The statement in question is a misappropriation, an oversimplification of a more complex idea. People tramping over hot cinders and chanting positivity mantras will often do that. Of course there are problems. Problems exist. If you find yourself on an upper floor of a burning building, there's a problem. Or more accurately, you've got a problem which no amount of denial can negate. The point is that problems are only problems from someone's point of view. Problems are subjective. A problem is a deviation from some standard of normality or desirability. Without someone to expect the norm or desire the object of desire, there is no standard and therefore no problem.
Now when a movement like feminism seems to be inventing problems where there weren't any, I'll gladly give it the benefit of the doubt. Sure it's a problem that women are underrepresented on the boards of companies. If you have a problem with it. Sure it's a problem that men and women trade with each other for sexual favours. If you have a problem with it. Sure it's a problem that male and female behaviour differ from each other and express themselves as gender roles in society. If you have a problem with it. Sure it's a problem that men piss standing up, or that women don't. But only if you have a problem with it. It just doesn't follow that it's society's problem, or for that matter, anyone's problem but your own. It doesn't follow that I have to take your problem on board or solve it for you, no matter how sympathetic I may be. And 'sympathetic' is practically my middle name.
FEMINISTS: We must.... We should.... We have to.... We need to....
PROFESSOR SYMPATHETIC PLANET: There is no 'we.'
FEMINISTS: But we....!
PROFESSOR SYMPATHETIC PLANET: There is no 'we.' There are no 'but's either.
FEMINISTS: But the problem is real. The problem is...
PROFESSOR NO LONGER VERY SYMPATHETIC PLANET: The problem is yours. There is no 'we.' Watch my fucking lips: There is no 'we.'
The following is an example from the little kingdom of Denmark. You might have heard of it. Shakespeare mentioned it once. You might have inadvertently covered it with a fat finger while pointing to Germany or Sweden on a globe. For whilst Sweden is a world power in terms of political correctness and feminism run wild (that blog post is coming soon, I promise!), Denmark is still hanging on to some liberal sanity, as long as stocks last. Anyway, in Denmark...
FEMINIST DINGBATS: Aha! The concept of sanity is also dependent on a standard of normality or desirability! Gotcha!
PROFESSOR PLANET: I neither expect nor desire you to question your own sanity. Apart from anything else, it would take all the fun out of our conversations. I'm not wanting or expecting society to certify you insane or curtail your rights. Now if I could just continue...
Anyway, that battle is still raging in little Denmark, making it noteworthy for that at least.
A recent conference at a music conservatory in Copenhagen weighed up the shocking revelation of a recent report (hold on to your hat) that popular music is dominated by the male sex. The discussion didn't touch on whether or not this indeed is a problem or (as I would put it) whose problem the problem is. It seems to be a foregone conclusion - supported by music unions, the Ministry of Culture and assorted dingbats in that country - that it's society's problem and that society therefore needs to do something collectively to solve it.
Now it would appear that women choose other activities than playing music. The report by Niras cites that only 2 out of 10 people in the Danish music bizz are women. The report also documents that gender roles differ in music. Women like to squeal into microphones, whilst guys prefer drumming and strumming. Girls and boys make different noise. Real breaking news.
The lack of female participation is not that surprising when you consider how many gadgets are involved in music. Girls don't seem to want to tune drum heads or change bass strings any more than they want to connect pipes together or shin up and down pylons. They seem just as uninterested in carrying and connecting amplification as they are in carrying and connecting air compressors. Microphones they can just about handle, especially if there's a guy around to stick the lead in, adjust the stand and mix the sound. Problem? Sure, if it's a problem for you. But if it's not a problem for the people involved, the ones actually making the choices, why should we care, as long as all of the jobs get done? I see a certain desirability in female participation and the challenging of gender roles, but not enough to make it society's problem. Is it society's fault that women choose as they do?
What's interesting in the dicussion is that it shows two camps of feminists. The first accepts the above phenomenon as society's problem on the basis of desirability. The challenging and negation of gender roles is so nice to have that it's seen as a worthy project for all. For this camp, there's a 'we' that ought to do something. Ergo, let's call in the big guns.
But the real dingbats are the other camp. Their argument is so irrational that I almost can't get my head around it. But I'll try. Here, the argument is that that males and females choose differently because they don't really have a choice. Yes, you read correctly. Let's just mull that one over.
How is a choice not a choice? When it's..... What the fuck? (I know, I know, but bear with me. Even the woolliest thinking has a kind of rationale).
If the sexes were the same, you'd expect them to choose equally. They don't, so maybe they're not the same. But they are the same, says radical feminism (regardless of any evidence to the contrary), so any difference in gender roles and choices is imposed by society. Ergo, choice is an illusion. There is no free will. Even if we chose according to the norms and desires of feminism, it would still be an illusion and would simply indicate that society had programmed us better (i.e. more in keeping with a feminist agenda).
For this camp, there's a 'we' consisting of automotons. There is no individuality, no individual will and no individual responsibility for actions, choices, successes or fuck ups. This 'we' apparently needs to act to reprogramme itself into making better (i.e. more gender neutral, feminist compatible) choices at individual level. That is, if words like 'choice' and 'individual' are at all relevant here. Confused? I don't blame you. Apart from anything else, it's hard to see where such thoughts originate, if not from a thinking mind with a free will, unless God put them there, and....
FEMINIST: I don't think you want to go there.
PROFESSOR PLANET: That's one thing we agree on.
Anyway, the dingbats whose arguments imply the above scenario don't seem to be lumping themselves in with the brainwashed masses they want to reprogramme. Women are slaves because there's no free will, only unconscious compliance with society's conditioning. But feminists are aware of this, so it can't apply to them. So the reason they're making the same sort of choices as the unconscious herd is.....no, wait a minute..... Is this doublethink?
You can be a poor victim in need of preferential treatment, or you can be a strong woman, frightening all the poor little men into submission. It's hard to be both at once, but only if you let reason stand in your way. Perhaps these identities are like hats. You just choose the one that best suits the occasion. You could even have the other one ready to switch to in case the weather suddenly changes.
As for problems, they're real enough. Some of them are yours. Some are mine. Some are theirs. But none are automatically ours. Because there is no 'we.'
Watch my lips. There is no 'we.'
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