(no subject)

[snowowl.livejournal.com]

Did anyone besides me hate Cunt?  You know, the misinformation, the sexism, and what's more, the dangerous aspects of it?  :-/  It made me pretty angry, but not in the way the author was hoping for.

Comments

[devora.livejournal.com]

I didn't hate it. I enjoyed it, and I found that it had a lot of interesting concepts, however I found it to be a little biased. There were some things that she was preaching that may not be suitable for every woman, like avoiding meds when you're cramping on your period because the drug companies are owned by men. Sorry, can't do. Too much physical discomfort and pain to be a total naturalist. I also found it shocking that she got pregnant three times within the same relationship. You'd think she would've figured out how to properly use birth control by the second accident.

[silent-dance.livejournal.com]

It didn't really live up to my expectations. I really enjoyed some sections & found her thoughts interesting (although not all for me), but the last few chapters just seemed as you say, misinformed & sexist. It's a shame really, because I think it could have been a great book if it wasn't so biased.

[disclaimher.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed reading it for the difference in perspective, but got really angry when she repeatedly didn't use any contraceptive, resulting in several unwanted pregnancies. I am not against inducing an abortion naturally, but am against it if it means not seeing a doctor before or after just to check up. That is very dangerous.

And often a lot of her statements were very sexist, and not founded in any actual truth.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_epiphany_girl_/]

What was sexist about it? I haven't read it yet?

[emmieslost.livejournal.com]

i didn't agree with EVERYTHING she said, but i enjoyed it throughly. i recommend it to everyone. whats to hate?

[snowowl.livejournal.com]

Er, that her entire book is based on the work of Barbara G. Walker, whose work is a laughing stock to anthropologists and historians worldwide. In essence, Walker's book claims it's an "encyclopoedia" but in reality is completely false history. Her definition of "war," for instance, is "a patriarchal invention" meant to suppress women. It's complete politicized nonsense, and Inga draws from it at every turn, doing no research of her own.

The book is wholly sexist, and just because at the end she says she recognizes that a "few" men are working towards the cause of feminism doesn't excuse the constant barragement she throws at men throughout the book.

Even more than the feminazi tone, though, is the fact that she tells women not to trust doctors, nor seek them out (because they're some kind of conspiratorial anti-women's league that is "not of the Goddess"). THAT is dangerous. She then proceeds to describe how she underwent a herbal abortion at eight weeks full well knowing that she wasn't supposed to do that, and for all intents and purposes she is advising women to do the same (medical abortion is invented by the Man, she says).

She advises against birth control. She gives a false impression of IUDs (making the reader think they all have the effects of the Dalkon Shield) and greatly exaggerates the side effects of the pill (saying for instance that it causes heart irregularities, when in truth that only happens to a small percentage of women who had pre-existing conditions). Instead, she suggests that you use the Fertility Awareness Method -- but she describes it in very vague terms, leaving out such details as HOW IT WORKS, how successful it is, temp taking, and the like. Also, FAM is not a cure-all for "man controlled birth control"; it shouldn't be used by women who have many partners -- which this woman seems to think is the greatest thing evar.

She is a religious bigot to boot. Did you not catch the repetitious bashing of Christianity?

She says abstinence is "unhealthy." And then goes on to say that to be truly empowered, you should be the sex goddess of your own universe, meaning that you should "have fun" and fuck the consequences, having sex with whoever and how many you like. If she were some bum in a coffeeshop, I wouldn't care, but as an author of a non-fiction book for women, many of them young girls, I find it highly irresponsible and dangerous for her to encourege people to do that without any caution about STDs or pregnancy.

She also represents the worst kind of pro-choice person, the kind that religious right people get all angry about. She pretends that she was FORCED by someone to get three abortions (instead of saying, "It was a hard decision, and x, y, and z is why I decided to go through with it" like a rational adult), that it was IMPOSSIBLE for her to keep the child and give it up for adoption, and further excuses her irresponsibility saying that the diaphram gives her yeast infections so isn't it unfair that when she decided not to use it, she got pregnant? She says that women shouldn't feel like victims, but that's what she's ALL ABOUT.

