Marissa Mayer -new CEO of Yahoo - says she is NOT a feminist

[boston bean]

The Stations of the Powerful Female resulting from Marissa Mayer's promotion to CEO of Yahoo! continues with Station Number Five: Our lady grapples with the word "feminist". To no one's great surprise, Mayer disavowed the word even while upholding every single value of feminism, because the only prominent women allowed to call themselves "feminist" in public anymore are those who are using it as cover to attack the values of feminism. (Thanks, Sarah Palin!) It's certainly frustrating, but I will give credit to Mayer for her blunt explanation of why she won't embrace the movement that shares her stated values and has allowed her to be who she is:

I don't think that I would consider myself a feminist. I think that I certainly believe in equal rights, I believe that women are just as capable, if not more so in a lot of different dimensions, but I don't, I think have, sort of, the militant drive and the sort of, the chip on the shoulder that sometimes comes with that. And I think it's too bad, but I do think that feminism has become in many ways a more negative word. You know, there are amazing opportunities all over the world for women, and I think that there is more good that comes out of positive energy around that than comes out of negative energy.

As long as we all understand that "militant" and "chip on the shoulder" are euphemisms for "willingness to challenge sexism directly, even though it means that men will yell at you," it doesn't get more clear than that. Women are correct to believe that direct confrontations with sexism result in people turning on the "complainer" instead of blaming the person who acted sexist in the first place. Those who take up the mantle of social justice have always been people who, for whatever reason, are willing to be hated and willing to suffer repeated losses that affect them personally. Susan B. Anthony never got to see women get the vote.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/07/19/marissa_mayer_says_she_s_not_a_feminist_and_that_makes_sense.html

[sufrommich]

1. Sad. The word "feminism" has been demeaned and

damaged by women like her who ignore that their positions were obtained on the backs of feminists.

[redqueen]

2. Brilliant.

As long as we all understand that "militant" and "chip on the shoulder" are euphemisms for "willingness to challenge sexism directly, even though it means that men will yell at you," it doesn't get more clear than that. Women are correct to believe that direct confrontations with sexism result in people turning on the "complainer" instead of blaming the person who acted sexist in the first place. Those who take up the mantle of social justice have always been people who, for whatever reason, are willing to be hated and willing to suffer repeated losses that affect them personally.

The only minor quibble I have is that plenty of women will yell at you too.

And on that note, she's also spot on about women who say they get along better with men.

Yeah, unexamined internalized misogyny and conditioning to accept the patriarchy as default reality tends to have that effect.

[seabeyond]

7. we have a micro version

here on du.

let anyone question the fairness of what is happening here, and see the ostracization and battle that ensues.

it is an interesting sociological event.

[redqueen]

9. Yep, and here's a perfect example of a woman who has some issues to examine.

The woman who wrote this is cheerfully promoting the patriarchy...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12557998#post17

[seabeyond]

10. ????

me? loli? or the writer of the article?

[redqueen]

15. The woman who wrote the article.

Doing laundry doesn't "feminize" anyone. She's just brainwashed and happily spreading the ignorance.

[seabeyond]

16. ah, gotcha. yes. nt

[unblock]

3. the evidence suggests otherwise.

her statement stinks of someone who believes in all the principals of feminism but simply doesn't want the label.

it's a bit like saying you believe in a much more progressive tax system; government help for the poor and sick and old; active regulation to protect workers, customers, the environment; equal rights; and so on; but, you're not a liberal because you don't have "the militant drive" or the "negative energy".

a rose by any other name.

essentially what she's saying is that the label "feminism" has (imho due to anti-women attacks) been tarnished and has negative connotations notwithstanding the validity of the actual issues.

fine, whatever. it's just semantics. let her find a different word or phrase or statement that essentially shows she believes what feminism stands for, she just doesn't like the term "feminism".

oh wait, she already did that.

[seabeyond]

8. i was watching a piece of stewart (i think) interview last night. a newspaper man

was talking about the politics (i missed most of it, just caught this bit) and said when having a discussion with a military man about socialism, the military man says, he grew up in it (his father), and has been in it all his life. the greatest socialist run environment ever. and enjoyed it. works well. and this is why he is opposed to socialism in politics, then argues his points.

that is unclear.

but, the man is a repug. recognizes the military is socialistic at its best. thinks it works well. but being a repug has to reject socialism.

may not fit what you are saying. but kinda. i thought interesting.

[unblock]

11. definitely. propagandists are definitely on to something.

they understand that if you say certain things in certain ways you can imbue certain words with very positive or very negative emotional connotations, and through repetition and attitude, they can really twist listeners' brains.

the rest of us, even those of us who can identify and reject such propaganda, do little to fight it. heck, we don't even know how to fight it properly. most of us just call it out and repeated it (then refute it in a way that lacks sufficient emotional punch), inadvertently furthering the propagandists' messsage.

