Brownmiller, Susan. Femininity. Linden Press, New York. 1984.(pg. 16-17)

ok no. All women have not been defined this way. Does this narrative ring true with certain women in certain social classes and groups? yes. But what about women who’s histories and legacies fall outside of this reality? In one fell swoop their entire lives are de-legitimized and erased because “most women” can empathize with this narrative and these same women fail to realize that people outside of their social group exist. This is what I was talking about yesterday when we kept pressing upon the fact that there is a danger when major feminist discourse and womanhood is shaped and managed by people who can not acknowledge the privilege of their point of view.

The slave woman? The maid? The housekeeper? The sex worker? The woman who isn’t heterosexual? The woman who immigrates from one country to another? The refugee woman? The woman who has kids OUTSIDE of traditional marriage? The woman who isn’t western (because that exist too!)? There’s an entire myriad of cultures, class positions, countries and histories - all women. But this Susan Brownmiller quote takes her specific experience with being a woman and takes it upon herself to say that this is the only experience/narrative that matters.

Now do you understand the danger of basing everything off of feminist thinkers who were around IN THE 80’S?! The mainstream American woman has yet to end her love affair with this singular narrative & everyone is quick to try and market this narrative to all of us just to remind those who fall outside this narrow frame how “unwomanly” we inherently are.

(via newwavefeminism)

(Source: gynocraticgrrl, via newwavefeminism)

If in the beginnings of history the feminine woman was defined by physical dependency, her inability for reasons of reproductive biology to triumph over the forces of nature that were the tests of masculine strength and power, today she reflects both an economic and emotional dependency that is still considered “natural,” romantic and attractive. After an unsettling fifteen years in which many basic assumptions about the sexes were challenged, the economic disparity did not disappear. Large numbers of women-those with small children, those left high and dry after a mid-life divorce-need financial support. But even those who earn their own living share a universal need for connectedness (call it love, if you wish). As unprecedented numbers of men abandon their sexual interest in women, others, sensing opportunity, choose to demonstrate their interest through variety and a change in partners. A sociological fact of the 1980s is that female competition for two scare resources-men and jobs- is especially fierce.