Those who are familiar with The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood would recall that it depicts the fictional Republic of Gilead as a misogynistic and theocratic dystopia, not a utopia. And in it, Women were often their own worst enemies in that they enforced such repression and oppresion on other Women. That was primarily the role of the group of Women known as the Aunts, led by Serena Joy (who was loosely based on Phyllis Schlafly, Mary Pride, and most likely a bit of Tammy Faye Bakker thrown in for good measure). They apparently wanted to create a Matriarchal society through a sort of back door, by controlling Women in order to indirectly control men (by keeping the "cost" of sex artificially and arbitrarily high), and that of course backfired mightily on Women collectively as a class (even if a few individuals like Serena initially benefited at their expense).
The Handmaid's Tale is a work of fiction, of course, but the real-life wannabe Serena Joys do exist nonetheless, in that awkward space between the far left and far right, between fascism and communism, between extreme radical feminism and the Religious Right, and thus between extreme patriarchy and reverse patriarchy that is the hallmark of Horseshoe Theory (where ideological extremes are fat more alike than they are different). Phyllis Schlafly and Mary Pride were infamous historical examples, but there are plenty of others as well such as Beverly LaHaye and her followers.
So what does this strategy supposedly look like? It is NOT limited to just banning porn and prostitution, as that is just the start. It also involves banning or severely restricting birth control, abortion, homosexuality, and Women's sexuality in general, particularly that of younger Women (but ultimately all Women). The control of Women's sexuality and reproduction is crucial to their agenda, and they basically seek to restore rigid, "traditional" gender roles in which Women are mere brood mares and men are the work horses, but of course only when it's convenient for the powers that be. In other words, it is basically the same old-school patriarchy with some Women taking the place of the men in charge, albeit behind the scenes. No one is really free when others are oppressed. Thus, is it really any wonder that this strategy has NEVER brought about any sort of actual Matriarchy in practice?
Clearly the back door does NOT work. Thus, Women need to charge through the front door instead. Yesterday.
So let this be a warning, NOT a newspaper! The master's tools will NOT dismantle the master's house, and you really can't stop coercion by coercing. Liberty is NOT a zero-sum game at all. In fact, liberty is like love: the more you give, the more you get. So what are we waiting for?
Let the planetary healing begin!
To clarify, Phyllis Schlafly was of course one of the anti-ERA campaigners and extremely anti-feminist. Real scumbag indeed, and a gender traitor. Mary Pride was originally a feminist who in the 1970s became a fanatical, born-again fundamentalist and anti-feminist and started the Quiverfull movement (much like the Duggars). She is just as bad if not worse than Schlafly. Handmaid's Tale villainous character Serena Joy was apparently based on an amalgam of those two women along with Tammy Faye Bakker (wife of fundy televangelist Jim Bakker), and also very looself some others as well.
ReplyDeleteBeverly LaHaye, about as bad as Schlafly, is the leader of the "Christian Right" women's group Concerned Women for America, another nest of vipers.
As for Quiverfulls (which include families like the Duggars--Google their name), it is part of the Christian Patriarchy Movement, an extremely patriarchal fundamentalist movement who is vehemently against birth control and essentially believes that every Woman should have as many children as possible, and often as early in life as possible. (The term "Quiverfull" was taken from the phrase "quiver full of arrows", in a very literal and anachronistic interpretation of Psalm 127:3-5.) They fervently believe in homeschooling and "home-churching", essentially creating their own insular family cults inside their own homes.
ReplyDeleteIn my article I discuss one theory (i.e. sexual politics and the "commodity model" of sexuality) as to why some Women turn traitor, though there are likely several reasons.