Posts by Megan Wegan
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to BenWilson,
If anyone out there is genuinely interested in reading what highly educated and useful feminists have had to say on the issues debated and distorted by the ‘lifestyle feminists’ dominating the discussion here, I strongly recommend starting with Germaine Greer’s the whole woman (1999).
If you can't hear a sneer in there, you are a better man than I.
I'm glad you're grateful for the debate. For me, I feel like we spend a bit too much time talking about the definitions, and not a lot of time talking about the real problems. Like, for example, teh focus on women's appearances Emma was talking about in the original post.
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to Russell Brown,
But when the people who most aggressively and passionately claim the word say and do things that seem wrong to me (and, I must confess, when they perform torture on language to do so), it does seem reasonable to say “not that sort of feminism”.
My feminism* says “I don’t get to tell other women what to think, and what to call themselves”. So I call myself a feminist, and I am happy for other people to appropriate the label. Because when someone asks me, I am happy to explain what that means to me. There’s not a rule book. There’s not a 10 commandments. There’s no high holy priestesses.
I absolutely have issues with what some people who identify as feminists say. But if I, like Emma, want feminism to be inclusive of everyone, including men, queers, Christian republicans, then I have to put up with the fringe, or those people I disagree with. Am I offended by being termed a “lifestyle feminist”. as if that precludes serious thought and study? Yes. Immensely. Do I care? Not all that much, no. I know what my views are, and I am happy to argue them.
* It also says "yay! I win!" when Emma admits to being a feminist.
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to Emma Hart,
The TOFO approach is, “Body shape, fat and fashion are feminist issues, THEREFORE, wear what you like, and respect the rights of other people to do the same.” The theory is very, very simple. The practise takes a bit of work
Oh, and "don't like it? We don't much care".
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to Emma Hart,
fuck yes we should.
also bart, not even these?
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to Bart Janssen,
yeah, but again, that's the difference between helpful advice, and saying "you must have your hair like this".
It's the difference between saying "that's not entirely flattering around the buttockular area" and "your ass should be smaller, you giant heifer".
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to Deborah,
I’ve always worried about that “old ladies have short hair” thing. I have curly, frizzy, insane hair? I still haven’t figured out how to make that "appropriate" at 33, let alone at 63.
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to Emma Hart,
But yes, the claiming of slagginess is to some degree a sarcastic response to the amount of slut-shaming I’ve copped over the years. Self-defence
Absolutely. A sarcastic response, and a defence.
HM is slim, conventionally attractive and doesn’t particularly look her age, of course she gets a “pass” for wearing skimpier clothes than the average 60 year old.
Yeah, it'd be different if we were talking about Roseanne Barr, who is a similar age.
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Up Front: Say When, in reply to Tom Beard,
Yet there's an element among the "slut-shamers" that seems to loathe bodies. They're not only uncomfortable with their own bodies, but uncomfortable with other women who are comfortable with theirs. Sex can be okay, but only when it's in the context of "intimacy", and not when tainted by such shallow, dirty things as physical attraction.
It's also about control. Women who are comfortable with themselves are much harder to control. Women like that are messy.
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I love my wrinkles, such as I have them. I hate my grey hairs, because I love being a redhead, and I feel like the grey hair ruins the effect.
As well as getting older, I have a another problem. You see, as a "bigger woman", I'm meant to be ashamed of my body, so I am not meant to show it off. I'm meant to wear long dresses and cover up, and generally not offend society by being fat and happy.
It's only in the last three or four years that I have had the confidence to start wearing dresses and the fashion that I've always loved. If someone wants to tell me to do that, they can, quite frankly, bite me.
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In comparison to some people I know, I am not much of a coffee snob, though every time I visit my parents, I have to explain to them that what they call coffee is not the same as what I call coffee.
But I have a friend who loves the caramel syruped, milky drinks they do at Starbucks, and I have never understood why, when you have any number of great cafes in the vicinity you would even walk into one. This is Wellington for crying out loud. Get thee to a Mojo.