But first, just to be clear--it never ceases to amaze me that I have to say this, but evidently I do--if you find the concept of food addiction useful, or you want to go to OA, I am not here to tell you you can't. Seriously, where would I get that kind of power, to prevent you from believing or doing something? It's not as if I'm going to lead the radical feminist army over to your house to cleanse your mind of antifeminist thoughts, confiscate your empowerful high heels and thong panties, and hold you down until your armpit hair grows in. I'd love it if everyone could give up the mythology of radical feminists as some kind of irresistible force for censorship and mind control. All I'm doing is stating my opinion, just like any other blogger (or any other human being). If someone stating an opinion contrary to yours is so threatening to you, I suggest you take a long hard look at exactly where and when you abandoned your capacity for independent thought and why you think I'm responsible for that.

This lady is full of win.

I know perfectly well that desires and cravings for food can feel really strong, can feel like they are overwhelming and controlling us, but to grab a little piece of wisdom straight from "the program," feelings aren't facts. Just because we feel like we can't resist eating a particular food doesn't mean we really can't (and certainly doesn't give us any information about why we shouldn't). As Julia Penelope says, "...appealing to feelings is one way of resisting change." "I just feel that way" is an argument for nothing except doing what you want (or in this case, NOT doing what you want) without examining the way patriarchy shapes all our beliefs and desires.

I'm not sure about whether compulsive eaters can resist or not, but what she said reminded me of a connection I made while I was reading Making Face, Making Soul. I tend to resist the idea that feminism is about making people feel good because the whole emphasis on feelings sort of echoes white resistance to anti racism. The focus is always on how if we say anything, a white person's feeling will be hurt, and apparently the world will fall apart if a white person ever feels bad.

I mean, when brownfemi talks about women walking with machetes and their kids on their hips, I somehow don't get the impression that they are walking that way to have fun. I may be a privileged first worlder, but I get the impression that women in the third world are working hard against sexual assault, against women being lashed for being raped, against dirty water, against a lack of education for girls, against a whole lot of stuff that isn't about just having a big party all the time.