Creating a new feminist theory

KindredMaximus · 2022-01-14T15:17:57+00:00

Hmm, if you make a good argument and justify your reasoning, he has to mark you on your critical thinking and argument. His personal views should have no bearing on his marking. Also, all marking should be done anonymously, so he literally shouldn't know if you are male or female. What is it about this prof. that makes you worried that a solid, cogent and well thought out argument would not be marked fairly by him?
There is also plenty of evidence to back up any philosophical position that sex work and abuse porn is detrimental to the fabric of a healthy society. Start with Gail Dines work.

melympia · 2022-01-14T15:55:34+00:00

“oh, but we can’t control women’s bodies 🤢”

Oh, but they do. Rape exist. Prohibition of abortion exists. Sex trafficking exists. Sex tourism as well as "the guy next door" just "visiting the local brothel" exist. Sexual coercion exists. Plastic surgery exists - and is a predominantly male profession (5 males : 1 female).

That being said, there's nothing wrong with writing about the harm the sex industry does to women - as long as you can find enough useable sources to support your claims.

insurrectionaryINTJ · 2022-01-14T15:42:52+00:00

First of all, love your focus of study. Second, as a philosophy professor, his job is to critique your essay on the basis of its logic and argument not his personal views. As long as you carefully explain and defend your arguments very well, and steer clear of sweeping statements, you should be fine. Yes, it can be a contentious topic, but there is no denying the impact of the sex industry on mainstream society and human relationships and the data (quantitative and anecdotal) that supports this. Lay it out well and you’ll be fine. The Raised on Porn documentary does a pretty good job defending your argument and has Gail Dines and other academics on it.

Big-Respond8481 · 2022-01-14T16:30:51+00:00

"We cannot control woman's bodies"

-Exactly, this is why we cannot demand them on a market. Just as we are overstepping bodily autonomy if we offered a person money for their kidney.

Invisiblescars_123 · 2022-01-14T15:04:08+00:00

Don't worry about watering down your message, go full steam ahead, and look for feminist professors in your university and other universities to hold him accountable if he pulls shit.

I wrote an essay on sexism within the medical field and despite my professor writing that I have a thorough and proficient knowledge of the subject, my writing was excellent etc he removed 6 points because I didn't separate my essay into sections lol. Male professors will dock you for the dumbest shit, so just prepare to advocate for yourself instead of becoming smaller.

lansburysoda · 2022-01-14T16:32:08+00:00

This sounds like radical feminism—highly recommend you look into it :) IMO it’s actual feminism unlike the bullshit that’s marketed to us today

alpinepunch2021 · 2022-01-14T16:32:07+00:00

. However, I think modern feminism kind of plays into the patriarchy’s hands by defending sex work and abuse porn. I want to write about how the sex industry is harmful towards women, but I’m not sure if my prof will go “oh, but we can’t control women’s bodies 🤢

This isn't really a new feminist theory as much as radical feminism (the theory that preceded liberal feminism/sex posi stuff). Check out this article (by a pretty well-known contemporary academic feminist philosopher) for more on how radical feminism ended up being shirked off over time https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/09/13/who-lost-the-sex-wars

datthingy · 2022-01-14T16:34:00+00:00

Hi I just wrote an anti porn paper for a class last semester! You should check out Gale Dines Pornland!

It’s a disturbing read but it draws correlations between porn and so many things. It gave me soooo much fuel to write my paper. I had anxiety about choosing this topic as well, and reading that book fueled me with such rage that I busted out an amazing paper in no time.

I know it’s scary and it would be easier to choose a topic that wouldn’t ruffle any feathers but… it’s so much more satisfying writing about a topic you truly care about.

Br0ther-Finger · 2022-01-14T15:10:17+00:00

So what if he thinks that? Also long as you express you thoughts clearly and logical and make your point. Fuck grades. They don’t really matter that much. Having a voice matters.

