A comment from a commentator on I Blame the Patriarchy:

mearl Oct 28th, 2006 at 1:10 am

Man, it just took me, I am not kidding you guys, an HOUR to read the posts. Didn’t this start out as a discussion about what we were all going to dress up as for Hallowe’en?

I, for one, am going as a Liberal Feminist Lawyer. I plan to wear a cute baby-pink suit, lots and lots of lipstick, and finish my ensemble with a pair of those low-heeled shoes which are *WAY* more comfy than stilettos, but are still just as acceptable to the male higher-ups in my ficticious firm. Naturally, this is a conceptual statement on how women can be powerful AND feminine at the same time; but that’s irrelevant anyhow, since we all know that femininity isn’t really a construct. It’s a choice! That’s why billions of dollars are spent by women each year on dieting, makeup, fashion, and plastic surgery. Men just don’t know what they’re missing out on when they don’t have access to the CREATIVITY we women are allowed with our appearance. I’ll insist that, in my fantasy firm, pink suits and cleavage garner just as much respect as any other dowdy old male lawyer’s outfit. After all, I don’t want anyone to forget that I’m a girl, and start thinking of me as just a lawyer (ick!).

As for the real issues: I’ll also inform other party-goers that part of my persona is that I’m kicking in that pesky old glass ceiling with my sassy, sexy low heels. When I get to be a judge, hopefully they’ll put me on the cover of Maxim.


I LOL'd, because I am an evil person.

maggiethewolf Oct 28th, 2006 at 9:12 am

Mearl wrote: “I for one, am going as a Liberal Feminist Lawyer…I’ll also inform other party-goers that part of my persona is that I’m kicking in that pesky old glass ceiling with my sassy, sexy low heels.”

No, Mearl, what you’re kicking is Octogalore. How is attacking another woman a feminist act? Is there no way you could have made your point without mocking Octogalore? Mimicry is an especially cutting mockery.

As a queer woman who doesn’t conform to gender expectations, I have been mocked in bars and on streets, but this is a feminist site and that alone would seem to offer sanctuary for a woman, for all women, from targeting.

But hey, let’s not talk about that. Let’s to back to talking about how men attack women in war.

Octogalore, if you’re still here, I’m sorry that you posted in good faith and incurred such invective.


This goes back to a big argument in feminism. Should women be able to tease, mock, argue, and fight just as much as men do? Or should we all be nice to each other? Of course, you know what my answer is. Being nice to each other all the time may be easier for people with a better personality than me, but for me, it causes me to nearly explode. Not to mention, sometimes it's easier to point out that someone has said something dumb by mockery.

By going to the logical extreme of a viewpoint, we are able to see the flaws in it.