"[Most MetaFilter users] know everything - all of them- all the time - no matter how stupid or inexperienced or arrogant or ignorant they are.”
February 19, 2008 8:04 AM Subscribe
It's Tuesday, which of course means it's time for a short, non-comprehensive post about controversial and awesome feminist Andrea Dworkin. Generally criticized without being understood, Dworkin's writing speaks for itself. Here's a link to some of her short stories, essays, and excerpts from her books so that you can get to know this brilliant and singular mind for yourself.
I recommend the short story "the simple story of a lesbian girlhood" as a good place to start. There's also something to be said for this strange little eulogy posted shortly after her death in, of all places, National Review Online.
This post was deleted for the following reason: don't do this here - you have metatalk if you want to make a point about a previous post. -- jessamyn
It's Tuesday, which of course means it's time for a short, non-comprehensive post about controversial and awesome feminist Andrea Dworkin.
I guess I missed that memo. Looking back, it being Tuesday doesn't seem to have ever meant that before.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:26 AM on February 19, 2008
I guess I missed that memo. Looking back, it being Tuesday doesn't seem to have ever meant that before.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:26 AM on February 19, 2008
I suggest that every Tuesday be all Dworkin, all the time.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 8:27 AM on February 19, 2008
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 8:27 AM on February 19, 2008
Well, if it's a new paradigm or something, far be it for me to stand in the way.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:28 AM on February 19, 2008
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:28 AM on February 19, 2008
I understand Dworkin but have still criticized her. Have I broken the new paradigm?!?
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:30 AM on February 19, 2008
posted by Dr. Wu at 8:30 AM on February 19, 2008
Please don't tempt me, Kraftmatic. I mean, please do!
Peter: I don't see how her (controversial) account of being raped (long after the bulk of her writing) sums up her contradictions perfectly. Regardless, I think that her writing and thoughts should be judged on their own merits.
posted by 1 at 8:33 AM on February 19, 2008
Peter: I don't see how her (controversial) account of being raped (long after the bulk of her writing) sums up her contradictions perfectly. Regardless, I think that her writing and thoughts should be judged on their own merits.
posted by 1 at 8:33 AM on February 19, 2008
(Actually, my response to Peter is kind of harsh and, on rereading, I don't think I'm saying anything that he didn't already basically say. Sorry!) :/
Her attitude was that she shouldn't have to moderate who she was in order to be more appealing to her audience, which I find pretty refreshing.
posted by 1 at 8:38 AM on February 19, 2008
Her attitude was that she shouldn't have to moderate who she was in order to be more appealing to her audience, which I find pretty refreshing.
posted by 1 at 8:38 AM on February 19, 2008
I have fond memories of a long ago time when I was dating a girl who was picking up a Women's Studies minor. I read a couple of the Andrea Dworkin books she brought home, and they totally blew me away. There was hardly a page that didn't contain something inflammatory that I completely disagreed with, but I absolutely loved her take-no-prisoners style.
posted by Banky_Edwards at 8:45 AM on February 19, 2008
posted by Banky_Edwards at 8:45 AM on February 19, 2008
> Generally criticized without being understood, Dworkin's writing speaks for itself.
One would not imply the other.
In fact, Dworkin was a tangle of contradictions. Much of her public worth was in making the threads in this tangle the subject of her writing, doing so unapologetically and without dissolving into a puddle of self-conflict or doubt. But it also means her body of work contains jaw-dropping moments of rhetorical self-sabotage.
posted by ardgedee at 8:45 AM on February 19, 2008
One would not imply the other.
In fact, Dworkin was a tangle of contradictions. Much of her public worth was in making the threads in this tangle the subject of her writing, doing so unapologetically and without dissolving into a puddle of self-conflict or doubt. But it also means her body of work contains jaw-dropping moments of rhetorical self-sabotage.
posted by ardgedee at 8:45 AM on February 19, 2008
« Older Doodling and deliberating. | A credit to his race: the human race Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
The woman could write like a dream, and her writing unquestionably changed the world and how we think about a whole pile of important stuff. But she definitely had a screw lose, and that loose screw seemed to sabotage her best efforts an awful lot of the time.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:21 AM on February 19, 2008