posted
If one more person using the phrase "bra burning feminist" my head will fall clean off. It's just not accurate! http://womenshistory.about.com/od/mythsofwomenshistory/a/bra_burning.htm http://www.snopes.com/history/american/burnbra.htm Generalizations, false statements and historically inaccuracies are making me insane. Take for example MamaCass She did not die from choking on a ham sandwich. That is not accurate. When folks say that it makes me insane. There are too many myths and stereotypes out there and I am only interested in accurate information about things before I can make a judgement.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:According to Susan Brownmiller, author of American Feminine, the famous 1968 demonstration in Atlantic City did not involve bra burning:
quote:That's a myth. It was the time of draft-card burning, and some smart headline writer decided to call it a 'bra burning' because it sounded insulting to the then-new women's movement. We only threw a bra symbolically in a trash can.
Could not "bra burning" be an exaggeration of what did happen, or could calling somebody a "bra-burning feminist" be an exaggeration?
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
I don't think it's anything to get frustrated about, just because there's no evidence of any specific bra-burning taking place doesn't mean it's not an accurate description of radical women's lib supporters. It's a label; it's a reflection of the group it's applied to significantly more than the roots of the word itself. I don't see the motivation to think people are stupid or ignorant, when they clearly don't mean to literally imply that the subject of the label has been burning bras.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
I didn't say stupid or ignorant... It's just one of the many misconceptions that bother me..
I'm not sure if bra-burning is the same as a hyperbole, it's more like a bit of a slur used to look down on feminists without bothering to listen to them. I do not like labels like that because they are just too simplistic, like assuming all Christians are like falwell. It takes a lot of exhausting effort to not generalize, but I think it makes things a bit clearer, especially if all feminists are not alike, just as all Christians or Muslims aren't alike...
Also the concept of babies being manipulative bothers me. Inaccuracies can really muddy the water, hyperboles, metaphors and similes richen the language.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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