*sighs*

[conuly]

Do we really have it better than other feminists out there? At least in this country, I say yes. For now, at any rate. Here, I can file a police report if it was necessary, get birth control fairly easily, have the right to organize a march, tesitfy in court, get a job, vote, avoid being attacked for showing even the slightest bit of ankle, and so many more that I believe my fingers will explode with the heat of typing them so fast. If not better, then I'd say we're rather lucky.

So, I'm lucky I don't live in a repressive government? Yay?

How am I supposed to respond to something like that? Am I supposed to spend an hour or more of my life, time I will never get back, pointing out that the police don't always listen, that it's not always easy to get birth control, that women still don't get paid as much as men, that rape victims are still told they "dressed provocatively", that having more rights than some people isn't the same as having equal rights in our own country (whichever country that is, of course)?

Am I supposed to smile and nod and say "yup!" and move on?

Perhaps I'm supposed to keep my mouth shut over the fact that the OP is either very ignorant or very clever?

Of course, I could just do what I actually did do, which is point out that I'm not going to be happy and grateful to have some of my basic fucking human rights (original emphasis).

Apparently, this was the wrong choice. People agree, but I should not have been "an asshole" about it. Because when people say something so offensive that I can't believe it to be accidental, I should be polite. Or something.

I don't have time today to deal with stupid people.

Comments

[l33tminion]

To nitpick: You have the time, you don't have the patience.

[conuly]

...

True.

[ladytabitha.livejournal.com]

To be a picky bitch, she is right, we do have it better.  I note that better isn't good, necessarily.

[conuly]

What she says is that we're rather lucky. And that's just insulting.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

"When people say something so offensive that I can't believe it to be accidental, I should be polite."

Just because you are almost entirely sure that a person / group of people is too stupid or pig headed to understand your logical stand point against their illogical argument, does not me that you oughten't do your best to get through to them anyway.

If I spend a hundred days changing one person's mind through logic and dialogue, I've made the world a better place. If I spend those same hundred days only sharing my opinions with other people who agree entirely with them already, then I've done nothing.

this probably isn't a good time to make a comment like this as I know you haven't been in a good mood, but I feel it necessary to say none the less.

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

this is why Lakidaa is not a part of the LJ feminist comms.

too much DRAAAMA.

[conuly]

Thing is, I don't think this person is pigheaded. I think her comment was deliberately offensive, which is an entirely different kettle of fish. The sentence before the end looks almost sarcastic - in fact, it looks sarcastic, period - but it is contrary to the attitude seen in the rest of the entry.

[leora.livejournal.com]

My feelings on this matter can be best summed up in something I wrote a long time ago. To quote the most relevant bit, "You call it mercy that you were not as cruel as you could be" from this (http://www.livejournal.com/users/leora/174818.html). I have a perhaps unfortunate tendency to quote myself, but it's because I think in... flavors... I prefer things with context behind them, like song quotes and such. And so I feel a story, song, comic strip, etc. conveys more of the feel than mere words normally can.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

Her comment was deliberately offensive? I'll agree that that changes things.

I didn't mean anything I said with any sarcasm. I'm sorry if you took it that way. I just believe that if you firmly believe that something is right, you should discuss it with other people who believe differently. Some people won't listen - don't push your beliefs on them. Some people will raise arguments that may cause you to want to re-think your position - keep an open mind. Some people, and this is the most rewarding part, will realize that your arguments make sense and will come to agree with you.

This is the method I've used to come by all of my political beliefs so far.

[conuly]

Oh, no! The sentence in the original poster's post, the one right before the end, was sarcastic-seeming - not yours! Sorry, misunderstanding there. I mean the one where she claims her hands will fall off (something like that) for typing all our benefits.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't read it that way at all. I thought that she was trying to sound overjoyed at the thoguht of having so many liberties when there are many out there who have so few.

I didn't find it offensive, really. Perhaps poorly thought out...

[neurotica0.livejournal.com]

I agree. I don't consider it lucky at all to have a few basics rights that have been hard-won, and are often ignored anyway.

I recognize that some people have it worse. But that doesn't mean gender relations in america are perfect. Or america in general for that matter.

I'd rate the country a C- even on terms of how I think things should be.