[snowowl.livejournal.com]

I also find it highly offensive that she assumes that all women just have "different degrees of lesbianism." Not all women are into that. Because they just aren't. Not because they are subimissive or repressed or something. I hate arrogant people who assume to tell others what their orientation is or should be.

The truth is, she just doesn't know what she's talking about when she makes these generalizations about men being in control of the tampon industry, contraception, and what have you. She doesn't even know what she's talking about when she talks about menstrual cups, fertility awareness, or men in general. She's a hypocrite -- the morning after pill she says she's worried about because women might become too "dependent" on it and she's worried about the effect of the hormones, and yet she had THREE abortions and the third came about because of herbs that could give her serosis of the liver! The list goes on and on.

I'm a liberal/pro-choice/feminist/herbalist/FAM-using/Pagan, but her zealous and blatently biased (sometimes, in terms of the word "cunt" for example, just plain made up) tone is both patronizing and in my opinion, a hurtful way to live your life. You can't be fucking empowered if you think there's a conspiracy of people trying to ruin your life. You can't be happy and yet have the incredible disdain (if not outright hate) of men that this woman does. *shakes head*

[emmieslost.livejournal.com]

damn...
i understand some of the points you are making, i don't agree with her saying that if you "come to terms" with your cycle you'll be pain free, la de da, and i'm totally pro birth control, but she is entitled to her opinion, which is exactly what she is giving us in her book, her opinion...so she had three abortions, o'well who am i to judge??? as a women who has endo and other chronic illnesses, i agree with what you're saying. i don't think her "man bashing" was quite as bad as you're making it out to be, but again that's just my opinion. there are a lot of men out there who have read her book and enjoyed it as well.
i don't think she was trying to tell women to go out and just fuck who ever and not worry about the consequences, at least that certainly wasn't in the edition i read...and as far as different degrees of lesbianism goes, come on, we're all a little gay!
i appreciate you sharing your opinion, but i enjoyed the book and will continue to recommend it. people are smart enough to make their own opinions, and there is a long list of references she used while making her book, in the second edition anyway, i haven't seen the first...

[starsorstreet.livejournal.com]

"come on, we're all a little gay!"

that's my personal belief as well (based on my experience with society and those funny things called humans), but I try not to force it on people because sometimes they tend to get a little uppity about having their sexuality defined for them, as they should.

*goes back to her ellen re-runs and homo rainbow cross-stitch*

[emmieslost.livejournal.com]

:::giggle:::

not trying to force anyting, of course! :)

Charmed, I'm sure.

[pretzelsalt.livejournal.com]

Excuse me - feminazi?

I am a radical feminist myself - in fact I find CUNT to be a silly poorly written CLASSIST book that is only popular amongst affluent young white girls and lays out a lot of anti WOMAN information - if you want to talk about "sexist".

I didn't like the book either - but sounds like for the OPPOSITE reason you didn't.

I, however, am not throwing around insults in a female community about other women based on anti-feminist male slander.

Thanks though.

Re: Charmed, I'm sure.

[lizs18.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this, I absolutely can not stand the term 'feminazi'. Not only is is sexist and an insulting term used to punish feminists, but I feel that it trivializes the very real and disgusting acts and theories that nazi's and neonazi's stand for and committ. To say that a woman who is a type of feminist that you don't agree with is the same equivilant to someone who celebrates the holocaust really disturbs me.

Re: Charmed, I'm sure.

[pretzelsalt.livejournal.com]

it's worse then that. Rush Limbaugh coined the term and the reason he used was that feminazi's were driving the current holocaust by having as many abortions as possible.

I mean come on.

Re: Charmed, I'm sure.

[emmieslost.livejournal.com]

rush limbaugh and pat robertson, my favorite people!!!

Re: Charmed, I'm sure.

[snowowl.livejournal.com]

I use the term feminazi because it's more well known that pheminist. It's also been called "gender feminism" by Dr. Christina Sommers, but they all are referring to the same group of people.

It's my personal belief that there is a shoot of feminism which is so extremist that they deserve their own special name, because their goals and tactics are NOT those of feminists during the 18th century, the 60's, and among the more mainstream feminists today. That is to say, feminazis are not feminists who are just really active politcally about their beliefs about feminism. Rather, feminazis diverge from the core beliefs of feminism. Feminists historically have believed in equality between the genders, whereas feminazis are all about superiority, hate, and manipulation of the facts to suit their political goals.

