...the more they stay the same.
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a door mat or a prostitute.
- Rebecca West, in 'Mr. Chesterton in Hysterics: A Study in Prejudice', first published in The Clarion, November 14, 1913
1913? Did you see that date? Is this not still true almost a hundred years later?
If you had any doubts about about it after my post on Hypocrites and Feminazis, check out a couple of hysterically funny posts called Chucking Oprah and Only Women Are Allowed to Read this Post about an article published in O: The Oprah Magazine* just last summer. Hmmm, hysterically funny is rather good here, given the origins of the word hysterical.
How can anyone say feminists lack a wicked good sense of humor? Given all of the recent CRAP (Committee for Retrograde Antifeminist Propaganda)** I've read, I'm going to go re-read 'The New Momism' and 'Revolt against the MRS' in The Mommy Myth, by Susan Douglas and Meredith Michaels. When I read it in 2004 I thought it was perhaps a little overstated and over the top; now it looks downright prescient.
*perhaps this is why it is listed as one of "Darla's Favorite Resources" in Happy Housewives, by Darla Shine
**see pages 30-33 of The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined Women
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