December 27, 2010
Because the emphasis on career as an indicator of feminist aptitude is completely horribly terribly misguided. And this isn’t to say I reject working womanhood for domestic servitude—I think that dichotomy is also fucked, because by its very existence, such a dichotomy normalizes and upholds the problematic emphasis on personal achievement and acquisition of power over the development of interpersonal relationships and community. In laypeople terms, I feel like my strength as a feminist is defined in large part by how many things I am or am not willing to sacrifice to achieve a future goal that’s determined by what I do in ~the machine~.  I resent that I’m supposed to focus on the future as opposed to the present, and that such a future is marked by a paycheck or a skill set or a role given to me by someone else in a big hierarchy. In even less bullshit terms, yes, I’m in school because I want to have a job that requires a degree and will earn me a livable wage, but that’s not what I want, that’s a condition of the capitalist society I live in—and why is feminism defining itself by how women fit into that? How is it relevant to women who are denied access to it or agency within it? (Hint: it’s not.) What do we lose when we gain  economic power over others? (‘Nother hint: equality.) How do we wiggle out of that? ‘Cus I really don’t know.

Because the emphasis on career as an indicator of feminist aptitude is completely horribly terribly misguided. And this isn’t to say I reject working womanhood for domestic servitude—I think that dichotomy is also fucked, because by its very existence, such a dichotomy normalizes and upholds the problematic emphasis on personal achievement and acquisition of power over the development of interpersonal relationships and community.

In laypeople terms, I feel like my strength as a feminist is defined in large part by how many things I am or am not willing to sacrifice to achieve a future goal that’s determined by what I do in ~the machine~.  I resent that I’m supposed to focus on the future as opposed to the present, and that such a future is marked by a paycheck or a skill set or a role given to me by someone else in a big hierarchy.

In even less bullshit terms, yes, I’m in school because I want to have a job that requires a degree and will earn me a livable wage, but that’s not what I want, that’s a condition of the capitalist society I live in—and why is feminism defining itself by how women fit into that? How is it relevant to women who are denied access to it or agency within it? (Hint: it’s not.) What do we lose when we gain  economic power over others? (‘Nother hint: equality.) How do we wiggle out of that? ‘Cus I really don’t know.

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    SMASH. (and read Nina Power.)
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