I for one think there's a difference.

Also, if you read my post, you would know that there are several reasons I dislike the book, and its sexism towards men is only one of them. To say you don't like the book because mostly white girls read it is in itself a biased statement, and really, you can't blame the author for who reads her book and who doesn't.

Re: Charmed, I'm sure.

[deathofthelight.livejournal.com]

I agree fully. The word "feminazi" isn't meant to apply to all feminists, just the ones that are obviously a bit over the time.

I like to use a small test to tell what's feminist and what's feminazi.

A feminist believes in equal pay for equal work.
A feminazi believes in a world-wide "patriarchal" conspiracy, and anyone who doesn't agree with them was brainwashed by a man.

It works pretty accurately.

Re: Charmed, I'm sure.

[jaclyn.livejournal.com]

what's wrong with affluent young white girls?



;)

Re: Charmed, I'm sure.

[whoa-breathe.livejournal.com]

Tee hee, was wondering the same thing. Not that I am exactly "affluent" but I am young and white, which I can't help. AND I didn't like the bok. ;)

ditto

[janejellyroll.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU!

[jennifer0246.livejournal.com]

hello,
this is a safe space warning. the word feminazi, as another commenter has noted, is offensive to many people. as you cannot edit comments i won't as you to remove it, but i am asking that you become more familiar with concept of safe space prior to commenting further. if you have questions about this, please email me directly.

jen, ssm
for the vp on lj team

[punk-is-so-dead.livejournal.com]

I didn't like it. It was way too hyped up.

[punk-is-so-dead.livejournal.com]

What's dangerous about it, by the way? The misinformation, or something else?

[dial-zero.livejournal.com]

My two cents... Herbs used to induce abortions are toxic, and should be used with extreme caution. It's irresponsible to advise women to use these herbs and scare them away from having medical abortions just because she had two bad experiences. I remember she mentioned that the herbal way should be done under supervision or something, but I still think a lot of people are under the impression that "if it's natural, it's harmless" and might endanger themselves unnecessarily because they've read about her bad abortion experiences.

[malantha.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I'm just getting irritated that it looks like I'm gonna have to buy the damn thing to read it. I can't find it in any libraries around here. Probably because of the "offensive" title.

(By the way, I've seen other posts similar to yours here and it's pretty much the exact reason I *don't want* to buy it.)

[punk-is-so-dead.livejournal.com]

I can send it to you if you want.

[malantha.livejournal.com]

That would be entirely cool. Once I've finished reading it, I can pass it along to someone else here.

Is there an email address I can get you at? Or, I guess, just drop me a line at malantha@dandy.net and we can figure it out there :)

[mon-oubliette.livejournal.com]

I own a later edition of the book which has a lengthly afterward by the author explaining why she had left out transgendered individuals, a further stance on abortion and rape awareness. I was a tad uncomfortable with language that disregarded these groups and made it solely about women--then I realized you don't have to be all inclusive all the time and this was a book devoted to women. She does mention that she isn't a doctor, hormone therapy is her decision (even though I couldn't stop thinking that if she took it she wouldn't have ended up pregnant three times). She's not the voice of every woman, but she does offer a lot of alternatives to the society we all hear about--tampons, midol, sterile in and out clinic visits, and victim silence.

If anything, not agreeing with her just enforced your own sense of self and how you react to your body--which is her point, listening to what your cunt needs and wants.

[fooltothink.livejournal.com]

I was kind of put off by her language and how she left out transgendered people as well. But her afterward made me understand she wasnt being rude or mean or anything.

Well said.

[emmieslost.livejournal.com]

if you read the second edition she talks about how she left out transgendered people and there is a huge note in the back about how she shouldn't have done that, and a letter from a trangendered person who read the book, ect... :)

[fooltothink.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have the second edition and I thought it was kinda thoughtful that she included that, as to try not to offend her readers.

