Well researched and rightously voiced. Great job. Speaking of witch hunts: a modern day witchhunt that became known as "gamergate" may have been the spark that lit the incel + Trumpism spark in the 2010's. Would love to see you cover that. I find that many people are not even aware of it and the ripple effect it had.
I know. I was just reading The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher (2022) ~ there's a great chapter on how gamergate was like a gateway to so many other things that went to shit after that. Highly recommend.
Thank you! Yes, there are so many other women-led strikes and movements I didn’t get to cover here. The history of female disobedience could easily fill an entire book—or two!
Katie - This is by far the most thorough and comprehensive history of female horror all over the world. Thanks for all your research and thinking - and hopefully one day we will be able to meet and discuss how we might work together. I am about to launch my 11th and last startup called CHAORDIC GENDER MOONSHOT - with the long term goal of helping all 4 Billion women in every country in the world - who have been treated unequally since Adam & Eve - to begin to move the other direction. Keep up the great work.
When I last visited my 86-year-old mother in Germany, I attended a meeting of a group she belongs to, Grannies Against The Right ("Omas Gegen Rechts") They are smart, funny, angry, and a rapidly growing political force. When asked why they don't include men in their organization, they calmly explain that men have had hundreds of years to organize egalitarian movements but failed to do so, and that they are welcome to start one now If they're feeling left out.
At rallies some of them wear aprons & curlers, and carry brooms -- ironically of course -- in response to right-wing politicians' dismissive comments about them being uneducated or foolish housewives who don't understand the serious business of politics. And yet, they're fearsome : in my mother's midsize town, they were able to beat back a Nazi rally simply by standing peacefully in a line across the road the Nazis were going to march down, crutches, walkers, and all. Why can't we have movements like this in the US?
What a great movement! And an inspiring mother! One thing that struck me while researching this piece is not only how frequently women have protested throughout history but also how many of these protests were largely non-violent. This is probably also what made them so successful.
Great article, as always. Isn't it a mental twist to think women as inferior and socially useless, but then proclaim the benefits of the traditional family (men and women) as the nucleus of a virtuous society?
Patriarchal logic certainly requires an insane level of mental gymnastics 🙃 Despite our alleged inferiority, we're great at housework, yet 'superior' men just can't figure out how to operate a washing machine or fold laundry. Not sure how that's supposed to make sense, but all right...
I never miss a post! Its crazy how we spend years learning about Stalin, Napoleon, Mussolini, Hitler, etc., etc., but we're never taught their destructive views on women. It's almost like their is pattern, every evil man shares the same evil views towards women. And what do we know about patterns? We can use them to predict the future.
Outstanding article and beautifully written. The tenacity of erroneous patriarchal ideas coming up again and again, especially from people in power, is shameful. Thank you for your persistence!
What an equally inspiring and maddening piece. I write about the contradiction of women's inferiority/biological essentialism and the need to oppress them and yet somehow this article gives me renewed rage. It's so hard to create change when even one of the most significant struggles in the country’s labour history doesn't get mentioned in most history textbooks because it was initiated by women. They don't want women to know the power of their anger.
Great article! Well done. I'm all for the empowerment of women and their rights. I feel women are as equal to men in most everything. ...Okay, I guess you know who I voted for now.
This was fantastic. The backend of the document highlights the reason why I continue to slog it out as a gender advisor (now as a Reservist) in the Army. Thank you.
I'd like to think so. I fear that men know they can't compete with women on a level playing field, and so they entertain other options. Why they need to see it as competition, rather than collaborating to build a better world, is the question. Is it learned behavior or does it have biological or evolutionary origins, and, more importantly, what can be done about it?
Social norms around masculinity likely play some role in it. But even if there's an evolutionary/biological element to it, I think we could still challenge this behaviour in its most detrimental forms. The great thing about our species is that we're constantly evolving.
Well researched and rightously voiced. Great job. Speaking of witch hunts: a modern day witchhunt that became known as "gamergate" may have been the spark that lit the incel + Trumpism spark in the 2010's. Would love to see you cover that. I find that many people are not even aware of it and the ripple effect it had.
Thank you for reading and for the topic suggestion, Jim! I can't believe it's already been a decade since it happened…
I know. I was just reading The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher (2022) ~ there's a great chapter on how gamergate was like a gateway to so many other things that went to shit after that. Highly recommend.
