The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Anti-Heterosexual #Feminism

Posted on | October 17, 2014 | 130 Comments

My #GamerGate coverage had only just begun when @streever — who obviously doesn’t know me from Adam’s housecat — made the mistake of disputing my authority to describe feminism as “anti-male and anti-heterosexual.” This is not necessarily @streever‘s fault.

The whole point of my “Sex Trouble” series about radical feminism’s war on human nature is that the vast majority of people, including many otherwise normal women who naively call themselves “feminists,” don’t know the truth about feminist theory — its esoteric doctrine, as opposed to its exoteric discourse. Your typical ordinary “feminist” is merely a liberal whose ideological commitment is no more profound than this: “Vote Democrat — because vagina!”

Understand what I mean when I say feminism is a journey to lesbianism: There are lifelong lesbians who aren’t feminists for the simple reason that they don’t need a theory to justify themselves and they don’t enjoy politically correct sex. Non-feminist lesbians include not a few stone butch dykes who refuse to listen to post-modern crypto-Marxist lectures about why their preference for masculine wardrobe, penetration and domination is the “wrong” way to be lesbian. Furthermore, there are many lesbians who just don’t hate men enough to be feminist. In fact, a lot of ladies who are “playing for the other team” (to use the famous Seinfeld phrase) have an ironic empathy for the problems of heterosexual men, as lesbians also have to deal with the typical woes of trying to get along with women. (Some ex-lesbians are “ex-” for this very reason: They can’t cope with the hormonal drama.) Anyone who looks at exit-poll data must realize there are more Republican lesbians than the mainstream media is willing to admit; if you’re pro-capitalism and pro-America, it’s kind of hard hard to be a feminist.

So, there are non-feminist lesbians and there are “heterosexual feminists,” but the latter category is rather timidly defensive within the field of Women’s Studies, where “raging lesbian feminists” prevail and gender theory necessitates problematizing heterosexuality. It is certainly no accident that the most widely assigned anthology of feminist literature — Feminist Frontiers, a common textbook for Introduction to Women’s Studies classes at American universities — is edited by three lesbians. The best and most recent research indicates that heterosexual women outnumber lesbian/bisexual women by a ratio greater than 40-to-1 (97.7 percent to 2.3 percent), but if you were to attend next month’s annual meeting of the National Women’s Studies Association, you would find the NWSA Lesbian Caucus accounts for far more than 2.3% of the faculty and graduate students in attendance, and nobody in the NWSA would dare challenge the Lesbian Caucus directly. The heterosexuals in Women’s Studies “know their place,” so to speak, and their metaphorical place is in the back of the feminist bus.

“If you consider sexual desire and romantic love between men and women to be natural and healthy, you are not a feminist. . . . There is nothing natural about sex, according to feminist ideology, no biological urge that causes women to be attracted to men.”
Robert Stacy McCain, April 10, 2014

Beyond this demonstrable phenomenon of the extraordinary lesbian influence on radical feminism as it is taught on our university campuses, however, beyond all the quotes I could produce to demonstrate that phenomenon, there is the simple truth: Feminist theory is incompatible with (and hostile to) the normal woman’s life of men, marriage and motherhood. A woman might be a heterosexual feminist, but she can never be a happy heterosexual feminist, because feminism’s core beliefs are that (a) all women’s problems are consequences of male oppression, (b) this oppression (patriarchy) is systemic and pervasive, (c) all women suffer from patriarchal oppression and all men benefit from it, (d) the nuclear family is the basic institutional unit of patriarchy, (e) both normal gender (i.e., sex roles, and our concepts of masculinity and femininity) and normal sexuality are “social constructs” produced to serve the interests and fit the prejudices of male-dominated patriarchal society, and (f) women cannot be equal until they destroy this system. Feminists must, as their slogan says, “Smash Patriarchy.”