[studiouspilgrim.livejournal.com]

I liked some parts of the book, very much. But honestly her biased, and crappy look at birth control, makes me want to tell people to not read it. If i had more time on my hands i would write her a very long letter talking about why it makes me angry that she completely misrepresents the IUD (SHE SAYS THEY ARE NOT ON THE MARKET ANYMORE, SHE SAYS THEY ARE NOT ON THE MARKET!!!!!! and acts like the things that happened in the 70's make them a completely unviable option even though many women LOVE their iuds, and they are much safer today!!).
And don't even get me started on hormonal birth control! i completely understand being against it, it messes with your body, can cause blood clots, and just is'nt right for some people. But to completely discount it as absolutely horrible, without even talking about some of THE GOOD of hormonal birth control (she only says it's good for some women cuz they may not want to touch themselves to use a diapragm, she then goes on to say how thats not a good reason anyways). Not only that, but three abortions (hello three pregnancies period) is not easy on your body. I refuse to believe that using hormonal birth control is more detramental to my body, than three invasive procedures.
She advocates the Diapragnm even though it clearly was not effective for her, and does'nt even discuss how horrible Spermicide can be for some women's bodies (it makes my 'gina burn, and causes yeast infections two days after exposure).
sure condoms are nice, but some of us want the intamacy and awsomeness of condomless sex.
It's perfectly fine to oppose the IUD AND Birth control pills, but i think offering the other side of the issue is very important. I know many women who have based their opinions on birth control off of this book, and while people should get other opinions, just akjdsajdsakjdsakjsad.
Makes me angry, i own it, i read it, did'nt do much for me really. I did'nt feel that empowered by it, but other than the birth control/abortion part there was'nt much that i outright opposed. (also i still do not like the work cunt... definitly prefer vagina, i like the way it rolls :) )

[aquae-gaia.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm just a weirdo "feminazi," but I thoroughly LOVED Cunt. I felt incredibly empowered and relieved that someone else out there thought the way I did. I still recommend it to my fellow feminist friends and they have all loved it as much as I have.

Sure, I can pick any book apart and discuss what I disagreed with, but I've learned to be an analytical reader and follow up on things that I am not sure about. You take the good with the bad.

PS Inga is quoted in my userinfo.

[emmieslost.livejournal.com]

i LOVE your icon! i loved the Pipi references in CUNT. mind if i add?

[aquae-gaia.livejournal.com]

Add away, mon amie. :c)

[jennifer0246.livejournal.com]

hi there,
the term feminazi, as noted by commenters above, is a derogatory one that makes many people uncomfortable. we also feel it is not conducive to safe space, as it has such negative connotations. i totally get that you're simply self-labeling, and in quotes at that, but did just want to make that point clear.
thanks for commenting, and feel free to email if you have questions or concerns.

jen, ssm
for the vp on lj team

[blackberrykiss.livejournal.com]

now i'm gonna have to go buy a copy to read this too! sounds very interesting (though i have a feeling i'll get very mad reading it, and don't want my money going to this woman!) i guess i'll have to check the used bookstores. thanks for posting about this.
from what everyone else has said in the comments, i think i really dislike this woman already.. :\

[emmieslost.livejournal.com]

you can check the author at www.ingalagringa.com

[blackberrykiss.livejournal.com]

thank you for the link :)

[float0n-.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not a big fan.

[starsorstreet.livejournal.com]

I remember a few years ago or so my mother refused to buy it for me for xmas because of some of the content. The more I'm told about it, the less I think I want to read it. That said, many people take some good things from it and take other things with a grain of salt. Like some people read the bible I guess ;)

[devora.livejournal.com]

That's how I felt about it. I did think it was very one-sided and biased, but she made a lot of good points that I myself could personalize and use. With most writers/philosophers/activists you can't possibly agree with 100%. You take away what most appeals.

And yes, it is like how some people read the bible. (so I've heard, lol)

[fooltothink.livejournal.com]

I loved it and recommend it to everyone. I didnt agree with everything she was writing about, I dont have to in order to enjoy the book. I didnt find it to be sexist or anything of the sort... but then again, I didnt take it all that serious like it was a true documentary or anything.

Like aquae_gaia said, you take the good with the bad. Just becasue someone can publish a book doesnt make them an expert or make what they write completely true.

[charisx.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm with you. This book pissed me off. Why do some women think it's ok to insult the entire male gender, make jokes about how men are evil or inferior or whatever...being bigoted isn't funny no matter who it's directed at. Can't we all try to treat each other with some respect, please?