The Sport of Feminist-Bashing Options

[Emersberger]

The Sport of Feminist-Bashing

By Dr. James Winter August, 2009

It’s been quite a summer for feminist bashing in CanWest newspapers.

Earlier this month, John Robson wrote in the Ottawa Citizen about
“...multiculturalist, gay-friendly, feminist progressives,” who
“ignore the scope and toxicity of radical Islam.”

Marni Soupcoff, the only woman editorial board member at the National
Post, decried the “misguided” feminists who insist that “men create
eating disorders by objectifying and judging women.”

Naomi Lakritz of the Calgary Herald provides the most recent examples
in “One killer a whole gender does not damn,” August 7th.

Typically, Lakritz commits an informal fallacy by distorting the
feminist position, and then refuting her own distortion. Her example
is the latest multiple murder of women, by a man: George Sodini’s
murder of three women in a Pittsburgh area gym.

Lakritz provides a few examples of what she calls, “male-bashing
nonsense that’s been spouted over the years” since the 1989 Montreal
Massacre of 14 female students by Marc Lepine. Then she loads up her
column with red herrings such as women who kill their children.

Lakritz writes that to us feminists, “You’re all in this together
guys. You’re all Marc Lepine. You’re about to morph into George
Sodini. Get ready for the onslaught.”

Lakritz writes, “...feminists perceive a murder as ideologically
motivated, rather than seeing it for what it is...” but as she points
out, these men wrote explicitly of their hatred for women, and then
killed women. What could be more ideological than that?

“It’s interesting how [to feminists] only psychos who shoot large
numbers of women at once represent all men,” says Lakritz.

What utter and complete nonsense! According to Lakritz, as a feminist
I’d have to believe I am Mark Lepine! Most of us feminists believe in
equality between genders, period. Look up the definition in the
dictionary. By charging that feminists believe all men are Marc
Lepines, Lakritz distorts feminism beyond recognition, and fuels the
backlash in the media and by the public, against feminism.

Some of us feminists do quite legitimately view male violence against
individual women, or groups, as symptomatic of societal inequality and
even misogyny. Ascribing these acts to individual insanity as Lakritz
does, is a copout, and ignores the way violence against women
traditionally has been tolerated and even condoned in Canada’s
patriarchal society.

Her perspective dishonours the victims of these crimes, by
discouraging investigations into broader causes and preventative
actions. If the perps are just crazy, nothing can be done.

In July, David Warren of the Ottawa Citizen bragged that “I wrote
recently about the evil of feminism, and of the need to reverse its
advance.” In a June column, headlined “In praise of patriarchs,” he
wrote that many fathers have children who are “turned against them by
a calculating mother, working the family law system,” because the
“system was designed by feminists.”

Warren wrote about the current “radical feminist fantasia” which he
said promotes “the fall of men.” He said the “feminist revolution” is
“the most important domestic issue” in North America, which “requires
an attack on the very premise of feminism: its demonization of
patriarchy.”

Well, yes, since feminism advocates equality between genders and since
patriarchy is male rule, we feminists do oppose patriarchy. But
promoting the fall of men? A system designed by feminists? What wild
and baseless accusations! It’s feminism, not patriarchy, which is
being demonized here.

In Canada’s patriarchy, it is primarily men making the laws and enforcing them.

Women are a majority of our population, but constitute just one in
every five MPs in Canada, and one in seven members of the Conservative
government.

Women make up just 27 percent of the federal cabinet, and only one out
of five parliamentary secretaries to cabinet ministers.

In Canadian history, there’s only been one female prime minister, who
held office for just a few months. Only one-third all senators are
women.

The Supreme Court comes closest to parity, but women are still in a minority.

Of the top 500 corporations in Canada, just five percent have women CEOs.

Statistics Canada data reported in 2007 in the Toronto Star show that
between 1999 and 2004, 653,000 women experienced some form of violence
at the hands of a current or previous spouse or common-law partner.
Female victims were more than twice as likely to be injured as male
victims, three times more likely to fear for their life, and twice as
likely to be the targets of more than 10 violent episodes. Thousands
of women and their families continue to live with the fear and
devastating effects of this problem every day. In Canada, at least 60
women die every year at the hands of a partner.

Wife beater Matthew Smith of Windsor punched, choked, knifed and
burned his wife Alisha Collicutte with cigarettes. He threatened to
kill her if she went to the police. Smith was sentenced to one year of
house arrest earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was released from jail on August
14, after serving 34 years for threatening former U.S. President
Gerald Ford with a gun. There was no bullet in the gun chamber, and
Fromme said she had no intention of shooting Ford, she just wanted to
make him aware of environmental issues.

Feminism is about challenging patriarchy: social institutions backed
by an ideological system that privileges men and devalues women.