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And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again? Archilochus

Saturday, October 5, 2019

Antigone, we barely knew ye!

Slavoj Žižek, "Greta Thunberg is not a caricatural woman, her approach is brutal"

What image of femininity is subtly imposed on us in the war against toxic masculinity?

In January, the American Psychological Association released guidelines describing how "traditional masculinity ideology" can hurt boys and men. The guidelines were the first to place toxic masculinity in the medical world, codifying, in some ways, an idea that had existed only in ideology and think pieces.

But set aside whatever you might think about toxic masculinity and its codification by the APA, because there's another question worth examining: What does the culture's understanding of toxic masculinity imply about our current image of femininity?

Slavoj Žižek, the Solvenian philosopher and cultural critic, recently raised this question in an interview with JOE U.K. Žižek said that putting toxic masculinity into a medical category is a "mystification" of what's "obviously a social-ideological category."

"I am all for women's rights, and so on, but look closely at this notion," Žižek said, later providing an example: "If I beat my wife, or women, it's not simply a psychological illness. It can be. But mostly, it's a form of brutal ideology. You know, it's a social-ideological — that's the first mystification."

But it's sometimes necessary to behave in ways that might fall under the category of toxic masculinity, Žižek said.

"The claim is that men, mostly, when they're in a difficult situation, instead of talking with others, friendly, they withdraw into themselves and react, decide to act alone in a radical way, even if it will hurt them," he said. "But sorry, in many situations, you need to act like this. It's called simple courage, my God."

By demonizing a specific part of traditionally masculine behavior, the culture is simultaneously idealizing a specific image of femininity, Žižek argued.

"So, I think that the secret trick of this category of toxic masculinity is to promote a very precise — I'm almost tempted to say — masculine cliché of women: Women like dialogue, they are friendly, non-violent, and so on, and so on," he said. "What is so fashionable today is to construct a certain image of femininity, which is an ideological construct, as you know, more gentle dialogical, interactive — so on, so on — which fits perfectly today's global capitalism."

In signature fashion, Žižek offered a provocative example of (what he said is "almost") toxic masculine behavior being used productively: Greta Thunberg's speech to the United Nations about climate change.

"She's not this caricatural woman," he said. "You know, like, 'Solve, let's have a dialog.' — 'No! Fuck you! What dialogue? Act!' And so on, you know? That's the women I like!"

Žižek said cultural critics shouldn't get caught in the trap of the so-called toxic masculinity war. "Let's analyze it precisely," he said. "What is sold to us as a critique of toxic masculinity? What image of femininity is subtly imposed on us in this way?"

5 comments:

Franco Aragosta said...

If you're Anti-gone, does that necessarily ean you are Pro-Remain?

];^}>

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

lol!

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

Antigone or Antigoni is a common female name, whose origins are found in Ancient Greece. There are two theories about the meaning of the name; according to the first it means the unbending, as it comes from the word anti-, which means opposite to, and –gon, which means the corner and the bend. According to the second theory, which is the most popular name Antigone means “instead of mother”, as “gone” in ancient Greek means the one who generates, who gives birth.

Against "women"... in other words.

Franco Aragosta said...

I did know most of that, FJ, but I never can resist the opportunity to make a quip, or a pun in the hope of raising a chuckle or two.

Often FARCE attracts m far more than things that might be termed FIERCE.

(:-o

Good ol' Ann Tiganny! Yagotta love her, even if se was the daughter of the most notorious motherfucker in Western History.

-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jew said...

I totally understand! :)