An article by Ceit Butler(c), under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Some things have unfolded over the past few days on Facebook. The catalyst for these events was an invitation to a social event. Glancing at the event page, I learned that there was going to be a show in a gallery next week featuring over-sized photos of the female form in all its glory. The shots of nude women are well-executed and tastefully displayed. The problem became apparent when I moved on to the description of the show. The theme is loosely styled after Greek goddess mythology, and states that the goal is to empower women by promoting a healthier mindset towards personal body image. The write-up also mentioned that the show was inspired by the unsuccessful #bringbackourgirls campaign to rescue the Boko Haram sex slaves.
My friends and I made some thoughtful and salient comments as to why this is a futile and rather silly effort. These were met with immediate hostility. I was told that I was a misogynist, that my male brain was incapable of viewing women as anything more than sexual playthings for my own amusement, and that I was simply shaming women for daring to display their bodies.
This is both funny and sad as even a cursory inspection of my profile would reveal that I am; (a): a woman; and (b): my profile picture contains a nude model - and not just any nude model, it's a photo of me. I pointed this fact out, along with my prior occupation as an Exotic Dancer. Despite the assertions of the nouveau-feminist hordes, these experiences leave me in the unique position of actually being the MOST qualified to have an educated opinion on the subject. I have always been quite comfortable in my skin, and find no shame whatsoever in the nude human form. I am also painfully aware of how unempowered I was at that time in my life. Loving my body as it was, comfortably shedding my clothing - none of it brought any personal power into my life.
To imply that the nude female form is a symbol of empowerment is still reinforcing the unhealthy mindset of tying your sense of worth to your physical appearance. A photo of a naked woman, no matter how tastefully executed is still presenting her as nothing more than an ornamental object. You know nothing of her character, her personality, her intellect or achievements; instead she is reduced to an aesthetically pleasing visual. This is the point that we repeatedly tried to make yesterday, and were met with angry assumptions rather than any intelligent consideration of our words.
The single event that has drastically changed my life was meeting Scott and Tara Duncan. In an act of incredible kindness they took me in two-and-a-half years ago and have invested countless hours into round-the-clock instruction. Their unfathomable patience and reiterated lessons and direction are responsible for the confident, strong, and empowered woman that I am becoming.
Studying Computer Science is teaching me to think logically and approach problems in a logical and computational manner, rather than being overwhelmed by emotional reactions.
Studying critical thinking and the Scientific Method is teaching me to recognise logical fallacies - both in myself and others - and to work to remove personal bias and seek peer-reviewed, verifiable sources for any and all information. I've learned to spot little white lies when they're sold under the guise of "Political Correctness", and to point them out for the whitewashed bullshit that they truly are.
Studying Neurosciences, and Neuroplasticity in particular, is teaching me that the human brain is incredibly powerful, and that we are the ones driving - be it consciously or otherwise. I've learned that everything that we think of as our feelings, opinions, and personality traits, are really nothing more than learned behaviour, and are mutable and entirely under our control. A certain event triggers a certain pattern of thoughts, which lead to a certain reaction. In reality, these are nothing more than a pattern of neural connections and as our brains are inherently lazy they will default to the familiar, well-worn neural path. With deliberate intent, we can build new connections and think about things in different ways. We can reign in the thought processes that lead to damaging, negative, biochemical responses, pull our thoughts away from the Limbic System, and engage the logic portions of the brain. Just like a computer, we can re-program ourselves to be whatever and whomever we choose.
Knowledge is empowering. Learning a skill, taking pride in your abilities, this is what builds confidence and leads to self-actualization. One of the two people responsible for guiding me to this state is the man who was referred to yesterday as an abusive, childish, ego-driven, misogynist asshole. How do you rationalize that conflict? How could an "abusive misogynist" be responsible for building confidence, knowledge and skill, and empowering women (I say women because I am by no measure his first and/or only student. This man has single-handedly altered the lives of hundreds of people, both male and female). If the accusation is true, why would a misogynist be interested in, or even capable of, such a feat?
Let's take a moment to explore this accusation a little. Why is it that referring to a woman who is blind to reason, and thinks that outer beauty is important, as a “Bimbo” makes you a misogynist, but referring to men as “Assholes” is perfectly acceptable? Why is it okay for women to refer to other women by derogatory terms, but it's deemed “abusive" when the same words are uttered by a man? This is the hypocrisy that abounds in the Modern Feminist's world. These women do not want equality, they want a special set of rules that only apply to them. Which if you're capable of critical thought, is blatantly the OPPOSITE of being equal.
I was told by someone yesterday that I should “stop standing up for abusive assholes.” This is offensive on so many levels. It is offensive to the man in question, who truly respects women more than any man I've ever met - the caveat being that he respects them for their merits, and has little respect for women that forgo that effort and expect to coast through life on the “Chick Card” - and it is offensive to me personally as it implies that I lack the intellect and moral character to accurately determine who is worthy of my support.
In the end, we were banned from the page, and all trace of our conversational contributions were scrubbed from the dialogue. The message seems to be, in my interpretation anyway, that women should be strong and confident… but if they don't agree with the status quo, they should probably just meekly keep their opinions to themselves.
These are simply my thoughts on the aftermath, take them as you will. After all, what do I know anyway? I'm just a girl…
Great article!