BedazzledSwashbuckle · 2022-01-14T18:26:07+00:00

I'd add a segment discussing all the ways that sex work *does* control women's bodies -

(a) directly, for sex workers, whose bodies must show up and perform sexual theater for their customers;

and

(b) indirectly, for all other women. They're pressured by the expectations of men who have used sex workers (but see all women as part of a similar "consumable" class) to adjust their appearances. They're pressured to compete indirectly (put out or I'll get a prostitute). They're pressured to avoid transactional relationship arrangements (e.g. asking the man to contribute to the relationship) as that might move them into the "sex worker" class (which puts them at risk for the lesser/more harmful treatment that SW statistically receive from men).

Creating boundaries about the purchase of sex *protects* women from the control of many individual men by shifting the control of female bodies that we see in SW .... to the male bodies, who are now controlled/restrained by law when they attempt to access female bodies. When SW is not legal, male bodies can no longer acquire a sexual consumable for their use in exchange for cash. Outlawing sex work controls male bodies. Permitting it allows men to control female bodies.

Female bodies who want to receive something from a male partner in exchange for sex can (and always have) set those "transactional" terms, whether they be marriage, social status, jewelry, or cash. Left to our own devices, women traditionally engage in transactional relationships which "trade" sexual services for socioeconomic security and social status through marriage, protection and resources for any resulting children, etc. Left to our own devices, women set the "price" for sex high enough to balance out the resulting risks: pregnancy, illness, death during childbirth, decades of resources for children, etc.

Outlawing sex work simply prevents women from being forced to have sex solely for cash, which statistically has proven inadequate to cover the risks inherent in being sexually available to one man ... SW has then forced women to be sexually available to multiple men, further endangering them. Under the control of a largely male cabal of p1mps, customers, and socially disproving patriarchal structures (courts, police, etc.) who decide these women are now - as a result of SW - outside the scope of provided legal/protective services, sex workers face more risk and less reward than non-SW who are free to set their own terms around sexual access to their bodies.

*I also think there's room to address SW as adjacent to / enmeshed with child trafficking. Discuss the challenges of eliminating one while promoting the other as "empowering." There are a lot more statistics on child trafficking than on prostitution, despite the two topics including the same pool of individuals in many regions, sadly. It allows you to include the full scope of horror involved without seeming "emotionally" swayed.

Mcccy · 2022-01-14T16:47:49+00:00

I believe as long as your theory is well structured they won't mind it's 'controversial' undertones!

Platipus6 · 2022-01-14T22:44:24+00:00

The irony of having to make yourself smaller and censor/juggle your words before they're given to a man who has the power to advance or destroy your life.

paddlesandchalk · 2022-01-14T18:13:52+00:00

My personal favorite feminist issue to point is actually how widespread and blatant the acceptance of misogyny still is, even though our society often claims to now be equal.

Porn categories are a great example. So is the fact that derogatory slurs against people based on race, sexuality, and disability are widely viewed as NEVER okay in polite society, but people who hold those views are often perfectly comfortable degrading women with words like bitch, whore, and slut. If you don’t identify as a woman, you should not be using those terms to describe woman.

LaVoisin9731 · 2022-01-14T17:26:12+00:00

Writing about porn is generally not a no-no in academia. I had an entire seminar on sex work/ porn in my philosophy course and we read/ analyzed plenty of literature by feminists (our professor wanted us to critically read both liberal and radical feminist papers, but didn't put pressure on us to endorse or reject either side). Everyone wrote a paper about the topic - standard procedure, "spicy" takes weren't discouraged. Feminism and women's studies are an exciting topic to study and if you browse google scholar and similar data banks, you'll find a lot of inspiration.

Side note: I recently heard of a woman who chose female menstruation as a topic for her sociology paper and she was surprised to experience a huge backlash. So I'll say it always depends on the professor, your university etc.

Salt_Satisfaction · 2022-01-14T19:13:48+00:00

If he's minimally good at his job he won't be able to fail you if you present air-tight arguments with a lot of evidence to back up your claims. You need to spend a lot of time writing a good essay.

