The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Radical Lesbian Feminism: Coming Soon to a Public School Classroom Near You?

Posted on | July 23, 2014 | 27 Comments

“Can it be valid to conceptualize ‘girls’ as having certain personal attributes universally in common, except perhaps their youth relative to women? In grappling with this question, we need not to lose sight of the fact that, however different, girls’ actions are oriented toward the same or similarly structured objects that construct their bodies’ social meanings, values, and challenges as gendered. . . . Social rules and practices surrounding menarche construct gender as a principle both for division of labor and for compulsory heterosexuality, thus constituting girls in a relation of growing vulnerability to boys’ and men’s appropriation.”
— Susan Laird, “Befriending Girls as an Educational Life-Practice,” Philosophy of Education, 2002

“It has been the political policy of lesbian feminists to present ourselves publicly as persons who have chosen lesbian patterns of desire and sensuality. Whether as individuals we feel ourselves to have been born lesbians or to be lesbians by decision, we claim as morally and politically conscious agents a positive choice to go with it: to claim our lesbianism, to take full advantage of its advantages. This is central to our feminism: that women can know their own bodies and desires, interpret their own erotic currents, create and choose environments which encourage chosen changes in all these; and that a female eroticism that is independent of males and of masculinity is possible and can be chosen. We claim these things and fight in the world for all women’s liberty to live them without punishment and terror, believing also that if the world permits self-determined female eroticism, it will be a wholly different world.”
— Marilyn Frye, Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory (1983)

Last week, I mentioned that the American Association of University Women (AAUW) is pushing to introduce “gender studies” to the high school curriculum, “creating innovative spaces for young people to engage in feminism and activism, equity, and social justice in today’s classrooms.” The symposium on this AAUW program featured Ileana Jiminez, a lesbian English teacher from New York. What this indicates is that the radical theories of feminist academics are ultimately destined for the K-12 classroom — and any parent who objects can expect to be condemned as a sexist homophobe.

Consider the phrase “compulsory heterosexuality.” This phrase entered the feminist lexicon via an influential 1980 essay by Adrienne Rich, “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” which I discussed at length in April. Rich’s essay, asserting that heterosexuality is not natural for women, but rather is imposed as a condition of male supremacy, has been widely anthologized and incorporated in Women’s Studies curricula.

The phrase turned up in a Google search I did, appearing as the title of a book chapter, “Compulsory Heterosexuality as Mis-education.” The author speaks of “the psychological damage inflicted [on gay adolescents] by years of bearing witness to, or experiencing, anti–lesbian and gay prejudice in countless forms”:

They are the product of a lifetime of learning in the hegemonic ideology of heterosexism.
In practice, heterosexist ideology is instilled through numerous mechanisms. Family members initiate children into heterosexist ideology almost from birth, teaching acceptable gendered conduct as well as uneasiness with cross-gendered behaviors. This education is reinforced and expanded by religious institutions, peer groups, and the media . . . By the time children have reached first grade, they have already compiled a significant amount of data about what it means to be gay in a heterosexist society, even though much of what they have learned may well be incorrect, born of fear and prejudice rather than factual information. Schools are in a unique position to correct much of this misinformation at an early age before it ripens into anti–lesbian and gay prejudice and violence.

So, the public schools are to be enlisted to counteract this “fear and prejudice” of “heterosexist ideology”? What kind of lunatic gibberish is this, and who wrote it? This is from Rethinking Sexual Identity in Education, a 2004 book by Susan Birden, and it was originally her Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Oklahoma’s College of Education. Birden expressed her gratitude to her mentor:

While all my committee members have been engaged and helpful, I owe a life-long debt to my committee chair, Susan Laird, for she has been not only an advisor, but also a mentor of the highest caliber. A brilliant scholar, her expertise in guiding me through this entire doctoral process has been a testament to her great skill as an educator. From her comments on my first seminar entry, written some seven years ago, to her comments on the final draft of my dissertation, she has guided me through a maze of philosophic thought, nurturing my interests, pressing me to think more broadly, challenging me to think more specifically. Through it all she has demonstrated profound patience with my leaming, a committed focus and respect for my interests, accomplishing it all with the good humor of a “liver” of life. Susan Laird is both a fierce warrior and a kind soul.

Go read Birden’s dissertation, and you will find it is crammed full of quotes and citations from an all-star lineup of lesbian feminists — Mary Daly, Marilyn Frye, Janice Raymond, Charlotte Bunch, and on and on. Which brings us back to the question of exactly what the hell is going on in the University of Oklahoma’s College of Education, where Professor Susan Laird supervised this dissertation.

