It’s about power

This was written by a friend who wishes to remain anonymous. It’s a response to this poster (pdf) which is up in a space where we sometimes hang out.

For every womon/gyrl in a family, neighborhood, school, or job who fears violent backlash if she names oppression, there is a male who holds the power of rape. He may choose, today, to limit the use of his weapons but tomorrow the systems and institutions remain at his disposal should he decide to silence her.

This adaptation of a 1973 poem makes a very safe poster for males. It pretends to challenge the status quo while reinforcing male-stream thought. The problems with this poster are multi-layered. It is wrong on so many levels that one hardly knows where to begin. Such entrenchment is the nature of oppression.

This poster entitles males and shames womyn & gyrls. It dismisses womyn’s complex analyses of oppression, rape, war, patriarchy — reinforcing males’ collective sense of entitlement to define womyn & gyrls’ experiences; it simultaneously detours feminist thought to men’s suffering — shame on womyn & gyrls for claiming independent experiences. This poster reduces feminist struggles against sexism to a tit-for-tat battle of the sexes. “Pay attention to males, we’re hurting too!” it shrieks. This is nothing new — males commanding womyn & gyrls to assuage their pain.

This poster takes aim at womyn & gyrls. The first line calls out, “For every girl…” (The original poem by Nancy R. Smith is entitled “For Every Woman.”) Each sentence addresses a vague female complaint that alludes to a facet of sexism. “…(T)here is a girl who is called unfeminine when she competes.” The poster fails to question the male construct of femininity, lamenting only its lack of applicability to sports, thereby reinforcing that dubious aspiration of all good girls.

Each successive female complaint in this male-serving litany is countered with a phallocentric rant that sheathes performance anxiety. The poster projects males’ obsession onto womyn & gyrls — “…competition is the only way to prove his masculinity.” The poster never asks, “Prove to whom?” Nor does it expose masculinity as a euphemism for male dominance. Womyn & gyrls are assured that the male is “…struggling not to let advertising dictate his desires.” Womyn & gyrls are admonished not to expect so much of males as the poster pleads the case of “…a boy tired of appearing strong…burdened with the constant expectation of knowing everything…” Appearing to whom?? Expected by whom?? The poster fails to ask, but does not mind answering by juxtaposing male sorrows with female complaints. In truth, males are the primary victimizers of other males, and males define intelligence — IQ tests are a product of white male shrinks.

This poster presumes to balance female complaints with male suffering, thereby reinforcing the heterosexist assumption that anything female requires a male counterpart. Nowhere in this poster are males challenged to cull their concerns from this missive and take their problems to the golf course, sewing circle, gym, laundromat, NASCAR finals, or peace demonstration and network with other males to heal male wounds.

Filed under: feminism as politics, guest blogger, media/culture criticism, rants by Amy's Brain Today