dagblog - Comments for "Ethics and Anger; Oh, and also, Feminism"

Thanks for the clarification,

wwstaebler — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:27:56 +0000

In reply to Ethics and Anger; Oh, and also, Feminism

Thanks for the clarification, Moat. When you say: "My mother grew up in Mississippi..." I feel your pain, as well as your pride. They were something, those southern women; even when they moved elsewhere, they were raising their children to be southern to the core, as they were raised by their mothers, etc..

What I meant by that

moat — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 05:44:44 +0000

In reply to Ethics and Anger; Oh, and also, Feminism

What I meant by that admittedly obscure remark was that eulogizing can't help but generate fictions, and a lot of fictions can be awfully self-serving in a way that preserves social order in the way your post talks about.
Now being raised by my mother to be a gentlemen involved a lot of emphasis on putting myself in other people's shoes. Even if they were reserved, arrogant, etc.
So maybe all fiction is not self-serving, especially if it is an attempt to approach a truth.
Full disclosure: My mother grew up in Mississippi.

Now, E: "Interesting post? "

wwstaebler — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:53:22 +0000

In reply to Ethics and Anger; Oh, and also, Feminism

Now, E: "Interesting post? " That is a classic "good woman" polite response, even though delivered by one who self-proclaims herself to be "not a good woman" with appropriate layers of ambiguities.
So what do you really think?

I am not a good woman.

Evainne — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:26:05 +0000

In reply to Ethics and Anger; Oh, and also, Feminism

I am not a good woman. Saying it like that gives it multiple interprations. I like all those ambiguities. ;)

Interesting post, ww.

Thank you for that positive

wwstaebler — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:44:17 +0000

In reply to Ethics and Anger; Oh, and also, Feminism

Thank you for that positive thought, Panning, which does give us all hope.

... she was a woman so sure

panningforhope — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:19:52 +0000

In reply to Ethics and Anger; Oh, and also, Feminism

... she was a woman so sure of herself that, despite being a legatee of the old south, she was also, early on, fearlessly committed to, among other things: civil rights and, later, the ERA amendment, and later ...
..."a woman who sacrificed herself to work tirelessly for the community" (No; every stand she took flew in the face of the accepted local order)

I loved this piece, thank you. I'd would just like to humbly offer a different take on your point quoted above.

Perhaps, with time, the community caught up a bit towards where your grand dame had been making her brave stand all along.

And perhaps this was due to her tirelessness, her fearlessness, and her sacrifice.

One can hope, right?

I have been to similar

rowanwolf — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:17:22 +0000

In reply to Ethics and Anger; Oh, and also, Feminism

I have been to similar memorials, and often it is the family who censors and edits what will be said. They, or even sometimes friends, choose to edit out what may be perceived as "questionable," or "socially unacceptable." Hence the "speaking ill of the dead."

If it is perceived that the person's political activism, outspoken ways, or some component of who they are, was "inappropriate," then lauding that is speaking ill of the dead. Unfortunately, it is often the presumed "flaws" that actually demonstrate the beauty, power, and distinctiveness of the person.

I truly hope that when I die that people don't clean up my "resume."

Hey, M -- I revised this

wwstaebler — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:12:45 +0000

In reply to Ethics and Anger; Oh, and also, Feminism

Hey, M --
I revised this this morning because it did not make the point I wanted it to make. But you got it anyway, and said it much better, in fewer words.
Here's to the "well-behaved" women who hang on the walls who live in the house that custom built.
Thank you.

Hello, my friend. I truly

barefooted — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:44:56 +0000

In reply to Ethics and Anger; Oh, and also, Feminism

Hello, my friend. I truly hope that whatever trials you are facing that brought these thoughts to mind are soon no more. The portrait you paint is one that has hung on many walls, unappreciated and overlooked. How to explain those who required no explanation for their lives? How to make their life make sense when they never cared for it to do so except on their own terms? How, in retrospect, can you argue with that?

When my day of reckoning comes, I hope that I can say I told the truth. That I was strong enough to be right, and tough enough to be wrong. And that at least one person far more worthy than I loved me.

Doesn't "calamari" involve

The Old Grouch — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 07:20:53 +0000

In reply to Ethics and Anger; Oh, and also, Feminism

Doesn't "calamari" involve hurting the squid?

Otherwise, I only hurt trolls. They don't count.