Garden Variety Feminists Revise Taxonomy

[Dogless & Loveless]

This was originally posted to the "official" Liz Phair Forum, waaay back in the midst of its Dark Age, which hit rock-bottom in Oct 2006 when pretty much every post from the past 51 weeks went POOF, incinerated by probable sunspot activity, barbarian whordes, or some combination thereof. 

Anyhow, here is the original post.  I will offer some additional context at the end of the message..


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Garden Variety Feminists Revise Taxonomy

(Liz Phair downgraded from 'Flower' to 'Weed')

But seriously, every feminist ought to stop what they're doing and read 'Retard Camp' by Liz Phair, her not so subtle commentary on modern feminism. And when I say 'read', I actually mean "listen" to, as Retard Camp is unpublished in book form, but is available as the second segment in her second podcast:

http://boss.streamos.com/download/capi001/lizphair/podcasts/lizphair_podcast_02.mp3

It tells the story of a Zen-like Summer Camp where privileged young girls unravel the riddle of adolescence, and are made ready for adulthood, via exposure to various perils by their mysteriously omniscient camp counselors. These dangers reside primarily in a murky lake, and include, most notably, leeches and a group of retarded adults who innocently menace the girly canoes.

My point? If GED-wielding camp counselors can teach a young girl lessons with retards, leeches, and anorexic bunk-mates, then why can't Phd-mache'd feminists work with Liz Phair as a medium? Yeah, I know she's not retarded. Yeah, I know she's got vertebrae. Yeah, I know she's perplexing. But here's an idea: alter your stale feminist theories to fit the data at hand. Make some shit up. Her complicated personality should offer you plenty of contextual opportunities, so be creative, not revisionist. Having been everything at one time or another, and being only slightly more tangible than Andy Kaufman in historical terms, Liz Phair should be your feminist golden girl.

Right.

And as for the true meaning behind Retard Camp? Who knows. Who knows what sinister moral lurks within. But here's what I DO know: it's funnier than fuck, and wonderfully abstract, which is far better than the Garden Variety Feminist schlock cited in that article.

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Okay, so that was the post.  Here is the context.  It was posted in a thread regarding Liz's recent divergence with mainstream feminists -- whether or not she was a "female chauvinist pig" or something.  Some feminist thinker had accused her of subverting the "movement" with her so-called "fuck me feminism" -- where she (Liz) implies that it can be constructive to seemingly exploit yourself sexually in order to gain power over men.  I'm paraphrashing, but the gist was pretty much this -- that though she might have temporarily empowered females with her playful cavortings, the gains were more than canceled by the simultaneous lowering of cultural standards, and subsequent flowering of pornography (the advent of the internet irresponsibly excluded from the equation).  I would reference the article, but I don't have the URL (damn those fucking neutrinos). 

My take?  Mainstream feminsts, who put Liz upon a pedestal when it was convenient to do so, were now eating their own.  It's a basic tenet of pop culture -- the inevitable, pendulous recycling of ideas from one extreme to another.  Or, as I previously phrased it in a title that tells the whole story:

[TrampolineFrSpace]

First off, I consider myself a bleeding heart liberal.  I'm married to a feminist.  My 24 year old daughter is a feminist.  I am very much pro-feminism.  I want the what's fair for my wife and my daughter.

However, there seems to be, in any class of individuals, those who wish to speak for the entire group, and thus control the entire group.  They have a narrow minded view of what is politically correct and everybody better conform to what they believe is the true way.

It really should be about equal access, equal opportunities, etc. regardless of gender.  I don't believe that there's necessarily one perfect religion for all people, and there really isn't one precise definition of what feminism is.

Unfortunately, there never is really equality.  I tend to be shy--I lose points for that.  I do not have the physique of a fashion model--I lose points for that.  I am an intellectual--in certain groups, I lose points for that.  This shit isn't fair, but you have to find what works for you and try to get the most of your abilities without (hopefully) screwing someone else in the process.  I think that too many people get bogged down in this swamp and try to setup a rule book to keep score--this never really works.

I believe that Liz Phair was able to overcome a lot of the odds that were stacked against her as a woman, and that's a good thing.  I think that Liz Phair challenges all of us in our ideas about what feminism is and isn't and that's a good thing.

This taxonomy stuff being said about her is pure crap, but it's unlikely to go away anytime soon. 

If you run into people that don't get it, then try to change their minds.  Just remember this:  Expend effort on those that aren't completely close minded and don't bother arguing with those that are really set in their beliefs.

I've got a couple of sister-in-laws and a brother that I have to keep reminding myself to not bother arguing with.  Whenever I argue with them, I put forth great effort and it causes me grief, but it never really changes anything.

I enjoyed your post--actually have enjoyed several of your posts.