BUST Not Feminist Enough, Apparently Has Too Much Yarn

 Does everyone know what time it is?!

It's FEMINIST INFIGHTING TIME!!!

Hooray! It's been a while! High five, everyone!

This week in the Sunday New York Times, Jessica did a little Q&A thing, and when asked what other publications she's comparing Feministing.com with, she replied:

"There’s Ms. magazine and there’s Bitch. Bust used to be a feminist magazine, but now it’s more crafty and about making things out of yarn. I’m not a D.I.Y. feminist. I once tried knitting a scarf but threw it away after 15 minutes."

Yes. She went there. 

In response, Debbie Stoller wrote a response over at BUST's blog. There may have been fightin' words. And virtual finger snapping. And a digital hair toss.

I loved Debbie's response:

"For fuck's sake, Jessica, so you don't enjoy knitting, and that makes BUST not a feminist magazine? We embrace all of those feminine crafts and skills that have long been trashed by the patriarchy, and you're jumping right onto that bandwagon as well? Don't you realize that the female-led DIY revolution (you know that the vast majority of sellers on Etsy.com are women, right? Something like 99%, I believe), is an important and positive movement?"

Stoller also begins her post pointing out how supportive  BUST have been of other feminist websites and magazines. BUST don't put down Bitch or Ms, and she swiftly points out, "Alas, our other sisters in crime are not nearly as generous."

I'm just going to come out and say this...

The biggest problem (um, other than the patriarchy) with feminism is feminists.

Who the fuck is anyone to tell anyone else that they're a not feminist?

Like, the girls from Jezebel were a god damn joke, but in all seriousness, do not tell me what I can and can't do, or what I can and can't wear or look like. 

I don't even god damn craft and that "making things out of yarn" comment pissed me off.

One of my good friends is a raging feminist who makes many things out of yarn. Do I also need to explain how many hours of her life she's dedicated to women's studies? Or is she not feminist enough for you?

So don't even try the whole "oh, we should be focusing on abortion" bullshit on us, Jessica. 

I loved it when Stoller said, "True, there aren't any stories there about abortion 'n rape, but that doesn't mean we aren't a feminist magazine. We are cultural feminists over here at BUST," because that's just exactly it. 

There are different kinds of feminists. There are different degrees of feminism. 

It doesn't have to be about rape and abortion all the time. 

And it's that "you're either with us or against" us attitude that pops up over over topics like sex, or stripping or make-up or even marriage that drives me up a fucking wall. 

I don't give a fuck if you're married or if you wear lip gloss or if you have vanilla or kinky sex. I DON'T CARE. AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU.

Who is anyone to say that this or that isn't feminst because of SOME CRAFTING.

Because of a bit of yarn. 

Maybe not everyone wants to spend their life with their organic cotton panties in a wad over how unequal everything is. Maybe we'd like to take a break from the raging and the pay gaps and KNIT A GODDAMN SWEATER AND WATCH SOME BUFFY. 

Sorry, but I think someone and a certain website needs to climb down off their Queen Feminist throne and chill out. 

Like, so BUST can't be feminist because they're into DIY, but Feministing can comment on what color Bitch's website should be?

"Back in August I wrote about Bitch Magazine's new redesign and that I wasn't a big fan of the new pink spot color....Well the new one just arrived in my mailbox and I have to say--much better! This edition's spot color is green, which happens to be my favorite color!"

Ooooh right. Got it. 

*pumps Feminist fist*

The type of feminism that Feministing bangs on about is not my cup of tea. I think what they talk about is important and I'm glad that they're doing what the're doing for the greater (feminist) good. 

But it's not my style. Yes, I want equal rights and for there to be an end to FGM and equal pay. Call me an arm chair feminist. Call me lazy. I don't care. 

I bitch about the lack of women in tech. I run a website for women that serves as an alternative to the mindless crap that's out there. I'm trying to make enough money so that I can support other female creatives/geeks/bloggers. I'm doing my part. My part may not look like your part, and I can accept that. 

All I know is that after reading Full Frontal Feminism and then reading a quote like that, all I can think is hyp-o-crite.

Image via .candy's Flickr

Comments

[Hannah]

Damn straight.

I read it and wondered what the problem is with crafting as well. As you said, feminism isn't just about politics and current events, it can just as well be involved in crafts or culture or technology.

[Shelby]

I don't want to be rude, or disrespectful, but, perhaps, rather than arguing about degrees of feminism, you all should focus on understanding the root of it. The truth is I stumbled on this site whilst doing research for a paper, and I'm frustrated that as upright, hard-fighting, and relevant as you feminists want to be, there doesn't seem to be a real understanding of the specifics of feminism. For example, and really, this is where it should start, "the patriarchy" is incorrect-- patriarchy isn't a proper noun, it isn't something you can hold-- it is an ideology. A specific set of beliefs passed down through hundreds of years that privileges the father, i.e. the patriarch, or man, as the literal head. Patriarchal ideals/ideology is what you are fighting-- not a literal person.

When discussing patriarchy you need to understand what it is you are fighting, and whether it is explicit or implicit. You'll find that most patriarchal ideals present within our society are implicit and pejorative-- but the literal act of knitting has nothing to do with destabilizing the discourse of patriarchy. Rather, patriarchal conception that the act of knitting is the right activity for a female is implicitly undermining the argument that as a neo-feminist you can knit. Sure, you can knit, but understand that the ideology you want to fight implicitly exalts this behavior as an ideal correct femininity. Therefore, by reclaiming this act, knitting, you are not fighting patriarchal ideology, head on. Rather, the discourse of feminism is compounded by the admission that knitting is a female activity, just as patriarchal ideology has upheld it as for, I don't know, 500 years?

True feminists, the ones of the 1st-3rd wave, would be horrified that the argument has come down to this. Feminism is about disrupting the discourse of patriarchal ideology.

Finally, you did mention that there are degrees of feminism-- the first is recognizing that patriarchy exists. Literally, that's it. The second is recognizing it exists and wanting to fight it, but doing this by living your life, your way, regardless of patriarchal glorifications. The third is recognizing it, and fighting it through activism.

I really recommend, that if you want to be taken seriously, and actually join into the debate rather than misinterpret it, you should start at the beginning-- pick up Elaine Showalter, Sandra Gilbert & Susan Gilber and Judith Butler. Sure these are academic examples, but honey, academics is where this whole movement started.

I really am not attempting to be disrespectful, rather I want you all to argue from an educated standpoint so that people have to listen.

My favorite line, is from Audre Lord, and she famously says : "Can you ever dismantle the Master's house with the Master's tools?" What she means by this is you must utilize the voice that has been used to oppress --i.e. education, in order to deconstruct and prove that the means patriarchal ideals have used to justify itself, are wrong.