The consequence of turning femanine equality into an ideology

[Nicholas]

Okay. I think on reflection I could have done 2 things differently when creating this thread. The first thing was to give an explanation of why I was highlighting a dissenting voice criticising Feminism as an intellectual and political force. The second, and something that has shown itself to be a recurring theme in my life, is sensitivity.

Janice Fiamengo is a Professor teaching English at the University of Ontario, so the context relates to Canada specifically. I was initially drawn to this topic 5 months ago when I discovered another Professor, also from Canada called by the name of Jordan B Peterson, A Professor teaching Psychology at the University of Toronto who is also a practising clinical psychologist. I first became aware of him because he flatly refused to comply with a new law, titled Bill C-16 here. This law relates to the enforcement of using specific pro nouns relating to transgender identification. I took notice of what this middle aged clinical psychologist had to say. Of all the hours I have spent listening to his powerful, and at times arrogant rhetoric and pompous persona, I found a gem. Paraphrasing, he said "It is a good thing to seek out opinions that conflict with your own".

Two things I had no idea of when creating this thread, first was that it would explode like it did and second that it was International Woman's Day last Wednesday. I certainly would not have made this thread had I known that, and I did not become aware of such a celebration until last Tuesday while listening to "Woman's Hour" on Radio 4, here (17 minutes in)

As a bricklayer I work in a men only environment, and as I don't enjoy their discussions in the canteen I prefer to eat my lunch in my car while listening to the radio. Woman's Hour is my favourite! (the woman on the show encourage me to open up and be more expressive)

So I do not identify as "anti-Feminist", but neither do I identify as a "Feminist". Acknowledging and celebrating International Women's Day is entirely different to me!  Putting the "them v us" labels aside, my highest value is best described by something Scott Mandelker said in one of his LOO study audios. He said "How much do you love the truth?"

I did not reply to e_s because my immediate reaction to his post was to recoil in horror. I never clicked on his links either, and as has been previously noted here on this thread, his posts amounted to an expression of internal pain expressed as resentment. It reminds me of this Ra quote from 34.6...

Very often the catalyst for emotional pain, whether it be the death of the physical complex of one other-self which is loved or some other seeming loss, will simply result in the opposite, in a bitterness, an impatience, a souring. This is catalyst which has gone awry.

I identified with Jade when she referenced her own experience of rape. I asked my Wife last weekend "Do you think I was sexually abused?" while reading this thread. So for the first time I shared my experience with her, of when I was 10 years old and was invited to baby sit with my 14 year old step cousin. He put on a porno (vhs) and explained to me that before you could have sex with a female you had to first experience it with a male. He explained what to expect and my curiosity got the better of me. When I experienced pain I shouted "stop!", and he stopped. When I shared this with my Wife she said yes I was abused. I prefer to use the word "groomed".
He made another, more aggressive attempt when I was 11, but I screamed so loud he immediately backed off. He was bigger than me, stronger, and had a rifle in his hand (he even fired a shot at my feet while shouting "drop them!")

I am not sharing this anecdote to attract sympathy, but merely to note that I do understand what it feels like. I feel I am qualified to speak about it. (I think Jade would agree with me here that there is a therapeutic value to sharing unnecessary personal details in a public domain) Due to sheer luck, I guess, I recognised my own power and personal force. As a result I am naturally attracted to individuals who display their personal power.

For several years I have been asking the question "What did I miss out on by not having a positive male role model in my life?". I was raised without a father figure in my life, and my mother did the very best she could given that she had unhealed wounds herself (she was raped by her step father when she was very, very little). 

Finally I got the answer I was seeking! Here is an excerpt from Warren Farrell speaking at the University of Toronto.

"...That children with a significant amount of father involvement have much more empathy...Empathy...Now how in the world do children with a lot of father involvement, get, for example, more empathy? Aren't women, in general more empathetic, than, men?...And so if that's the case, how do the children have more empathy the more involvement with the father they have? And the reason is that empathy does not come from being empathised. When your empathised with, you learn to focus on yourself, when everybody is thinking about what you need and what your feelings are, and how you are hurt, you become self centred, you become narcissistic, you become non-empathetic very frequently. Empathy often comes from, like say a father and child wrestling, and the father saying, "you can use leverage, you can fake me out with eye contact, but if you poke me in the eyes or pull my hair, or kick me in the groin, there will be no more wrestling tonight." And then the child does one of those things, and the father says "okay no more wrestling tonight". The father who enforces the boundaries teaches that child to think about some feelings besides the child's need or desire to win as a wrestler. The child who does not get those boundaries enforced starts thinking how much they can get away with, pulling and poking in order to win..."