[eighthcloud.livejournal.com]

I tried to reply but it wouldn't let me. They keep saying we're so lucky - luck isn't fought for. Luck is stumbled upon. It's not like the change happened magically overnight.

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

Heh, same here. I am ashamed of the women who make "feminism" one of the bad F-words.

[ladytabitha.livejournal.com]

*rereads*

Ah, true enough.  There's a difference between feeling lucky and feeling thankful.

I am thankful that we are better off here than elsewhere.  Mostly, I'm thankful to people who fought to get women on the same page as men, rights-wise.  Saying "lucky" is insulting, to everyone who has worked to get us this far.

[l33tminion]

To nitpick: You have the time, you don't have the patience.

[conuly]

...

True.

[ladytabitha.livejournal.com]

To be a picky bitch, she is right, we do have it better.  I note that better isn't good, necessarily.

[conuly]

What she says is that we're rather lucky. And that's just insulting.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

"When people say something so offensive that I can't believe it to be accidental, I should be polite."

Just because you are almost entirely sure that a person / group of people is too stupid or pig headed to understand your logical stand point against their illogical argument, does not me that you oughten't do your best to get through to them anyway.

If I spend a hundred days changing one person's mind through logic and dialogue, I've made the world a better place. If I spend those same hundred days only sharing my opinions with other people who agree entirely with them already, then I've done nothing.

this probably isn't a good time to make a comment like this as I know you haven't been in a good mood, but I feel it necessary to say none the less.

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

this is why Lakidaa is not a part of the LJ feminist comms.

too much DRAAAMA.

[conuly]

Thing is, I don't think this person is pigheaded. I think her comment was deliberately offensive, which is an entirely different kettle of fish. The sentence before the end looks almost sarcastic - in fact, it looks sarcastic, period - but it is contrary to the attitude seen in the rest of the entry.

[leora.livejournal.com]

My feelings on this matter can be best summed up in something I wrote a long time ago. To quote the most relevant bit, "You call it mercy that you were not as cruel as you could be" from this (http://www.livejournal.com/users/leora/174818.html). I have a perhaps unfortunate tendency to quote myself, but it's because I think in... flavors... I prefer things with context behind them, like song quotes and such. And so I feel a story, song, comic strip, etc. conveys more of the feel than mere words normally can.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

Her comment was deliberately offensive? I'll agree that that changes things.

I didn't mean anything I said with any sarcasm. I'm sorry if you took it that way. I just believe that if you firmly believe that something is right, you should discuss it with other people who believe differently. Some people won't listen - don't push your beliefs on them. Some people will raise arguments that may cause you to want to re-think your position - keep an open mind. Some people, and this is the most rewarding part, will realize that your arguments make sense and will come to agree with you.

This is the method I've used to come by all of my political beliefs so far.

[conuly]

Oh, no! The sentence in the original poster's post, the one right before the end, was sarcastic-seeming - not yours! Sorry, misunderstanding there. I mean the one where she claims her hands will fall off (something like that) for typing all our benefits.

[sporks5000.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't read it that way at all. I thought that she was trying to sound overjoyed at the thoguht of having so many liberties when there are many out there who have so few.

I didn't find it offensive, really. Perhaps poorly thought out...

[neurotica0.livejournal.com]

I agree. I don't consider it lucky at all to have a few basics rights that have been hard-won, and are often ignored anyway.

I recognize that some people have it worse. But that doesn't mean gender relations in america are perfect. Or america in general for that matter.

I'd rate the country a C- even on terms of how I think things should be.

[eighthcloud.livejournal.com]

I tried to reply but it wouldn't let me. They keep saying we're so lucky - luck isn't fought for. Luck is stumbled upon. It's not like the change happened magically overnight.

[ladytalon.livejournal.com]

Heh, same here. I am ashamed of the women who make "feminism" one of the bad F-words.

[ladytabitha.livejournal.com]

*rereads*

Ah, true enough.  There's a difference between feeling lucky and feeling thankful.

I am thankful that we are better off here than elsewhere.  Mostly, I'm thankful to people who fought to get women on the same page as men, rights-wise.  Saying "lucky" is insulting, to everyone who has worked to get us this far.