jane
Well-Known Member
egg_ said:You might not have meant to say that, and I realise you probably don't think that, but that's the clear implication of your argument
Of course. Do you believe all men are sexist? Of course not. But that's where the rant about controlling women's bodies leads. You get personal when someone talks about wombs (your womb), I get personal when someone talks about men's (my) attitude to women
But I'm not talking about your attitude toward women. Sexism affects all of us. What I'm saying is that there are underlying attitudes that are unconcsiously reproduced in thoughts, words and actions all the time, that reinforce unhealthy attitudes that are very much related to gender.
First of all, I didn't say taht these attitudes were men's attitudes about women. They are attitudes, and they are often held by women, too. In fact, I have found cause sometimes to think about my own responses to things, and to try to pick apart the assumptions so that my opinion can be based on something I define for myself, that acknowledges reality more than assumptions.
And the fact is, Ro's attitude actually does imply that women should not have equal rights to men. To suggest that a man have veto power over a woman's body is sexist.
I never argued, never have, and never will argue that all men are sexist. In fact, as I often point out, women are capable of sexist behaviour, too. And not just toward women. The argument is not that controlling women's bodies leads to 'all men are sexist' because society isn't just made up of men. And these arguments are far more complex than that.
The reason I brought up sexism at all is that it is facilitated and reproduced all the time in ways people don't always realise. Sometimes it is very overt, and sometimes it is subtle, but it is something everyone engages in to some degree, and doesn't make everyone a sexist. It just means sexism is far more complicated than something for which anyone can legislate. Just like decisions around women's bodies/abortion/reproduction/however you want to define it, are too complicated to be cut into digestible chunks of legislation.