A minor controversy about a stupid blog-ad led to a dismissive remark by kos about "womens studies types" and a consequent comment storm. I couldn't have cared less about the original issue, but in fact found Markos' choice of slaps quite surprising, and his subsequent apology (something about folks who look for possible slander under every rock) much closer to Rush's term "feminazi" than to anything like comprehension of the buttons he'd stomped through. Anyway, more interesting than internicene warfare is discussion of the larger issues, and the whole thing is summarized very well by Media Girl's post on "the feminist kos" -- it also excerpts most of the chewiest debate, so you can avoid the deluge. Who gets to decide what issues are and aren't important? What is accomplished by anybody's choosing to dismiss other arguments than their own? Is there a meaningful difference between actual misogyny and mere blindness to the ubiquity of discrimination? Good questions.
As a useful supplement, I recommend this list of the often unconsidered tenets of male privilege. It's easier to see overt discrimination than it is to recognize the myriad ways that one benefits passively by being a member of the preferred subclass of people (white, male, Christian, whatever)... Part of the privilege is not having to be aware of it. Striking.
(via Medley furlings)
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