Message me if you want more advice.

msromperstomper · 2022-01-14T20:57:39+00:00

I would lean hard into the sexual trafficking aspect, but in terms of a broader theoretical view, there is a good summary and references in this article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4730391/

SearchLightsInc · 2022-01-15T01:10:20+00:00

Just throwing it out there but with massive rising inequality, class consciousness could be a safer option - you could absolutely tie feminism into that.

qazzovuoi · 2022-01-14T15:41:32+00:00

You could take a look into Andrea Dworkin "pornography: men possessing women" She took inspiration from Kate Millet "sexual politics" Robin Morgan "sisterhood is powerful" & shulamith firestone founder of ny radical feminists Andrea also wrote against the vietnam war A poem named child about her experience of csa at 9yo & a novel called "notes on burning boyfriend" She was from a russian/hungarian jew family but antizionist Other authors who influenced her works were Arthur Rimbaud Charles Baudelaire Fedor Dostoevsky Che Guevara Also her mother was a supporter of the right of termination of pregnancy during a time when it was unthinkable I believe my fav feminist activist was tricked into marry an undercover cop and given the wrong drugs to treat her depression two factors that lead to her early death

CCVeediVee · 2022-01-14T16:40:44+00:00

I'm concerned that your concern is whether the topic will be too controversial for you to get a good grade. A well stated thesis that is clear and convincing in argument should be the only rubric unless your professor has indicated otherwise.

Is this an assignment where you have to clear the topic w/the prof first?

SainteMariolle · 2022-01-14T17:35:59+00:00

It already exists, it's called sex-negative feminism, abolitionism and anti-porn.

Specialist-Opening-2 · 2022-01-14T18:46:31+00:00

I think radical feminism is what you're looking for. Abolitionism of prostitution, and support to prostituted women. Also against reproductive labor like surrogate wombs.

modernmedusaa · 2022-01-14T19:38:04+00:00

Realistically they can’t mark you down so long as you abide by the marking criteria

I thought the whole point of university was to teach critical thinking?

Honestly don’t stress.

And don’t give into the fearmongering of nut job liberal feminists either.

Believe me many of them are puppy dogs when met with confrontation re their stupid theories.

If you believe you’re marked too harshly you could make a formal appeal / compliant & claim the marker hasn’t been impartial

That would threaten their jobs so they wouldn’t want that.

If that didn’t work you could threaten to take it to press. Universities don’t like bad press, it can be extremely damaging to their reputation.

But it’s unlikely to ever go that far.

I was at an extremely pro sex work university.

Two pieces of mine were explicitly radical feminist & I received decent marks.

Spend this time observing the weaknesses of those who try to silence you. That’s what I did.

A lot of female academics silently agree with those opinions anyway believe me.

Also remember universities often outsource their secondary marking to randomers.

Don’t let them silence you.

Talismantis · 2022-01-14T22:47:32+00:00

If you want to talk about the sex industry I recommend reading Revolting Prostitutes

AyemHerself · 2022-01-15T01:28:33+00:00

I want to write about how the sex industry is harmful towards women, but I’m not sure if my prof will go “oh, but we can’t control women’s bodies 🤢”.

You can write about how something is dangerous without controlling women.

I can go on about how OnlyFans is a horrible, exploitative company but I'm not about to flog a woman in public for making an account.

This is actually a common misconception when talking about feminism and a pro-libfem taking point used to shut down radfem discourse. It's worth exploring in your paper also.

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itsirrelevant · 2022-01-14T22:34:47+00:00

I wrote a paper on atheism when assigned the task of writing about a minority, and though my professor was taken aback when I informed her of my choice and many of the people in my (Midwest) class were religious and had some pretty off the wall negative assumptions that we talked through, I was still headed fairly. Can't say what will happen in your case but their job is not supposed to be to only grade you well if they agree.

mintmint33 · 2022-01-17T19:03:07+00:00

You shouldn't have any problem but I don't think that's a new theory as it already exist. But maybe I didn't understand your assignment.

Title	Creating a new feminist theory
Author	Invisiblescars_123
Upvotes	183
Comments	42
Date	January 14, 2022 2:56 PM UTC (4 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/FemaleDatingStrategy
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/comments/s3u9t5/creating_a_new_feminist_theory/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/FemaleDatingStrategy/creating-a-new-feminist-theory.1096259 https://theredarchive.com/post/1096259

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