[seabeyond]

13. interesting. i am gonna have to think about what you say.

kinda like? i heard a study that said the falsehood provided to the right by fox, when challenged with factual truth, only reinforces the falsehoods for the people that believe fox.

an odd kinda phenomenon to me. facts kinda brings it to truth in my mind.

[unblock]

17. exactly. we need better techniques for fighting propaganda.

giving air time to the lies by the propagandists, then giving airtime to the lies by the refuters in the process of finally debunking the lies, you wind up with 60-90% of the air time being given to the lies. moreover, the propagandists tell their lies with passion and conviction and it carries a big punsh. the refuters too often explain things very calmly and professorially. this works fine for good students who pay attention and think very logically, but the vast majority of listeners aren't all of those all the time on all subjects.

so days, months, or even years later, even those who were initially convinced that the lies were debunked often have lingering doubts and worries, or even revert to believing the original lies.

worse, those doubts make you more receptive to later lies. if you hear again a similar lie, you're more likely to register it as familiar and therefore give the second lie more credence.


i believe we need to figure out a good way to refute EMOTIONALLY. i don't know exactly how to do that, but i know we kinda suck at it.

[seabeyond]

18. "i believe we need to figure out a good way to refute EMOTIONALLY." ya, and look what it got me. lol

this is very interesting unblock. thanks for coming in here for this discussion, and clarifying more, taking it further. very interesting. i am going to have to think about this.

yea

i hope others will come into this subthread and give feedback

[seabeyond]

4. "Our lady grapples with the word "feminist"." our women. now, i will go back to reading

the article.

[seabeyond]

5. she can not own the word because in her world of men, it will cause her unnecessary problems

she must stroke the male ego, as she directs men.

[seabeyond]

6. she could become a "fun fem" and then the men would work with her. always an option,

always an opptorunity

[yankeepants]

12. Author Caitlin Moran's test for feminism

from her book "How to be a Woman"

"Do you own a Vagina? Do you want to be in charge of it? If you answer yes to these questions then you are a feminist."

[seabeyond]

14. i use to buy that. i do not anymore. seeing how women participate in the patriarchy

a need to reinforce it, convinces me otherwise. they can be for womens rights, but that does not make her a feminist.

[ismnotwasm]

19. That's really sad

Her equivocating with the word is disappointing. As far as I'm concern women of substantial power and responsibility (and they are legion) who do this are part of a larger problem.

These women, with their 'sensible' three inch heels and professional attire are stomping on the bloody backs of feminists who didn't fear in this way, didn't have the choice to turn the word feminist into a negative because that what what they were fighting for, feminism and everything it contains. including a woman's ability to BE a CEO. Anywhere.

This shit is tired. So you're a CEO of a major communications corporation? See if you're woman enough to make the world a better place for women less blessed, and maybe you'll get respect from me.
"negative energy?" Jesuspleaseus lady, feminists are rocking the world over and damn straight we're in your face for a good cause. This is negative? Bullshit.

[Tumbulu]

20. I agree, well said (nt)!!!!!

[redqueen]

21. But *some* feminists are so meeeean and eeeevil... they get mad at men just for being men!

Idiocracy. Welcome to it.

[PassingFair]

23. She will change her tune...

the media is coming after her.

SHE'S NOT A FIT MOTHER!

If she thinks that feminists are "negative" wait until the patriarchy and their
willing handmaidens are through with her.

If this "working mother" stays in the news, I give her less than a year in
her current position.

[Texasgal]

22. wow.

How sad.... the very idea of wanting to be treated equally is met with "being militant" or "having a chip on my shoulder".

Spare me. Ugh.

[MadrasT]

24. Much of what I would say has been said by others here.

It's pretty easy to dis those nasty negative feminists when you are staring down from the pinnacle of success (where you wouldn't even be without the work done by those feminists but whatever).

I get it, I used to think the same way.

The world is bigger than the few women like her or me who have the coorporate world by the balls and have already "arrived".

I presume she is OK with a mostly male congress making laws about her uterus?

Because until half of congress (federal and state), half the governors, half the city councils, half the township planning commissions, and half the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are women, and it is UNTHINKABLE to have an all male panel of "experts" advising congress regarding birth control... we are not there yet.

Enjoy your cushy gig, sister.

[redqueen]

25. Imagine seeing liberals and progressives rationalizing the eschewing of those labels.

I see the quote by Kennedy all the time, his list of reasons why he's proud to say he's a liberal.

I've never seen a progressive person agree with right wing framing, and accept that it's reasonable to deny being a liberal.

Strange to see that very tying happening re: this issue. (LOL jk... It's so not.)

[redqueen]

26. Tell Me This is a Joke

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/07/23/please-tell-me-this-is-a-joke-marissa-mayer-is-not-a-feminist/