 

here 2.09 hrs

And here is a Ra quote that immediately came to mind when I first listened to Warren several months ago. Relevant parts are bolded.

42.20. There are two things especially important in this relationship other than the basic acceptance of the child by the parent. Firstly, the experience of whatever means the parent uses to worship and give thanksgiving to the One Infinite Creator, should if possible be shared with the child entity upon a daily basis, as you would say. Secondly, the compassion of parent to child may well be tempered by the understanding that the child entity shall learn the biases of service to others or service to self from the parental other-self. This is the reason that some discipline is appropriate in the teach/learning. This does not apply to the activation of any one energy center for each entity is unique and each relationship with self and other-self doubly unique. The guidelines given are only general for this reason.

Ra are referencing developmental psychology here and the importance of discipline (boundary re-enforcement described by Warren)

Here is another Ra quote that points to a male bias. Again bolding the points of focus.

99.5 Questioner: Finally, of the preliminary questions, one from Jim stating, “For the last three weeks I have often been at the edge of anger and frustration, have had a nearly constant dull pain at my indigo-ray center, and have felt quite drained of energy. Would Ra comment on the source of these experiences and any thoughts or actions that might alleviate it?”

Ra: I am Ra. As in all distortions, the source is the limit of the viewpoint. We may, without serious infringement, suggest three courses of behavior which shall operate upon the distortion expressed.

Firstly, it would be well for the scribe to engage, if not daily then as nearly so as possible, in a solitary strenuous activity which brings this entity to the true physical weariness. Further, although any activity may suffice, an activity chosen for its intended service to the harmony of the group would be quite efficacious.

The second activity is some of your space/time and time/space taken by the entity, directly or as nearly so as possible to the strenuous activity, for solitary contemplation.

Thirdly, the enthusiastic pursuit of the balancing and silent meditations cannot be deleted from the list of helpful activities for this entity.

We may note that the great forte of the scribe is summed in the inadequate sound vibration complex, power. The flow of power, just as the flow of love or wisdom, is enabled not by the chary conserver of its use but by the constant user. The physical manifestation of power being either constructive or destructive strenuous activity, the power-filled entity must needs exercise that manifestation. This entity experiences a distortion in the direction of an excess of stored energy. It is well to know the self and to guard and use those attributes which the self has provided for its learning and its service.

This excess energy is not unique to Jim, neither is it it unique to males. But males tend to display this quality a lot more. I remember being allowed to practise my gymnastics in the assembly hall of my primary school (kindergarten) because I could not sit still during the readiing session. I would figit and disrupt the class until finally, my teacher aloud me to expel my energy doing somersaults into a landing matt while unattended!

Feminist theory is fazing this out because it perceives it as problematic, by reducing physical activity and competitive games. (grrrrrrr!)

One final quote from Ken Wilbers recent paper, titled "Trump and the Post Truth World" 

"But this postmodern stage_Integral Metatheory's "green"__brought a 4th person perspective into significant existence, which had the capacity to reflect on__and critically analyze__these 3rd person "global" productions, and this is where green postmodernism (so named because it came after, and reflected on, the products of modernism) decided that this rational-modern mentality had, in too many ways, veered off course in destructive and counter productive ways. And thus the civil rights movement, the worldwide environmental movement (which became larger than any political party anywhere on the planet), personal and professional feminism, the sustainability movement (in business and elsewhere)__all of which I have called "the many gifts of green."

And yet, in the course of that, driven largely (if often unknowingly) by arcane arguments in academia, the originally healthy pluralistic postmodernism increasingly became an extreme, overblown, self-contradictory, utterly dysfunctional relativism, which soon collapsed almost entirely into nihilism and narcissism." - pg 15. Full content to be found here

And so it is the "arcane arguments in academia" that Janice Fiamengo is pointing to (if not embroiled in). And it takes a certain amount of personal conviction and character to go up against a tidal wave of postmodern opinion. If nothing else, she is playing a corrective role by addressing the dishonest aspects in women's studies.