In The New Woman's Broken Heart, Andrea Dworkin concludes one of her stories with the line: "I never did like that crap about the child being father to the man" (10). So with that as my starting point, here is my barrier - tearing - down experiment for Bastille Day -- "Far beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?" Yes, there is! Not a world without men, not a world without Christmas or "America the Beautiful," just a world without gender exclusive language. I ALWAYS DID HATE THAT CRAP
about the child being father to the man
about the proper study of mankind is man
about whoso would be a man
about no man is an island
about what art man that thou art mindful of him
about Our Founding Fathers
about all men are created equal
about the City of Brotherly Love
about "first in war, first in peace and
first in the hearts of his countrymen"
about Faith of our Fathers
about Our Father who art in Heaven
about the Fall of Man
about the Son of God
about the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
about Unto us a Son is Given
about lo he abhors not the virgin's womb
about offspring of a virgin's womb
about with God as our Father, Brothers all are we
about I now pronounce you man and wife
about One small step for Man; one giant leap for Mankind
about our fellow man
about stand up and fight like a man
about take it like a man
about manpower & man hours
about each man for himself
about when you say "Man" you mean "Woman" too
(and so on and so forth)
Some Favorite Comments from Andrea Dworkin
"Sitting with Ricki, talking with Ricki, I made a vow to her: that I would use everything I knew, including from prostitution, to make the women's movement stronger and better; that I'd give my life to the movement and for the movement. I promised to be honor-bound to the well-being of women, to do anything necessary for that well-being. I promised to live and to die if need be for women. I made that vow some thirty years ago, and I have not betrayed it yet" (122).
from Heartbreak: The Political Memoir of a Feminist Militant
by Andrea Dworkin, 1946 – 2005
American writer and radical feminist
When asked how she would like to be remembered,
Dworkin said:
"In a museum, when male supremacy is dead. I'd like my work to be an anthropological artifact from an extinct, primitive society."
[Julie Bindel, "Obituary" in The Guardian, April 12, 2005]
Jes to me: "Man oh man, you do a good job!"
ReplyDeleteMe to Jes: "Your response ("Man oh man) is very funny & appropriate. Was a Freudian slip! Haha!"
Hey, girl,
ReplyDeleteYou know what's funny? Ten years ago all those statements would have bothered me. But for some odd reason, they don't any more.
I don't know if it's because I simply don't care anymore, or because I've gone past it, and believe that men are so lame, so weak, that they don't even realize they're leaving us out.
Whatever the reason, I believe we are most definitely part of the continent, a piece of the main. And we do matter.
And I think they know it. Maybe I'm just lazy mentally in my later years? :)
from the article "Men Explain Things to Me: Facts Didn't Get in Their Way"
ReplyDeleteby Rebecca Solnit:
"Most of my life, I would have doubted myself and backed down. Having public standing as a writer of history helped me stand my ground, but few women get that boost, and billions of women must be out there on this six-billion-person planet being told that they are not reliable witnesses to their own lives, that the truth is not their property, now or ever. . . . Most women fight wars on two fronts, one for whatever the putative topic is and one simply for the right to speak, to have ideas, to be acknowledged to be in possession of facts and truths, to have value, to be a human being. Things have certainly gotten better, but this war won't end in my lifetime. I'm still fighting it, for myself certainly, but also for all those younger women who have something to say, in the hope that they will get to say it." ~ Rebecca Solnit
for full article: http://www.guernicamag.com/daily/rebecca-solnit-men-explain-things-to-me/
Here's one way to have a Revolution: Fix the Language! http://darkwoodbrew.org/father-heaven-and-the-limits-of-language/
ReplyDeleteI love this post, Kitti. Dworkin's poem and quotes are perfect. I love her humor and her conviction.
ReplyDeleteMy Heart Leaps Up
ReplyDeleteWilliam Wordsworth - 1770-1850
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.