Neti Neti
Neti Neti
Sep 2, 2018 · 2 min read

So well written, so clear and eloquent. I applaud your analysis.

Though I can see from your comments you won’t agree with me as you have already disagreed with another commenter, I strongly suggest that if this essay were rewritten substituting “woman” for “black” and “man” for “white” (making the necessary grammatical and contextual adjustments) the argument would stand equally well.

While anyone is entitled to dress, act, and feel any way they want, it is no less cultural appropriation for a male to claim womanhood than it is for a white person to claim blackness. There is deep, unresolved inequality between males and females in our society. For society to deny this and insist that “gender” is simply a matter of how an individual identifies themselves, rather than how we are identified by culture on the basis of our physical bodies (and imprisoned on that basis) is an act of erasure and disrespect which makes it impossible for that unresolved inequality to ever be honestly addressed.

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[Male supremacy] may regroup and reclassify itself to consolidate presence and power. And, the [gender] lines will blur and bleed.

Well, they can blur and bleed all they want except — this is dangerous to [female] people without equity. That’s what disturbs me most.

I don’t care if people change lines. I don’t care if the lines smear, shrink, or grow. I care about the lives behind the lines. And, I want them to be equal.

So, when people cross [gender] lines without a balance of power it’s a failure. We can’t burn down [gender] constructs without a safe place for all people.

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Gender is a social construct just like race, which hurts those assigned to the lower tier of the hierarchy. For those in the privileged group to redefine the categories to meet their own psychological needs does nothing to promote liberation for the rest of us who are trapped in this cruel and unequal dynamic.

I support the right of people of color to self-define and to be free of white appropriation, and I don’t think it is too much for women to ask the same of men.

Please don’t tell me to go to the internet to educate myself, as you told the other commenter who shares my opinion. In fact I have been educating myself on issues of race, class, gender and sexuality on a daily basis since I entered college in the 1980s. I’m pretty educated, and while my opinions will continue to evolve, I’m not going to simply agree that women are not worthy of the same respect and autonomy as any other marginalized group just because some folks on the internet say so.

I hope that all who value equality can come together with respect and address the needs of all oppressed people, even when it is challenging, rather than continue to build up walls between ourselves and fight over scraps.

    Neti Neti

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    Neti Neti