bell hooks

Feminism & Men

For our final blog of the class I want to start a discussion about something I have spent a considerable portion of the semester thinking about and discussing with friends: How do men fit into feminism? One feminist in me wants to say, “Who cares? Feminism isn’t for men.” But another feminist in me knows that it would be negligent not to consider how it affects men, since as a “sex” they are the much-talked-about Oppressors, but also because, feminist or not, I have a father, a boyfriend, male friends, and classmates who I value despite the legacy they were born into. I know (as we all do) that it’s not a simple matter of men (as a class) doing bad things to women (as a class).

So, what do I mean by how men fit into feminism? Well, I mean a lot of things I guess. I mean:

(1) There’s no denying that patriarchy is harmful to women, but I think it can be easily argued that it is harmful for men, too. In what ways is patriarchy “bad” for men?
(2) How does feminism (to put it broadly) affect the modern man? Does it place added pressures on men? Is it liberating for men as well? Can it be argued that it is “bad” for men? Consider things in our culture that react to feminism (the commercials Kevin blogged about, for example).
(3) Is there room for men in feminism? Can men “be” feminists or “advocate feminism”?

I’m not asking, of course, that everyone answer every question, and I’m certainly not suggesting that there is a right or wrong answer to any one question, but in my experience these topics of discussion usually stir up a lot of opinions. After hearing from a lot of people in my life who don’t necessarily have a background in feminist theory, I’d like to hear what you all think.

Feminism in Architecture

So I was in Chicago over Thanksgiving break and saw this building. I asked my friend what building it was and she told me it was designed by a feminist architect who had wanted to design a sky scraper that incorporated a more feminine form because skyscrapers are considered phallic and masculine. Now I'm not sure if the intent of a skyscraper is to be a phallic representation or merely an efficient structure for big cities, but I thought this was applicable to class. It shows a concrete way in which to incorporate feminine characteristics to previously patriarchal (literal) structures. I thought this was a cool idea and it was something that I'd never even thought about before (maybe because I'm not an architect) but it does seem that there are a lot of masculine traits in architecture and it is definitely arguable that men have dictated a lot of our physical world as well as intellectual, political, and philosophical.

Patriarchalism in Advertising

In case you're interested in commenting on something other than poetry, there is never a lack of sexist content in the world of commercial advertising.  The two that have most recently caused a stir come from two of America's favorite brands, the Chrysler Group LLC, and Dr. Pepper/Seven Up Ind.

Dr. Pepper's ad is meant to promote their new Dr. Pepper 10 (with 10 calories) to men, with the thought that low calorie drinks are normally tailored to women.  The slogan "It's not for women" has received an ample amount of critique, though Dr. Pepper's CEO Larry Young is apparently thrilled with the product’s reception thus far, even saying that moms are picking up Dr. Pepper 10 for the kids. 

As for the commercial from our friends over at Dodge, well... just watch.  Apparently the time has come for men to break out of the matriarchal system or something like that.

Fortunately, Dodge's commercial has received quite a bit more critique than Dr. Pepper's, possibly because it more directly attacks gender equality and even goes as far as to say that men are the oppressed gender. There are many response videos made by feminist groups about this one, but I found the following clip to be most amusing.

THE TREES THE TREES Heather Christle

I think I'm a feminist in the fact that I truly believe that women are writing almost the best poetry today in America.  I believe that they're extraordinary. That for some reason, this has happened.  It has not been true forever.                                   
                                                                                               - Barbara Guest


One of the most exciting young woman poets of the day, Heather Christle, is the author of two full-length poetry collections: The Difficult Farm (2009), and The Trees The Trees (2011), as well as a chapbook, The Seaside! (2010) and a third forthcoming collection What Is Amazing (2012) from Wesleyan University Press.  She received her MFA from the Program for Poets and Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and her BA from Tufts University.  Her poems been anthologized in The Best American Erotic Poems: 1800 to the Present, right between works from Edgar Allen Poe and Walt Whitman. 




from Octopus Books


THE TREES THE TREES, by Heather Christle

Christle's newest book, The Trees The Trees, is a wonderful collection of prose block poems, in which she addresses several socio-political themes, including feminism.  Poet Nick Sturm has to say of the book, "The Trees The Trees is a wrecking ball covered in flowers. These poems by Heather Christle make me feel, often simultaneously, all of the following things: that I am riding a fucked-up carousal in the middle of the woods, that I am an animal pulling out my own wires, that my skin is a new kind of candy, that my brain and my heart are in a tree and that, somewhere up in that tree, they are kissing, calling each other the wrong names."


Here are some of the most overtly feminist poems in the book:




                    YOU ARE MY GUEST


I will call you man      man man man man      it is a
recipe     it is not that expensive       I will have you 
over for dinner        and I will not take your clothes
off     you wear clothes like a man man    you are a
tightly wound bundle             when we think of the 
woods     the woods are the same       but the rabbit 
between them is different              eat up your soup
little man         little man man          there is no food
coming later




                             MY ENEMY


I have a new enemy    he is so good-looking    here
is a photograph     of him in the snow     he is in the 
snow     and so is the photo     I put it there because 
I hate him     and because it is always snowing    in
the photograph      my enemy is acting      like there 
are no neighbors      but there are always neighbors
they just might be far away             he is 100% evil
and good-looking     he looks good      in his parka
in the snow         if you asked        if would call it a 
helmet           all he ever does is lie       he does not 
breathe      or move    or glow     he is not that kind
of man     it is not that kind of snow




POEM CONSISTING ENTIRELY OF ADVICE


you must not look        at what may be a man     or
may be his empty car     what if he asks you   what
are you looking at    what if you still do not know

What I love about Christle's work is that it blends the theories of feminism with the realities of her own life in a way that is almost memoiric.  The bluntness and wittiness of her poetry is what makes it unique and exciting, and is certainly the quality of her writing that has led to the success of this book, despite being published by a small, independent publisher.  Christle confronts heterosexuality from within it, critiquing, but also embracing it, as in "My Enemy."  


To see more of the amazing Heather Christle, visit her on tumblr: http://heatherchristle.tumblr.com/ or buy one of her books at Innisfree Bookstore.

The Girl Effect

Hey everyone,

I stumbled upon this project in my research for our final paper (I'm not that connected to the internet so many of you may have seen this already...). But I thought just in case i'd go ahead and post it considering how much we've discussed the concept of girl and its effect in poetry and language in general. Enjoy

http://youtu.be/WIvmE4_KMNw