Feminist Pub 14: The Bluestocking, a place for feminist chat and feminists to chat

[YonicScrewdriver]

Welcome!

This is the 14th incarnation of the Pub and is meant as a place to drop by with random thoughts and meandering chats, on feminist or other related themes. Anything you want to mull over but not necessarily start a thread about. Alternatively, flop onto the chaise lounges with some

We have a pub goat, a feminist cannon for firing at crazy sexists and a variety of drinks and snacks. And stools/bar counters at female friendly heights. And a crèche in the back somewhere

Will link the last pub in the next post!

I'd take a badge but I'd only have to hand it straight back. The toddler has learnt her first pronoun, and is using it for all genders and cases and whatnot. That pronoun is: him. It took me years to get my head round why using masculine pronouns as default was bad, and now my kid's doing it. If anyone needs me I'll be slumped in the corner of shame.

Dragonlette - turn up to the practice and say you thought it was everyone who was welcome - no age or sex defined? But it is worth raising as they are being pretty crappy about it.

I've just submitted a new dissertation plan to my supervisor, talking about ideals of womanhood in Beowulf.

I need

Wouldn't you prefer , Sunshine? I know I would. Got home last night after work, and literally dove into a bottle wine . And the women I mentioned this to at work before I left, agreed that that they would like to do the same.

Welcome Everyday, it hurts to really, really see all of this, doesn't it? I am ashamed to say that I was rather sexist towards women when I was much, much younger. But now I combat to work against sexist attitudes where-ever I am able. You can do your bit if you so choose as well . Posting in the pub is a great start.

I feel a cold coming on. I would like a sweet light rather than .

Good evening all. Hello Everyday. I know what you mean . i only started lurking here about six months ago and it has been enlightening.. comforting enraging..uplifting... I have the confidence to challenge sexism now
too thanks to the stuff I've learned about Feminism
BTW I am beginning to think Christmas is a Patriarchal plot to make women work even harder than they normally do!

PS after I just posted that ,there was advert at the bottom of the page for soap powder!

Thank you for your welcomes. Sorry for momentarily derailing sensible discussions with badge allocations. I will continue to lurk and learn (and challenge). Thankfully, following much enlightened discussion tonight, DH is on side and recognising the inequality too (no he wouldn't have taken my name on marriage...big pause...no he didn't have to change his title on marriage.. More pause for thought. OK now he gets it.)

Following the thread on whether men can be feminists, I was wondering if people can be "nice" people if they hold and act on sexist views. We don't say "they are a bit racist, but they are nice really". But we do hear "they are a bit of a sexist (clothed in language like "old fashioned", " a bit of a dinosaur", "not politically correct") but they are nice really". If I start thinking that such people are actually NOT nice, will I run out of nice people? Also is this too high a standard, seeing that we have all imbibe some sexist views to some extent?

And good morning to you all!

m.youtube.com/watch?v=a8eKOqL10xk&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2Fa8eKOqL10xk%3Fversion%3D3%26rel%3D1%26fs%3D1%26showsearch%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26iv_load_policy%3D1%26wmode%3Dtransparent&has_verified=1&client=mv-google&layout=mobile

This was via metro, but this was appalling!

Today I'm trying to write an essay on economic divergence in the international system. It's like eating vegetables - I know it's good for me and hugely important, but I'd much rather be eating biscuits (aka reading 60's feminist writing). Buffy - I'm trying to ignore your consciousness-raising threads til next week

I don't know anything about consciousness-raising. My brand of consciousness-raising recently is to shout at anybody who says anything sexist.

Will someone tell me if I would go mad if I decided to not say people are nice if they are sexist? Would I have to say I'm not nice either if I catch myself being sexist?

Actually my DH has been known to say things like "He's a bit racist but nice really" Yes you massive twat, but if you were black or Chinese or Pakistani I bet he wouldn't be so nice. However if someone is hugely racist then he stops thinking they are nice.

(Disclaimer: he's not really a massive twat. Just fucking naive about his own privilege a lot of the time.)

It's easy to ignore sexism if you're a man. The thing is that a person who is sexist might be a perfectly nice person - to other people they consider people, ie men. They're not a perfectly nice person towards people they don't consider real people ie women.

Nice person with some sexist views = harder to call. As you say, a lot of people have sexist views without realising it. I am sure that as a white person raised in a very whitewashed area I probably have said or done some things which perpetuate racism without realising. I do try to learn and would always accept without arguing if somebody told me I was being racist but I think when you're not aware of it you can't know.

Today I will be at home with lovely DD2, trying to squeeze in some work during her nap. 60s feminist writing will take a back seat in favour of Stick Man for the umpty millionth time.

I was wondering the same thing LordCopper. I am embarrassed at how much sexist thinking I have absorbed into my unconscious, and at some opinions I expressed when younger and less reflective. I think the test of how 'good and decent' a person really is, is how they react to having these assumptions challenged, like Everyday's DH - or mine.

Hmm. I guess then it's not so much the views you hold than how you deal with being confronted. Perhaps that's what decides if an a-bit-racist and a-bit-sexist person is fundamentally a nice decent person or not? Since we are none of us perfect? Damn. So much easier to just hate everyone.

xpost!

How about nice decent people who don't challenge sexist views being aired when they know those are sexist views? They are just cowards, aren't they? I've been that too, I suppose ...

Anyway. Must get over anger. Calm down and chill out etc etc (just been reading a thread about a pregnant woman being told to chill out and not be noisy during labour because it would be annoying. ) I'm going to skive off and do a supermarket shop. I love supermarket-shopping. Retail therapy and you can eat the evidence.

buffy my turn to write begging letter grant application. Waffle about national importance.

Taken from the Exec Summary of the 2013-14 State of the Future report from the Millennium Project :

"Although the empowerment of women has been one of the strongest
drivers of social evolution over the past century, violence against women
is the largest war today, as measured by death and casualties per year.
Globally, 35% of women have experienced physical and/or sexual
violence, and 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimate
partners. While the gender gaps for health and educational attainment
were closed by 96% and 93% respectively, according to the 2013 Global
Gender Gap by the World Economic Forum, the gap in economic
participation has been closed by only 60% and the gap in political
outcomes by only 21% globally. Women account for 21.3% of the
membership of national legislative bodies worldwide, up from 11.3% in
1997."

Sadly not surprising to many on here, I know, but how awful