“Heterosexual intercourse is the pure, formalized expression of contempt for women’s bodies.”
Andrea Dworkin, 1989

“Female heterosexuality is not a biological drive or an individual woman’s erotic attraction . . . Female heterosexuality is a set of social institutions and practices.”
Marilyn Frye, 1992

“Male sexual violence against women and ‘normal’ heterosexual intercourse are essential to patriarchy because they establish the dominance of the penis over the vagina, and thus the power relations between the sexes.”
Dee Graham, 1994

“Male supremacy is centered on the act of sexual intercourse, justified by heterosexual practice.”
Sheila Jeffreys, 2005

Anyone with two eyes and common sense can see this, and every honest feminist must admit it. But honest feminists are rather rare, and I’m always grateful to encounter the forthright radical lesbian who speaks the blunt truth about the feminist agenda. Confronted with what feminism actually means, the normal woman’s reaction is no different than the normal man’s reaction: They’re horrified by the anti-human totalitarian hatred implicit in this doctrine.

The naive liberal who calls herself a “feminist” in 2014 is much like the naive liberals who, in the 1930s and ’40s, joined Communist front groups because they believed the dishonest Popular Front rhetoric of “peace,” “justice” and “civil rights.” Ronald Reagan, who admitted that he himself had been deceived during his days as a bleeding-heart liberal, became the history’s most famous foe of Communism. Reagan liked to joke that the difference between a Communist and an anti-Communist is that the Communist is someone who reads Marx and Lenin, while the anti-Communist is someone who understands Marx and Lenin.

So it is with feminism now, and members of the videogaming community have rather accidentally been given an opportunity to understand feminism. Thanks, “Social Justice Warriors”!

Readers may ask, “What does #GamerGate have to do with #feminism as a journey to lesbianism?” Maybe not much. Or maybe everything.

Videogames are a male-dominated phenomenon, which is a bad thing, as far as I’m concerned. I lost interest in videogames more than 30 years ago simply because feeding quarters into a Pac Man machine was a waste of time and money. Our family has a little Pac Man console that we packed away the last time we moved and I haven’t unpacked it yet, but I occasionally used to plug in Pac Man and spend an hour or two racking up a high score, then toss it aside and dare the kids to top my high score. But I quit videogames before FPRP (First-Person Role-Playing) games became the norm, and so I never developed an appetite for “Mortal Kombat,” “Grand Theft Auto” or “Call of Duty.” My teenage son wastes hours playing “League of Legends,” much to my dismay. Time spent playing games is time that could be better spent on something useful and productive, and it is disheartening to see bright young people develop a habit of (or rather, an addiction to) time-wasting.

In her book Men on Strike, Dr. Helen Smith criticizes the stereotype of male gamers as stunted, puerile losers. However, (a) it’s hard to see how playing “Madden” all day is compatible with a fully functional adult life, and (b) couldn’t those endless hours of gaming be better spent on some income-generating activity, or at least something with real-life utility? But having spent my own adolescence in a haze of sex, drugs and rock-and-roll, maybe I shouldn’t be so harshly judgmental of the arguably less harmful recreations available via XBox and Playstation.

Yet if teenage boys (and adult men) would rather spend time playing “World of Warcraft” than working, educating themselves, or pursuing the companionship of females, why? Isn’t it a fact — as I believe Dr. Smith would agree — that the workplace and schools have become hostile to men in many ways, and that relationships with women are less satisfying to men because of the anti-male attitudes feminism has encouraged women to adopt? If universities now treat normal male sexuality as a sort of hate crime waiting to happen, if a man can lose his job for even daring to flirt with a female co-worker, and if any potential girlfriend would bring to a romantic relationship a towering stack of resentments against males, what options are left to the young bachelor? Why bother? Instead he spends all weekend in a “Call of Duty” gaming marathon, an emotionally satisfying activity he perhaps interrupts only to (a) sleep, (b) order a pizza, and (c) jack off to some porn.

