blueinkedfrost

Feminism: Words Matter by Ana Mardoll

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong...

The blogger points out offensive phrases that are inappropriate to use as comparisons, especially when the comparison is made in the service of rather offensive ends.

The phrase "lynch mob" has racist connotations, specifically North American racist connotations. The etymology of 'lynch' is American. One of the top Google results for 'lynch mob' is the Wikipedia entry on lynching, which contains these words: Lynching is sometimes mistakenly thought of as an exclusively North American activity, but it is found around the world as vigilantes act to punish people outside the rule of law. Lynching is associated with North American racism, perhaps inextricably so. (Hopefully inextricably so, in that lynching is a horrific injustice and for it to gain additional connotations would imply it would be actively practiced.)

The word "rape" also has a meaning; that meaning is linked to violent misogyny. It's pretty awful to compare being annoyed by someone's trivial actions to being violently assaulted.

"Feminazi" is another term, mentioned in comments rather than the post itself, that I dislike - wanting to be treated as a human being is not tantamount to invading Poland. It's also hackneyed and overused these days.

The phrase "boot camp" is also used in metaphor beyond its original usage. Primarily it refers to initial military training of recruits; it apparently originates in the early 1900s with a specifically military meaning. (I wish I could make up a false etymology connecting it back to Caligula, 'Little Boot', who was also involved with the military at a young age.) The metaphor can be extended to mean 'intense training period'. But is it now offensive because [a] group of people meeting together for a short-length but intensive-depth training session is not the same thing as a military training camp for almost exclusively able-bodied people, nor is it the same thing as a prison for underage people incapable of exercising their non-consent at being locked up in that place and who were placed there against their will because they were deemed dangerous to society and/or were deemed non-conforming with social expectations of body weight, body size, body shape, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any number of other "offenses" for which underage teens and children are sent to prison because of their failure to conform to the desires of their parents? Boot camps are not criminal acts - recruits often consent to be there. Military boot camps continue to exist today and are nowadays open to a wide variety of recruits in many countries.

The blog post has me lost at its disdain for metaphors.

And by using the word 'lost' as a metaphor to mean 'disagreeing with one example out of three', I'm clearly appropriating the experiences of those who have experienced being separated from their families for traumatic periods of time, may have been subject to violence from abductors, and also subject to media bias such as missing white woman syndrome. (Note: missing white woman syndrome is based on factual instances of media bias and my mention of it is not intended to deny its existence nor take it lightly.)

While discussions about language are often fascinating and fun and the very stuff of life (apologies for the blatant display of breathing privilege here), I find the argument against the boot camp metaphor extremely silly.

Dogmatic opinion of the day: modern & not-so-modern failures to appreciate Fanny Price's character are entirely and always due to illiteracy, sexism, and/or general bias and lack of reading comprehension.

"a monster of complacency and pride, who, under a cloak of cringing self-abasement, dominates and gives meaning to the novel" - Kingsley Amis

"I have looked up this girl's dossier and am horrified at what I find. Not only a Christian, but such a Christian -- a vile, sneaking, simpering, demure, monosyllabic, mouselike, watery, insignificant, virginal, bread-and-butter miss! The little brute! She makes me vomit. She stinks and scalds through the very pages of the dossier. It drives me mad, the way the world has worsened. We'd have had her to the arena in the old days. That's what her sort is made for. Not that she'd do much good there, either. A two-faced little cheat (I know the sort) who looks as if she'd faint at the sight of blood, and then dies with a smile. A cheat every way. Looks as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth, [...a] Filthy, insipid little prude -- and yet ready to fall into this booby's arms like any other breeding animal." - CS Lewis, Screwtape Letters, context not quite the same thing (source Pemberley)

What does Fanny Price do that's allegedly so terrible?

• Believes it's good for a family and their servants to all worship together. I couldn't disagree more - but Fanny is not in the least being hypocritical. She would worship herself and believes it is good for everyone. She has a point, relative to that era: communal gatherings can indeed be good for everyone.


• Tells Edmund that Mary Crawford wrote wishing for Tom's death - after Edmund has already been disillusioned about Mary. Previously, Fanny carefully restrained herself against criticising Mary, and on any number of occasions stops herself from being a tell-tale, such as against Mrs Norris or against Maria and Julia's conduct with Henry.


• Is willing for Maria Bertram to be exiled from her family and forced into retirement with Mrs Norris after her running away with Henry caused societal scandal. Again, this is in keeping with the standards of the times, and Fanny's standard is far from a double standard. She finds Henry's conduct equally repulsive, even though he does not receive nearly as severe a punishment. Maria is supported by her family; she won't be received by them.


• Disapproves of the play despite appreciating some of the acting: because the play is being done behind Sir Thomas' back, and because it's is a thiny veiled excuse for Henry to selfishly exploit Maria's and Julia's emotions. Also, Lover's Vows is not a very uplifting play nor strong in literary merit - let's settle for rating it as about as well written as Twilight, slightly more feminist relative to its time, and primarily relevant today as a historical document.


• Dares to hold ethical and religious standards that she has thought through herself.


• Refuses to marry a man she does not love and who holds contrary values and goals to her own, in spite of incredible familial pressure brought to bear on her.


• Refuses to sacrifice her hopes and dreams in order to redeem a bad boy.


• A two-faced agenda? We spend most of the novel inside Fanny's head. She tries to live all her standards and she's reluctant to condemn or attack anyone. An utterly unsubstantiated and completely false charge, referable to the above-mentioned lack of reading comprehension.

That's it.

Fanny is an introvert: timid, shy, and insecure. This is partly because of the Bertrams and Aunt Norris raising her as inferior to her cousins and teaching her that her wishes are not worthy of consideration. Edmund is the only one to show her kindness. How Fanny turned out is no surprise.

And were Fanny more a Scarlett O'Hara or Anne of Green Gables sort, Mrs Norris would have eaten her alive.( Read more... )