leaders have to be ‘strong’, ‘rational’ and ‘objective’. In this schema, emotion is devalued as ‘subjective’ and as the preserve of women. One can see this phenomenon quite clearly in the media coverage of the run-up to the US election; when sexist language is used to denigrate Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin, it is because they are feared as intruders upon a masculine ruling body. This is different from the general discussion of policy (as women have had genuine concerns with the antifeminist standpoints of the conservative Palin). The use of sexist language- in other words, language that would never be used to criticise a male candidate- reveals the masculine terror of the powerful woman. The recent Republican concern with media sexism comes from their acceptance of Palin as acquiescent to their ends; her policies present no antagonism towards male domination, and thus they can proudly denounce the sexism of Democrat questioners. The hypocrisy is clear, as their previous attitudes towards Hilary Clinton when she was still considered a threat showed: she was a bossy wife, an ice queen, an emotional wreck, a ballbuster. The Obama campaign too, made use of these weapons to denigrate Obama’s much more qualified and experienced female adversary. The indifference of Barack Obama towards women was made crystal clear in his statement that the fact that he is slightly less bad for women than the Republican guy means that Hilary’s supporters should be able to (and I quote) ‘get over it’.

As women as a class (a class in that women share the same threats and treatment however high up on the hierarchy they appear to be: sexual violence, job discrimination, sexual harassment, exploitation and denial of civil rights in the profileration of pornography) are offered pale substitutes for control over their lives, which are presented by men as equal to their own political, social and economic power. These include the ability to ‘influence’ those in power, and the ‘power’ of ‘sexuality’. Women, we are told, have historically been able to influence male leaders by their wit and innate goodness or badness and thus have they affected policy and social change. Women also, the same tired voices will lisp, have sexual power over men as they can incite desire in men which weakens the male will and bends it to female purpose. This excuse for ‘power’ is ascribed to lap dancers, for example, despite the many studies which show how lap dancers are subject to sexual harassment and abuse by both punters and staff in strip clubs. The commonality between ‘influence’ and ‘sexual power’ is this: both rely upon the goodwill and economic support of men. As I have remarked before The power to please is not a power. True power, the ability to control and change the conditions of one’s life, is not dependent on the patronage of those stronger than oneself. True self-definition for females, and the dissolution of hierarchy, will not include such substitutes for real power and integrity.

Another important aspect of hierarchy, I would argue, is that those in power have control of such concepts as ‘rationality’, ‘logic’, and ‘common sense’ upon which their rule supposedly is based. In other words, those in power control what is considered to be commonsensical or self-evident. The use of the term ‘natural’ to describe whatever male authorities wish women to believe about themselves, and to proscribe female behaviour is a case in point. Another is seen in the framing of the pornography issue as being one of ‘freedom of speech’, and not of the civil rights of women and minorities. Because men at the top of the hierarchy have freedom of speech, and see themselves as the norm by which everyone is to be judged, they fail to see the inherent injustice in the fact that their ‘freedom of speech’ is bought at the expense of the freedom of women. As women are less than human to them, their suffering does not register as suffering, and women lack the resources to appeal successfully against their treatment. Those lowest on the hierarchy do not have the freedom to speak, in the sense that they are not able to speak of their subjective experiences, as such speech endangers their lives. Hierarchy has a mental component, and is internalized. This can be seen in the phenomena of women trusting male authority figures over females, and in the support of the poor for policies that favour the rich.

RADICAL FEMINIST HIERARCHY AND/OR CLASS

Kitty Glendower writes about the experience of pain and illness as a person living in poverty, the internalisation of the idea that one is hogging resources or making too much of a fuss, and the way that the privileged often refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of a poor persons illness.

She also asks – what do you make of the message she received from her local library?

“Unable to place a request on this item. The maximum number of requests for your borrower type has been exceeded.”

Ginmar also writes on not being heard or taken seriously as a woman in poverty with illness, with a righteous digression into the tactics the economically privileged will use to keep hold of their supposed entitlements.

and Shadocat writes “Living Uninsured”

Heart asks just exactly what are the US presidential candidates going to do about dental care for the poor

Amanda at Ballastexistenz discusses resistance to cure and medical definitions of disability

Spoon theory

Coloured spoon theory

Stork theory

Charlie writes about the importance of living our politics, in spite of the shame we are made to feel for our class, body or sexuality.

Maureen O’ Danu “On The Privilege of Having a Home”

Elaina resists the idea that there is a ‘hierarchy of oppressions’

Jenn points out the futility of the oppression olympics

Michelle is re-working her radical feminism, and is writing a series of posts where she will go over the core principles, examine problems that arise in the way they are framed, and looks for ways to move forward. Part 1 asks questions about how patriarchy connects with other forms of oppression, and Part 2 looks at hierarchies among radical feminists.

Aletha explains the ways in which male dominant value systems devalue women here and here

This piece from Dark Daughta examines the limitation of choice by race, class and gender

In a post from 2006, Yolanda explains why Marxist-Leninist groups are wrong to denounce the seperate organising and activism of oppressed groups.

