CCC comments on The noncentral fallacy - the worst argument in the world? - Less Wrong

157 Post author: Yvain 27 August 2012 03:36AM

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Comment author: CCC 11 September 2012 03:25:29PM 4 points [-]

To me, the phrase "radical feminist" implies the sort of feminist who not only wants to get women out of the cage (which is admirable in my view), but then wants to turn about and put men in the cage (which I disagree with). I think that means that we're defining the phrase differently.

Comment author: [deleted] 12 September 2012 03:13:34PM 4 points [-]

You are defining the phrase differently. Upvoted here because that's the crucial step at this point in the argument.

What Eridu is describing is a branch of feminism that focuses on power relations, and defines "patriarchy" as an established body of male-dominated power relationships that influence how society is structured. This is to be understood as more of a cultural thing that developed over time, not some dark shadowy conspiracy -- however, radical feminists often contend that this pattern emerged prior to, and supervenes over, other forms of oppression.

They emerged during the Second Wave era in the 1960s. There's diversity of belief and interpretation within radical feminism as well as in other branches outside of it, though I note from some experience that they're a bit prone to universalizing their theories and not playing very nice with other groups of feminists. Their conception of patriarchy and its importance is a particular matter of contention within the field.

Comment author: TheOtherDave 11 September 2012 04:31:46PM 4 points [-]

There exist social contexts in which getting women "out of the cage" requires a radical restructuring of that context.
Calling feminists who encourage that sort of restructuring "radical feminists" seems like a reasonable use of language to me.

Comment author: [deleted] 12 September 2012 08:19:20AM 3 points [-]

Indeed, people who want to get both men and women out of the cage are called anarchists.

Comment author: TheOtherDave 12 September 2012 01:45:39PM 3 points [-]

Well, some of them are. Many of them aren't.

I would describe serious Zen Buddhists this way as well, for example, and while there's a sense in which one could describe Zen Buddhists as anarchists it's a very different sense from the one we usually mean.

Comment author: [deleted] 12 September 2012 01:55:03PM 0 points [-]

I don't think they're trying to break out of the same kind of ‘cages’ feminists are.

Comment author: TheOtherDave 12 September 2012 02:02:19PM 1 point [-]

Are anarchists?

Comment author: [deleted] 12 September 2012 02:10:59PM *  1 point [-]

Maybe not exactly, but they're much more similar.

EDIT: Many feminists compare male privilege with white privilege, upper-class privilege etc. (collectively referred to as ‘kyriarchy’). And some anarchists describe themselves as wanting to destroy all such privileges. See also Section A.3.5 of An Anarchist FAQ.

Comment author: CCC 12 September 2012 08:32:27AM 1 point [-]

It's reasonable. It's just different to my prior expectation.

Comment author: MileyCyrus 12 September 2012 04:18:36PM 1 point [-]

To me, the phrase "radical feminist" implies the sort of feminist who not only wants to get women out of the cage (which is admirable in my view), but then wants to turn about and put men in the cage (which I disagree with)

That doesn't pass an ideological Turing test. Think about how to "radical" label operates in other contexts ("radical socialist", "radical libertarian", "radical environmentalist"). Then apply that to feminism.

Comment author: TimS 12 September 2012 04:22:18PM 2 points [-]

As if the word "Radical" had a side or inherent meaning across various ideological conflicts.

Comment author: [deleted] 12 September 2012 04:27:03PM 3 points [-]

Some radical environmentalist do seem to want to get wildlife out of the cage and then turn about and put humans in the cage.