Let's "writ[e] in the tradition immanent critique that seeks to provoke critical examination of the basic vocabulary of the movement of thought to which it belongs."
More Intercourse
Dworkin sits sexism in the lap of all those lascivious males. She thinks we just need to stop lap dancing for them. Dworkin's ideas push at one edge of feminist discourse. There are limits and serious flaws in her arguments, but perhaps there is something to be gained by entertaining them for more than a moment.
Women, who have any hopes of getting down and dirty with Art History or English or any number of other disciplines, are asked to contemplate the seriously flawed and sexist writings of Freud. We are told, rightly I think, to see past the hurt so that we can have a productive dialogue with his ideas.
Many men (and more than a few women), when introduced to a thinker like Dworkin, refuse to engage with her writings. They cannot see that there is gold in "them dere hills." Gold worth shifting through all the silt to get at it.
As I have gotten older, I better understand why some feminist rhetoric ends in the cul de sac of Dworkin's Intercourse or the dead end of the S.C.U.M. Manifesto. Even though I am less and less likely to agree with it, I think it is important to read it, think about it, critique it.
When I was younger, I was prey. Men stared at me. Men shouted at men. Men followed me. Men menaced me.
Not all men do this, but enough men, too many men, do.
Many young bisexual and gay men confide that they also feel like prey. Despite significant differences in the norms of heterosexual and homosexual courtship, men objectify, stalk, harrass, assault and rape other men.
Not all men do this, but enough men, too many men, do.
Dworkin captures a truth of the female experience. It is not the whole truth, but it is part of the truth.
Let's take our knives out. Let's cut into it. Let's pull it apart. Let's put it back together. Let's re-write it.
Youth
at this juncture of culture
may be as objectified as woman.
There are limits to their work.
they deserve our attention.
But
go out of fashion.
has a shorter shelf life.
IDEAS
Women's Work