And again from 2006, Amy discusses conflict and hierarchy in women’s communities

Maggie provides a primer in unlearning classism – this page contains lots of resources

and more from Maggie, “Who feasts and who famines?” and “Poor Pitiful Pearl”

SharkBait comments on the tokenism of UK Government support for domestic violence recovery services for women here, and explores the hoo-ha around a conference held to help support women in business being for women only here

A piece from “Women, Lesbians and Prostitution: A Workingclass Dyke Speaks Out Against Buying Women for Sex”, by Toby Summer

A SELECTION OF OLDER ARTICLES, NOT SPECIFICALLY RADICAL FEMINIST:

Angela Davis – Women, Race and Class: The Approaching Obsolescence of Housework: A Working-Class Perspective

Barbara Ehrenreich – What is Socialist Feminism?

Shulamith Firestone – The Dialectic of Sex

and The Women’s Rights Movement in the U.S.A.: New View

Juliet Mitchell – Women: The Longest Revolution

Simone de Beauvoir interviewed in 1976 – The second sex 25 years later

Vinay Bahl – Reflections on the recent work of Sheila Rowbotham: women’s movements and building bridges

Jo Freeman – The Tyranny of Structurelessness

and Trashing: The Dark Side of Sisterhood

Various Authors – Black Women in Poverty, including Poor Black Women by Patricia Robinson

Kathie Sarachild – Consciousness-Raising:A Radical Weapon

Irene Peslikis – Resistances to Consciousness

Carol Hanisch – The Personal is the Political

Caryatis Cardea – The Lesbian Revolution and the 50 Minute Hour: A Working-Class Look at Therapy and the Movement

Marilyn Frye – Oppression

bell hooks – Postmodern Blackness

Dale Spender – Man Made Language

Maggie Caygill and Pavitra Sundar – Empathy and Antiracist Feminist Coalitional Politics

An article on “Feminist Perspectives on Class and Work”

Searching for Safety Online: Managing “Trolling” in a Feminist Forum

RECOMMENDED POSTS FROM THE LAST MONTH:

After the closure of the forums at I Blame the Patriarchy, two new boards have sprung up for radical feminists looking for community and discussion online, Allecto introduces “Women’s Lives Matter & Women’s Life Matters”, and L provides “Something Radfem Here: Lady Business”

Anji calls for contributors to the Mothers for Womens Lib blog

Sharkbait has set up a “Blog for the Blogless”, offering radical feminists who want to write a piece for the carnival a place where their article can be posted and kept, without them having to own and maintain blog of their own. I hope that non-bloggers are tempted to use it, and to add their thoughts and voices to the mix.

The End Violence Against Women (EVAW) blog notifies of a Charter of Rights for women seeking asylum in the UK, and invites organisations to endorse the Charter. (Charter pdf)

EVAW have also released their Template for an Integrated Strategy on Violence Against Women for the UK, Realising Rights and Fulfilling Obligations, pdf here.

and there is an open letter to Gordon Brown calling for proper resourcing for Rape Crisis, here

Marcella Chester of Abyss2Hope is in the process of setting up a new website, www.daterapeisrealrape.com, and is asking for the thoughts of survivors of sexual violence into the sorts of information and resources they would link included there.

The Girl Effect, www.thegirleffect.org, hattip to Alisha

Heart draws attention to the suspension of civil liberties in Peru

Amy refuses a party invite on grounds of the fact it is sexist and racist, and learns that in hipsterville pimps and hos are considered “iconic figures in American culture”.

Meanwhile, Amananta addresses “BDSM Positive Feminists” who indulge in victim blaming and claim their worst-est ever-est enemies are radicals because we ‘rain on their sexy parade’. No doubt they just can’t bear the thought that many of us horrible sexless prudes have been there and done that already, making them about as original and deviant as sausage and mash.

S M Berg proposes a paradigm shift in the way that prositution is framed

Two posts from R Mott, about Guilt and Suicide

Heart gives a collection of statements from survivors of the sex trade who describe prostitution as violence

Another post from Amananta, an analysis of the compulsory nature of skimpy clothing among modern feminists, and a look at the misogyny, ageism and body fascism aimed at women who fail to conform to ‘empowerment’ through fashion and beauty.

Which brings us back to Amy who notes that feminism is about defeating oppression, not making us feel better, and connects body modification for transgenderism with other types of body modifications being marketed for profit to people under constant pressure to conform to rigidly defined gender roles and beauty standards, encouraging the use of resistance as a viable and revolutionary choice.

And in a further post, she identifies femininity as a consumerist practice and explains some of the consequences of “value-neutral” product consumption,

Tracey Sioux gives “10 Antidotes to Self-Objectification & Sexualization of Girls”, and she also provides some strategies for pro-lifers to prevent the necessity of abortion – like supporting womens access to free family planning clinics

Kristen McCarthy implores women to consider the implications of “menstrual suppression”

Ginmar writes about the failure of the US military to protect military women from the men they work and fight alongside, even going so far as to disguise their murders as suicides

Heart collects quotes, images, and video in her post “DNC 2008: Real Change, Inspiration, Power Were Outside the Fence”

Laurelin provides a list of her best posts, all of which come highly recommended

Victoria wishes Happy Birthday to Kate Millett, and you can read Chapter 2 of Milletts “Sexual Politics” 1969, here

An older post from Violet

Witchy explains, why do we bother?

Professor What if? reviews the movie “Teeth”

Grrlscientist takes us through the evolution of an athiest

And our final links for this Carnival, two resources: the websites and papers of radical feminists Denice Thompson and Lyn Ariel

and a poem by Donna Williams