In addition to her position in the College of Education, Professor Laird has been a member of the faculty of the department of Women’s and Gender Studies since 1995. And her 2002 journal article, “Befriending Girls as an Educational Life-Practice,” is worth careful study. This eight-page article has 33 footnotes and cites numerous lesbian feminists, including Audre Lorde, Janice Raymond, Judith Butler and Marilyn Frye, the latter an author whose works I’ve quoted as examples of the anti-male/anti-heterosexual themes that have become commonplace in academic feminism.

“Fucking is a large part of how females are kept subordinated to males. It is a ritual enactment of that subordination which constantly reaffirms the fact of subordination and habituates both men and women to it, both in body and in imagination.”
–- Marilyn Frye, Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory (1983)

“Men have been creating ideologies and political practices which naturalize female heterosexuality continuously in every culture since the dawns of the patriarchies. . . . Female heterosexuality is not a biological drive or an individual woman’s erotic attraction . . . Female heterosexuality is a set of social institutions and practices.”
— Marilyn Frye, Willful Virgin: Essays in Feminism, 1976-1992 (1992)

Professor Laird cited Frye (although not these passages) in her 2002 Philosophy of Education article about “befriending girls,” an article which begins by relating the plot of a novel in which the young female protagonist “responds . . . with shock upon discovering this teacher who so generously befriended her is lesbian, but feels a new compassion that challenges [her] to unlearn her own heterosexism.” Did I mention that Professor Laird teaches in the College of Education, and that the title of that article is “Befriending Girls as an Educational Life-Practice”? 

Yeah, Oklahoma, OK.





 

Category: Education, Feminism

Comments

27 Responses to “Radical Lesbian Feminism: Coming Soon to a Public School Classroom Near You?”

  1. Bozikek
    July 23rd, 2014 @ 11:45 pm

    Had a look at the amazon link :

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    28 Used from $0.01
    11 New from $14.85
    1 Collectible from $42.95

    Used for a penny…. I think I’ll keep the penny.

  2. M. Thompson
    July 23rd, 2014 @ 11:52 pm

    Am I surprised? At this point, it’s recruiting for homosexuality.

    Start running for school boards if you’re not willing or able to home school. It’s the only way to fight back, is to work to control the process.

  3. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    July 24th, 2014 @ 12:10 am

    So Anita Bryant was right?

  4. RKae
    July 24th, 2014 @ 12:50 am

    Could we PLEASE take the computers away from these mentally damaged gender theorists?

  5. Thatch
    July 24th, 2014 @ 1:25 am

    Perhaps we should consider why our high school biology courses seem to be so ineffective before we add women’s studies. One of the common themes in feminist writing is that they seem to be wholly ignorant of biology. Man did not create the human race or woman’s role in the reproductive process.

    Even the Sex Ed classes seem to be failures since if feminists believe sex is always about the woman being submissive then they are clearly doing it wrong.

  6. DeadMessenger
    July 24th, 2014 @ 2:24 am

    About everything. Including the orange juice.

  7. DeadMessenger
    July 24th, 2014 @ 2:26 am

    You know how some say that if you play Black Sabbath songs backward, there are messages in there? Well, maybe if we read these screeds backward, they’ll make more sense.

  8. DeadMessenger
    July 24th, 2014 @ 2:30 am

    “By the time children have reached first grade, they have already compiled a significant amount of data about what it means to be gay in a heterosexist society…”

    Actually, no. By the time children have reached first grade, they have already compiled a significant amount of data about when their favorite cartoons are on, what crayons taste like, and where Mommy hides the cookies.

  9. Matt_SE
    July 24th, 2014 @ 2:48 am

    At this point, I’m rooting for the U.S. economy to collapse (or at least for the student debt bubble to pop), so we can finally shut down the useless parasite “-studies” departments.
    When TSHTF, who’s going to waste their time on this nonsense?

  10. Anon Y. Mous
    July 24th, 2014 @ 3:21 am

    Rich’s essay, asserting that heterosexuality is not natural for women, but rather is imposed as a condition of male supremacy, has been widely anthologized and incorporated in Women’s Studies curricula.

    Natural. Is there a corresponding theory to explain the animal kingdom? When white-tailed deer mate, is there a patriarchy at work where the bucks are conspiring to dominate the does? What would happen to the species if the deer fucking ended? Would they develop artificial insemination or just let themselves go extinct?

    All very silly questions, of course. Based on a very silly premise.

  11. concern00
    July 24th, 2014 @ 4:35 am

    Homosexual men have always had a lightly veiled penchant for teenage boys – Catholic Church, BSA, Hollywood (need I go on?). It comes as no surprise that homosexual women also like to recruit the young and vulnerable, especially during their formative years.

