Captain PMS, Judith Butler

Captain’s Blog Stardate 11/14

I am responding to Deep Thunder’s blog on Judith Butler. Deep Thunder makes the argument that, “we now live in a post-phallo-centric society, that the patriarchy has been rejected not only by women (if we can identify them as only one group) but also by men, and in this case, there is no longer a masculine mechanism to rebel against, and the one that did exist did not contain all of our forefathers.” For a long time I have considered what it means to be female in our society and in some ways I agree with this argument. I believe that most American women of my generation have lived differently than our great grandmothers, grandmothers, and even mothers. I have not grown up in a society that has persecuted me for my sex by denying me employment or the right to vote. I have not been denied equal pay nor have I been expected to become a housewife. And I believe that it is time to rename or redefine, as Judith Butler suggests, what being female means. To deny, however, that there is no longer a “masculine mechanism to rebel against” is as broad a statement as any of the definitions slapped onto feminism, and does not acknowledge the fact that for certain sections of our society, as well as for entire countries besides our own, there are certainly still rampant masculine mechanisms that control and repress women. I am a middle class, white, American woman of the twenty-first century and so I can no more understand what it means to be oppressed than Deep Thunder, but there are plenty of women across the world who do understand in deep and fundamental ways. Slavery has also been rejected by our society, yet to tell an African-American person that racism has been obliterated would be ludicrous, even though the majority of white people in our country feel tremendous guilt, as bell hooks points out, for the sins of our forefathers.

What I find about men of Deep Thunder’s generation in regards to women, is the same thing I find common among white, young, southern men in regards to racism today. They are understandably tired of being blamed for something they had no control over. They are the enlightened ones, the men who do not feel color makes you less important. They understand women are equally intelligent. They no longer blame a female bosses dissatisfaction on PMS. And they have grown weary of being told that they feel a certain way or expect certain things because they are male. They, like women, no longer wish to be lumped together in some category that not only doesn’t define them, but leaves them with no individuality. This cannot happen, however, by simply denying that there is no longer an issue. Men like Deep Thunder are refreshing and we are a better society for their intelligence and sensitivity. We are lucky that Rollins has an enlightened and open environment filled with men and women who respect and admire each other. I simply wish this was the case everywhere. I believe a redefinition of the terms “female” and “male” is necessary, however I don’t believe the blanket terminology currently used negates the fact that there are still serious issues concerning women’s rights around the world today.

P.S. Take out the trash.