This is sad beyond words, but there is obviously a reason that videogames are a multibillion-dollar industry, just as there’s obviously a reason a vast amount of the Internet is nothing but porn.

Now, however, as a result of #GamerGate, this poor fellow discovers that one of his few remaining pleasures in life — the games that occupy such a large part of his leisure hours — is threatened by feminists whining about the need for “diversity” and “inclusion,” complaining about “objectification” and “sexualization” and of course, THE MALE GAZE!

You expected these dudes to meekly accept your feminist lectures?

Not just no — hell, no. When you back men into a corner and terrorize them with threats, don’t be surprised to learn that the patriarchy knows how to smash back.

Feminists have finally pushed their bullshit too far. I’m as surprised as anyone that #GamerGate has turned into what it is, but somehow a worldwide army of geeks and nerds has been mobilized to fight the feminist menace. Better late than never, guys.




 

 

Comments

130 Responses to “Anti-Heterosexual #Feminism”

  1. Wombat_socho
    October 19th, 2014 @ 1:22 am

    I generally avoid having long conversations with people who refer to themselves in the third person.

  2. Wombat_socho
    October 19th, 2014 @ 1:24 am

    He wouldn’t be the first and he won’t be the last. As you’re probably already aware, a lot of foreign gals are nowhere near as sweet and submissive as advertised: they expect you to know your role and shut your mouth about certain things.

  3. Wombat_socho
    October 19th, 2014 @ 1:26 am

    I’ve always wondered why the fraternal societies such as the Elks, Moose, Odd Fellows, etc. collapsed so badly in the last half of the 20th century. Did they require the traditional family structure in order to provide the spare time necessary to hang out and get the regalia on?

  4. Daniel Freeman
    October 19th, 2014 @ 1:30 am

    I don’t think that’s the answer. I’ve never been asked to join one. How can they survive when they’re not serious about recruiting?

  5. Southern Air Pirate
    October 19th, 2014 @ 1:33 am

    Not really. But for a number of them the idea that women were in positions of power and influence, while not in the auxillary; all tossed those organizations on thier ears. At the same time th rhetoric discussion from the people of the second wave and third wave of feminists all viewed as well those fraternal organizations as just as additional ways to have that patriarchal oppression that keeps the hetronormative power structure in place.

  6. Eric Ashley
    October 19th, 2014 @ 2:22 am

    This is an interesting topic.

  7. Paola Kathuria
    October 19th, 2014 @ 7:14 am

    The conversation is to acknowledge that girls and boys are steered onto clear-cut paths that aren’t even mostly explained by biology. They’re even colour-coded so that people know whether to praise them on beauty or strength.

    Kids and young people are effectively being limited and denied opportunity to freely choose the ‘other’ path. They will likely be harassed, bullied and ridiculed for not conforming to their assigned role. For example, a male ballet dancer, male hairdresser, male make-up artist or a female builder, female Prime Minister).

    To “get” Anita’s videos, turn the sound off and pause whenever you see a game screenshot. Then swap the genders of the characters you see, whilst keeping poses and style of clothes. (The now-female characters will likely look fricking awesome.)

    Do the now-male characters look ridiculous? If so, that is the problem. That many people don’t think women are portrayed ridiculously and humiliatingly and inappropriately sexily, when most games aren’t porn games.

  8. Paola Kathuria
    October 19th, 2014 @ 7:19 am

    I’m sorry to hear that. 🙁 Thanks, me too. I’m in remission because the cancer’s been lopped out. Yay for science (and women – my two surgeons, my GP and all the radiographers were women!).

  9. Paola Kathuria
    October 19th, 2014 @ 7:22 am

    Haven’t you heard, it’s the fedora of feminism. https://storify.com/paolability/fedora-of-feminism

    Re: your implication that I have a mental illness, thank you so much for playing. Your broadsword is now set to -1 HP and is cursed.

