Freud was a dick...Part 1
Posted in 3 comments
Topic of this Conversation: Feminism
Note: If you are offended by sexual innuendo, graphic anotomical vocabulary, or an angry woman turned loose on a keyboard, you might want to stop right here.
Note # 2: In this blog, I believe it will be best for me to cite examples rather than to try to just explain my theories. Please don't be offended (reader) if you find yourself in my words. I only desire to glorify you in all your womanly splendor, even if the world around us won't.
Indeed, Freud was a dick....but, then again, with his phallic obsessions, he'd probably consider that a compliment. So, let me rephrase. Freud was a sexist asshole. And if any of you woman readers out there have ever read his theories about the "castration complex" I hope you are just as angry as I am. If you haven't read it, here's a little synopsis based on my limited research and understanding. Men are deathly afraid of castration...okay, what's new? All I have to do is mention Lorena Bobbitt and most of the men I know cringe and reach protectively toward their crotch. But the castration complex doesn't stop there. Freud believes we're all obsessed with the penis...men are obsessed with protecting their's, and us women, we are obsessed with the fact that we don't have one. In fact, every subconscious choice we make can be connected to our preoccupation with that most powerful appendage which we lack.
Excuse me? Am I missing something?? While Freud would say so (haha), I am going to go out on a limb and say that, while I definitely don't have a penis, I think I bring something equally important and powerful to the table.
This brings me to my topic of the day: Feminisim. I am definitely a feminist...but who isn't these days? But here's the thing. In recent conversations, both in class and just with people I know, I'm beginning to think that most people really don't understand what feminism is. I'll tell you what feminism isn't (or at least what it shouldn't be). It isn't about man-hating, and it isn't about equal rights or opportunities or anything like that. I mean, let's be honest. Women pretty much sit on even footing with men these days, politically speaking at least. Feminism is about accepting and appreciating...actually, glorifying all that which is womanly.
And, when I start to think about things that way, I begin to think that maybe, when it comes to today's society, it's quite possible that the asshole has a point. These days, show me a woman who doesn't think of herself as lacking in some way. I don't think that woman exists. But it isn't because she actually is lacking anything at all....it's because she's been trained to believe that she is.
For example, I have a very good friend whose greatest desires in life are to be a wife and stay at home mother one day. I have heard others scoff at these wishes, call her dreams lazy, even empty. I know so called feminists who would say that her traditional goals are directly opposed to the tenets of feminism. To them, I have only one thing to say: Bullshit. She, my friends, is a true feminist, a woman willing to give up everything else to place value on her most obvious feminine virtue, the power to nurture. She doesn't feel the need to search for success in the working world or shatter the glass ceiling to be important (Even though she could if she wanted to). Why do we all believe that we have to prove that we can be everything a man can be in order to be valuable? That isn't feminism. It is honorable and possible and wonderful if that is what you want to do, but you don't have to do it to prove that you are just as good as a man.
The traditional roles that women play are not just valuable...they are essential, powerful, beautiful. Women need to stop identifying themselves in terms of what men are. Just because we don't have a penis doesn't mean we are lacking anything. What women are, what women have traditionally been, is valuable in its own right. I don't need to be all that a man is to be just as powerful, just as important as he is.
Although I have much more to say on this matter, it is late, and I am sleepy, and 7 am will be knocking on my door shortly. Plus, this blog has already gotten pretty long, and I don't want to lose your attention. So, please read, think, and discuss, and I will be back tomorrow with "Freud was a dick...Part 2." Sweet dreams all.
Note: If you are offended by sexual innuendo, graphic anotomical vocabulary, or an angry woman turned loose on a keyboard, you might want to stop right here.
Note # 2: In this blog, I believe it will be best for me to cite examples rather than to try to just explain my theories. Please don't be offended (reader) if you find yourself in my words. I only desire to glorify you in all your womanly splendor, even if the world around us won't.
Indeed, Freud was a dick....but, then again, with his phallic obsessions, he'd probably consider that a compliment. So, let me rephrase. Freud was a sexist asshole. And if any of you woman readers out there have ever read his theories about the "castration complex" I hope you are just as angry as I am. If you haven't read it, here's a little synopsis based on my limited research and understanding. Men are deathly afraid of castration...okay, what's new? All I have to do is mention Lorena Bobbitt and most of the men I know cringe and reach protectively toward their crotch. But the castration complex doesn't stop there. Freud believes we're all obsessed with the penis...men are obsessed with protecting their's, and us women, we are obsessed with the fact that we don't have one. In fact, every subconscious choice we make can be connected to our preoccupation with that most powerful appendage which we lack.
Excuse me? Am I missing something?? While Freud would say so (haha), I am going to go out on a limb and say that, while I definitely don't have a penis, I think I bring something equally important and powerful to the table.
This brings me to my topic of the day: Feminisim. I am definitely a feminist...but who isn't these days? But here's the thing. In recent conversations, both in class and just with people I know, I'm beginning to think that most people really don't understand what feminism is. I'll tell you what feminism isn't (or at least what it shouldn't be). It isn't about man-hating, and it isn't about equal rights or opportunities or anything like that. I mean, let's be honest. Women pretty much sit on even footing with men these days, politically speaking at least. Feminism is about accepting and appreciating...actually, glorifying all that which is womanly.
And, when I start to think about things that way, I begin to think that maybe, when it comes to today's society, it's quite possible that the asshole has a point. These days, show me a woman who doesn't think of herself as lacking in some way. I don't think that woman exists. But it isn't because she actually is lacking anything at all....it's because she's been trained to believe that she is.
For example, I have a very good friend whose greatest desires in life are to be a wife and stay at home mother one day. I have heard others scoff at these wishes, call her dreams lazy, even empty. I know so called feminists who would say that her traditional goals are directly opposed to the tenets of feminism. To them, I have only one thing to say: Bullshit. She, my friends, is a true feminist, a woman willing to give up everything else to place value on her most obvious feminine virtue, the power to nurture. She doesn't feel the need to search for success in the working world or shatter the glass ceiling to be important (Even though she could if she wanted to). Why do we all believe that we have to prove that we can be everything a man can be in order to be valuable? That isn't feminism. It is honorable and possible and wonderful if that is what you want to do, but you don't have to do it to prove that you are just as good as a man.
The traditional roles that women play are not just valuable...they are essential, powerful, beautiful. Women need to stop identifying themselves in terms of what men are. Just because we don't have a penis doesn't mean we are lacking anything. What women are, what women have traditionally been, is valuable in its own right. I don't need to be all that a man is to be just as powerful, just as important as he is.
Although I have much more to say on this matter, it is late, and I am sleepy, and 7 am will be knocking on my door shortly. Plus, this blog has already gotten pretty long, and I don't want to lose your attention. So, please read, think, and discuss, and I will be back tomorrow with "Freud was a dick...Part 2." Sweet dreams all.
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3 comments:
This is a great explanation of your view on feminism. I've never heard a (female's) view on the subject explained this way. The others immediately try to defend themselves and their position in the world compared to a man's, while you seem to be perfectly comfortable with your place and views with no need to "convince" others to think the way you do in order to feel important.
I think yours is a great position on feminism. Not attacking men for what they are or aren't, not defensive of your importance in the world to men and other women, just comfortable with the fact that you are a woman and have an ever-important position and role in the world. A role that should never be compared to a man's, but glorified for its exclusivity and importance, and seen for how well (most) women fulfill it.
Can't wait for part 2!
Thanks, Bobby. I hope I'm included in 'most'...
Of course you are! You're spectacular Mrs. Jordan!!
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