Innate Differences

The Apostate:

I am frequently disappointed with the male version of the Muslim apostate - yes, they reject the untruth of Islam, but they are often extremely sexist.

For the sake of argument, let's say the above is true. This means that the Apostate is disappointed in others for the lovely trait she wholly owns. For her, sexism is horrible unless it's directed against men.

I have found one Pakistani man who, when he liberated himself from a false religion, also embraced feminism.

So silly as the last excerpt will show.

Notes of a Freethinker is a blog worthy of your perusal.

I found a most interesting post there from last month:

Femininity, along with masculinity, is a social construction, both of which, to the jaundiced eye of a feminist, cannot be justified by appealing to the essential natures of women and men, on account of there being no such magical essential natures. "One is not born", in the famous words of Simone de Beauvoir, "but rather becomes, a woman".

There is no magical female/male polarity, no magical in-born trait that makes you a woman or a man.

This makes a lot of sense; though, not in the way the author intended. Feminists will forever be bitter. They will always complain and hurl the word "sexist" if you dare disagree with them. They're similar to communists -- they both ignore human nature. For them, "the oppression" will never end. The differences among the genders that they see, most people correctly attribute to innate differences. The feminists, however, see a mythical patriarchy.

I encourage readers to comment.

Comments

[Chris P.]

I'm not sure why you refer to patriarchy as "mythical." Patriarchy is fairly evident in every Western, Eastern, Northern and Southern human culture. It was the growth of feminist thinking through the last eighty or so years, primarily in Western countries, that has led to some cultures recognizing the deforming characteristics of patriarchy. What they've done about it is, of course another matter, and dependent on one's reading of history. Feminists are not generic, as you seem to imply in this comment. They come in all varieties and hold widely divergent views, again depending on their own reading(s) of history and present times.

[Isaac Schrödinger]

I was thinking of the modern West when I wrote that. Of course, in large parts of the world, women are truly oppressed. And granted that not all feminists think in the way that I was critiquing.

My point was that there are differences in men and women. Society doesn't construct them.

Some fields are dominated by men while others have women as the overwhelming majority. For example, firefighters and kindergarten teachers respectively.

Now, most would look at that and say that it's normal whereas some feminists would see societal discrimination. Since, to them, men and women have no in-born traits, there ought not be such major differentials in these fields.

They see oppression and patriarchy where none exist.

Of course, not every man is masculine and not every woman is feminine but, in general, there are simple, observable characteristics that most men and women possess. Just look at the toys that boys and girls play with. Did society "construct" that behavior?

[Snake Oil Baron]

"This means that the Apostate is disappointed in others for the lovely trait she wholly owns. For her, sexism is horrible unless it's directed against men."

Actually, like many if not most feminist I find she has a strong sexist bent against women but of a patronizing quality. They so desperately need the help of governments and social policies to guild their decision making.

[Francis W. Porretto]

No nation on Earth treats its womenfolk as well as America does. No nation on Earth has gone to greater lengths to secure women's legal and social equality with men. Yet here in the US reside the bitterest, most vicious denigrators of men and masculinity to be found on this side of the Magellanic Clouds: the gender-war feminists. It reminds me of Robert A. Heinlein's observation in Stranger in a Strange Land that among the reactions to benevolence and generosity, sincere gratitude is very much the exception.

[Isaac Schrödinger]

"Actually, like many if not most feminist I find she has a strong sexist bent against women but of a patronizing quality."

Hmm, she does support handouts for women. She might think she is being generous but the mindset reflects belief in the inadequacy of women.

"No nation on Earth treats its womenfolk as well as America does. No nation on Earth has gone to greater lengths to secure women's legal and social equality with men."

So true. Some months ago, the Apostate talked about how so few people noticed her or chatted with her when she went out without makeup in America. She, unbelievably, concluded that this outrage was similar to the real oppression of women in the Arab world.

Admitting that one isn't that pretty or owning up to the character flaw of vanity would have been the rational option. Instead, she chose the phantom "oppression".

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One of these days, I'll write about the general differences that I've noticed between Canadian-bred women and foreign women who've been here just a few years.

No prizes for guessing which group is ugly -- in all senses of the word.

[Laura(southernxyl)]

My niece-by-marriage, Sarah, is a very assertive, even aggressive little person. I was amused to watch her being given a pair of sandals when she hit the terrible two's (at about 18 months; I felt for my SIL.) The sandals had pretty pink and purple flowers on them, and my SIL put them on Sarah's feet without checking with her first - that would have gotten an automatic "no". Sarah was visibly torn between wanting to reject the sandals on principle, and being drawn to them because they were so pretty. It was funny to watch the EPIC stuggle going on in that cute little thing. Liking the pretty sandals and wanting them on her feet was very feminine. I gave her a purple cardigan for her second birthday. She pushed it into her mother's face - "PUT ON!" because she had to wear it right then and there. No shrinking violet, she. Feminine, even as a toddler? Yes. Submissive, passive, unintelligent, incompetent? Oh, hell, no.

I think it probably would be possible to make a table of masculine/feminine traits but it won't look like the table in that post, and it won't apply to every man and every woman. And desirable traits will probably be more or less evenly divided, along with traits that are value-neutral. It's cool, for instance, for little girls to like pink and purple. It's cool for little boys not to. Vive le difference, as long as individual girls and boys are allowed to have attributes that deviate from the norm.

BTW - I'm not pretty. But I get positive feedback from people I deal with, from coworkers who see me every day to strangers in the grocery store. Possibly because I'm not scowling?

[Isaac Schrödinger]

"The sandals had pretty pink and purple flowers on them, and my SIL put them on Sarah's feet without checking with her first - that would have gotten an automatic "no". Sarah was visibly torn between wanting to reject the sandals on principle, and being drawn to them because they were so pretty."

As a pre-teen and young teenager I couldn't understand my sisters: an obsession with rainbows, dolls, and (oh my god) so many many stuffed animals. Why couldn't they be like normal kids and enjoy toy guns, remote controlled cars and firecrackers?

"Vive le difference, as long as individual girls and boys are allowed to have attributes that deviate from the norm."

Of course. These differences spill over adulthood as well.

What is amusing to me is to see feminists (and their supporters and blog commenters) who say that these differences are manufactured, and thus imposed, by society.

That I find patently silly.

[Tim]

"What is amusing to me is to see feminists (and their supporters and blog commenters) who say that these differences are manufactured, and thus imposed, by society."

Some differences are completely socially manufactured, some are obviously biologically determined. Sophisticated and multidimensional studies could be used to try to determine which is which, but it's a very messy and grey area in a lot of cases, with plenty of overlap.

There are also subjective factors like internal sense of freedom, self-efficacy, motivation, and will, that are very difficult to capture, but which certainly effect the nature/nurture interplay.