  10. Quartermaster
    October 19th, 2014 @ 8:43 am

    You still have to be selective. But US women, in the way back when, weren’t always so sweet and submissive either. Get away from US and Euro-feminism, and into the FSU and orient, at least they like men and are looking to marry. It would be unrealistic to think that you can pick up just any woman up of the streets of Davao, or Kharkov and have a good wife. A bad match is a bad match anywhere you find a girl.

  11. Eric Ashley
    October 19th, 2014 @ 9:10 am

    Women and men are different.

  12. Paola Kathuria
    October 19th, 2014 @ 9:51 am

    Indeed the are.

    However, 1) actual biological differences don’t account for existing gender differences. They are more extreme than is explained by biology.

    2) There is more variation WITHIN gender than BETWEEN gender. Not all men are stronger than all women. Not all women are more emotional than all men. Etc.

    This means that boys and girls and men and women are being limited in their choices because of how they’ve been brought up, peer-pressure, sexism and what role models they are presented with.

    Limiting gender roles affects boys and girls. They’re perpetuated by boys and girls and men and women.

    Games – because it is a cultural medium – is one (small) example of where these limiting gender stereotypes can be reinforced.

    Narrow stereotypes of boys/strong/fight/warriors/heroes
    vs. girls/pretty/sexy/damsels/decoration are seen by boys and girls and men and women. You may not believe that this influences them but it does. It reinforces the stereotype. Sexism is death by a thousand cuts.

    By throwing a spotlight on games, I don’t ask that games are banned or say that gamers are evil. Instead, I’d hope that game designers become aware of an important issue that affects both girls AND boys, and then choose to show women positively and to their actual potential.

    There’s nothing inherently masculine about games. There’s nothing in men’s biology to say that games attract males more. Instead, people are buying and playing what appeals to them.

    I don’t like FPS or flight sims. I don’t play them. I like RPGs and adventure games. I play them but then sigh with dismay when I see Lara Croft’s tits are humungous for no good reason for the story. Women are more – much more – than a source of sexual pleasure.

    There’s a bigger gamer market out there, just waiting to give you money. Just try to make games that don’t make women cringe because they find the female characters humiliating.

  13. Mike G.
    October 19th, 2014 @ 9:59 am

    I’ve always thought people who refer to themselves in the third person are a bunch of pretentious twaddles.

  14. Guest
    October 19th, 2014 @ 10:31 am

    lol. You, I like you 🙂

  15. Julie Pascal
    October 19th, 2014 @ 4:29 pm

    Boys, as far as I can tell, have far less freedom to take non-traditional paths than girls do. That’s one of the problems that I have with this general “thing”… there is a refusal to consider the whole picture. No, it’s not that boys need to be taught not to like the idea of themselves as physically capable protectors or fantasize being bad *ss in shooter games or admire military heroics or various other ways that violence is promoted as something other than evil, because the push is just that… to make these things out to be Bad. Putting more social pressure on boys to be just what they ought… according to some new definition of “ought” isn’t even remotely like promoting an acceptance of freely chosen paths. In fact, now more than ever before, a man who chooses art or music will simply be assumed to be gay. That’s not greater choices and it’s not the fault of the traditionalists.

    Girls, on the other hand, have almost no pressure to conform to traditional careers. Women who join the military are not assumed to be lesbian. Medical and Law schools are at parity or beyond. Colleges in general have more female students than male. In other words, I’m not amazed that you had a great female doctor. This is not amazing. It’s the state of women in America today.

    What’s amazing is that we can still selectively focus our outrage to portray ourselves as somehow disadvantaged or put upon by some overwhelming male dominance. It’s absurd on the face of it.