There was another important women's strike in Iceland in 1975: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Icelandic_women%27s_strike
Great article - thank you so much for this!
Thank you! Yes, there are so many other women-led strikes and movements I didn’t get to cover here. The history of female disobedience could easily fill an entire book—or two!
Katie - This is by far the most thorough and comprehensive history of female horror all over the world. Thanks for all your research and thinking - and hopefully one day we will be able to meet and discuss how we might work together. I am about to launch my 11th and last startup called CHAORDIC GENDER MOONSHOT - with the long term goal of helping all 4 Billion women in every country in the world - who have been treated unequally since Adam & Eve - to begin to move the other direction. Keep up the great work.
Wow, fantastic piece, thank you!
When I last visited my 86-year-old mother in Germany, I attended a meeting of a group she belongs to, Grannies Against The Right ("Omas Gegen Rechts") They are smart, funny, angry, and a rapidly growing political force. When asked why they don't include men in their organization, they calmly explain that men have had hundreds of years to organize egalitarian movements but failed to do so, and that they are welcome to start one now If they're feeling left out.
At rallies some of them wear aprons & curlers, and carry brooms -- ironically of course -- in response to right-wing politicians' dismissive comments about them being uneducated or foolish housewives who don't understand the serious business of politics. And yet, they're fearsome : in my mother's midsize town, they were able to beat back a Nazi rally simply by standing peacefully in a line across the road the Nazis were going to march down, crutches, walkers, and all. Why can't we have movements like this in the US?
What a great movement! And an inspiring mother! One thing that struck me while researching this piece is not only how frequently women have protested throughout history but also how many of these protests were largely non-violent. This is probably also what made them so successful.
Great article, as always. Isn't it a mental twist to think women as inferior and socially useless, but then proclaim the benefits of the traditional family (men and women) as the nucleus of a virtuous society?
Patriarchal logic certainly requires an insane level of mental gymnastics 🙃 Despite our alleged inferiority, we're great at housework, yet 'superior' men just can't figure out how to operate a washing machine or fold laundry. Not sure how that's supposed to make sense, but all right...
I never miss a post! Its crazy how we spend years learning about Stalin, Napoleon, Mussolini, Hitler, etc., etc., but we're never taught their destructive views on women. It's almost like their is pattern, every evil man shares the same evil views towards women. And what do we know about patterns? We can use them to predict the future.
Outstanding article and beautifully written. The tenacity of erroneous patriarchal ideas coming up again and again, especially from people in power, is shameful. Thank you for your persistence!
Thank you for your kind words, it means a lot!
What an equally inspiring and maddening piece. I write about the contradiction of women's inferiority/biological essentialism and the need to oppress them and yet somehow this article gives me renewed rage. It's so hard to create change when even one of the most significant struggles in the country’s labour history doesn't get mentioned in most history textbooks because it was initiated by women. They don't want women to know the power of their anger.
Thank you, Jo-Ann! It's a shame that so much of women's history is completely overlooked.
Indeed. An atrocity really.
Great article! Well done. I'm all for the empowerment of women and their rights. I feel women are as equal to men in most everything. ...Okay, I guess you know who I voted for now.
Great post! I had no idea of the origins of the word "boycott", was very interesting to learn.
Thank you! Glad you learned something new from it :)
thanks for this, very much appreciated and needed
Thank you for researching and writing this piece. Autocrats and facists win when we let them divide us. Its not a zero-sum game; everyone loses.
This was fantastic. The backend of the document highlights the reason why I continue to slog it out as a gender advisor (now as a Reservist) in the Army. Thank you.
I'd like to think so. I fear that men know they can't compete with women on a level playing field, and so they entertain other options. Why they need to see it as competition, rather than collaborating to build a better world, is the question. Is it learned behavior or does it have biological or evolutionary origins, and, more importantly, what can be done about it?
Social norms around masculinity likely play some role in it. But even if there's an evolutionary/biological element to it, I think we could still challenge this behaviour in its most detrimental forms. The great thing about our species is that we're constantly evolving.
Excellent post!!
Thank you!
Great article as always Katie!
Thank you so much, really glad you appreciated it! ❤️