    Feminism is to transsexualism as female homosexuality is to male homosexuality. The former like to play the empowerment and choice card, while the latter is keener on playing the victim-hood and born this way card. Totally and utterly contradictory and incompatible.

    Another footnote in the ongoing irrationality of the liberal agenda.

  12. ZION'S TRUMPET » Lesbian “Erotic Currents” and Other Femi-nazi Bullshit
    July 24th, 2014 @ 7:17 am

    […] Radical Lesbian Feminism: Coming Soon to a Public School Classroom Near You? […]

  13. DavidD
    July 24th, 2014 @ 7:22 am

    ” ‘Female heterosexuality is not a biological drive….’ ”

    Why does anyone tolerate this kind of nonsense? From whence do any of us come if heterosexuality is only a social construct? How were there any people at all prior to “the dawns of the patriarchies” if heterosexuality is not a biological drive?

  14. Quartermaster
    July 24th, 2014 @ 7:55 am

    Elk are far worse. They assemble “harems” of all things so they can better oppress Elk women. Bull Elk are patriarchs among patriarchs and masters of heteronormative patriarchal oppression.

  15. Quartermaster
    July 24th, 2014 @ 7:56 am

    It’s especially important to know where the cookies and popcorn are located on Saturday mornings.

  16. RS
    July 24th, 2014 @ 8:24 am

    One reads patently absurd gibberish such is the excerpts quoted here and wonders what happened to the ability to discriminate among reasonably possible hypotheses and utter crap. It occurs to me, that part of the problem is that Academe has moved away from passing on received wisdom to elevating the new and edgy as its primary focus. While advances in knowledge are important in many fields, the Humanities/Social Sciences are not among them. The focus on coming up with something new or different, which is necessary to obtain the coveted Ph.D., leads to all manner of mischief. The excerpts quoted here are Exhibit A.

  17. RS
    July 24th, 2014 @ 8:40 am

    At this point, it’s recruiting for homosexuality.

    That’s just right-wing, Christianist crazy talk! At least that’s what we were told some 20-30 years ago or more, when the first warnings about Homosexual, Inc.’s agenda for the public schools.

  18. Zohydro
    July 24th, 2014 @ 8:45 am

    Someone needs to compile and preserve the vast corpus of early homosexualist/paedophile literature in one searchable database…

    I’d do it, but I’ve not the stomach for it—the Gaystapo and all that!

  19. Zohydro
    July 24th, 2014 @ 8:51 am

    THIS!

  20. Doug
    July 24th, 2014 @ 10:03 am

    Didn’t a recent NIH survey conclude that only 0.6% of the population are lesbians? How does such a minuscule minority get such a loud presence in academia?

  21. RS
    July 24th, 2014 @ 10:04 am

    Its the only place where “weird” is a job requirement? I don’t know; I’m just asking questions.

  22. Escher's House
    July 24th, 2014 @ 11:02 am

    I am amazed by how poorly these feminist authors write. They use an abundance of ambiguous, abstract terms without bothering to define them. Their writing is filled with bad syntax and bad grammar, obscuring the points they’re trying to make. They twist the definitions of some terms; others they freight with emotional connotations they were never meant to carry; and still others are simply used incorrectly, when there is a perfectly adequate word in English that would suit their purposes. Their writing is filled with question-begging assertions unsupported by any evidence. They engage in unfounded appeals to authority, especially each other’s purported authority. It is truly atrocious and barely readable.

  23. Feminist Fashion and Danger Down Below! | Batshit Crazy News
    July 24th, 2014 @ 11:53 am

    […] Victim! TOM: Trannies vs. Feminists TOM: Feminist prostitution in the Great White North! TOM: Radical feminism coming to a public school near you… TOM: The ISIS order genital mutilation for all females in […]

  24. Federale
    July 24th, 2014 @ 3:51 pm

    Teaching as a pickup opportunity dykes.

  25. Bob Belvedere
    July 24th, 2014 @ 7:52 pm

    Won’t happen as there will always be enough billionaire and millionaire Leftists to fund them.

  26. concern00
    July 24th, 2014 @ 9:25 pm

    It’s a wonder the human race ever survived…but then you come to the realization that it takes a rich, decadent society founded upon a strong Christian foundation to empower the same citizens to overthrow their God. We didn’t always think we were better then Him.

  27. WarEagle82
    July 26th, 2014 @ 11:57 am

    One of the threads through these “feminist” posts is that radfems want to educate young women to CHOOSE to be lesbians. And that kind of stomps all over the “born-that-way” argument we get thrown in our faces.

    Unless they are next going to start arguing that “women-who-are-fundamentally-the-same-as-men” are fundamentally different from men and women can and should pick their sexual orientation at will but should always eventually end up as lesbians.