  16. News of the Week (October 19th, 2014) | The Political Hat
    October 19th, 2014 @ 7:40 pm

    […] Anti-Heterosexual #Feminism My #GamerGate coverage had only just begun when @streever — who obviously doesn’t know me from Adam’s housecat — made the mistake of disputing my authority to describe feminism as “anti-male and anti-heterosexual.” This is not necessarily @streever‘s fault. […]

  17. Weedlord BonerHitler
    October 19th, 2014 @ 9:32 pm

    Is that a slight against the revered former Senator Bob Dole? Because Bob Dole won’t stand for such nonsense. Bob Dole.

  18. Weedlord BonerHitler
    October 19th, 2014 @ 9:33 pm

    But you’re mistaken. And that’s okay.

  19. Mike G.
    October 19th, 2014 @ 9:37 pm

    Oh please…let me correct myself…pretentious twats. Fixed it for you.

  20. Fail Burton
    October 20th, 2014 @ 12:31 am

    Group defamation is not a conversation.

  21. Fail Burton
    October 20th, 2014 @ 12:32 am

    That’s not what she’s doing at all. She’s stipulating the moral inferiority of men and pandering to radical feminists to raise money.

  22. Fail Burton
    October 20th, 2014 @ 12:35 am

    You need to read some history books. A lot of them.

  23. Finrod Felagund
    October 20th, 2014 @ 11:35 am

    Just don’t go playing Millipede if you have a heart condition.

  24. Finrod Felagund
    October 20th, 2014 @ 11:42 am

    If you think Anita is interested in having a conversation, then you’re so far afield from the truth that nothing I can say will get you back there.

  25. Finrod Felagund
    October 20th, 2014 @ 11:43 am

    They are, they’re just not displayed.

  26. Zohydro
    October 20th, 2014 @ 12:00 pm

    We shouldn’t be surprised if these feminists were actually just peeved that they aren’t attractive even to most other lesbians, either!

  27. Quartermaster
    October 20th, 2014 @ 5:17 pm

    They need to be.

  28. Paola Kathuria
    October 20th, 2014 @ 7:35 pm

    “We shouldn’t be surprised if these feminists were actually just peeved that they aren’t at all attractive even to other lesbians, either!”

    Bzzt. Thank you for playing.

    -137 points and a tin of fried kobolds for insulting feminists with the very concept that Anita is addressing in her videos.

    WOMEN ARE MORE THAN THEIR ATTRACTIVENESS.

    Women don’t need to be validated by men to determine whether they are worthy or not. A woman isn’t less of a woman if she’s not attractive. A women isn’t less of a woman if no guy ever finds her attractive.

    (While, I’m ranting, men don’t need to holler their approval to girls and women as we’re minding our own business, walking down the street.)

    The idea that girls and women exist to be decoration or sexually attractive is pernicious, insidious, wide-spread and harmful (anorexia, self-harm, low self-esteem, street harassment, sexual assault).

    Of the very many places that women are portrayed as decoration, games is one of them. That is what Feminist Frequency is documenting.

    She needs to document it because of comments like “We shouldn’t be surprised if these feminists were actually just peeved that they aren’t at all attractive even to other lesbians, either!”

    FFS.

  29. Zohydro
    October 20th, 2014 @ 10:24 pm

    First, love, I never said anything at all about the matter being merely about physical attractiveness—which seems to be your own obsessively narrow definition of the concept! Secondly, the opposite of “attractive” is “repulsive” and that just doesn’t work well for most people, male or female, in any sort of interaction, humans being social animals and all that! And lastly, realise as well that men (and some women too, I suppose!) were paying attention to women long before they started shaving their legs…

  30. Paola Kathuria
    October 21st, 2014 @ 4:44 am

    “I never said anything at all about the matter being merely one of physical attractiveness—which seems to be your own obsessively narrow definition of the concept!”

    1) False inference. Nor did I!
    2) Red herring, in any case.

    “men (and some women too, I suppose!) were paying attention to women long before they started shaving their legs!”

    Gender socialisation 101: Why do so many women shave their legs (when so many men don’t) when we all have natural hair on our legs, under our arms and on our faces?