It has been far too long since Internal Monologue engaged in some gratuitous titillation thinly disguised with a veneer of social criticism. But upon finding this article on the phenomenon of “spotlight lesbianism” (my term! I invented it! I hereby c…

Well, how about we talk about women’s persistent disadvantage in wages?

How about we talk about the declining access to birth control and abortions?

How about we talk about the oppression and ostracism of gays, lesbians, and transsexuals simply to get the Bible-bangers to the polls?

Eh, fuck it. I guess you can just be an asshole, instead, Piny. None of the rest of that shit must be very important, if whether or not you have to turn in your Feminist License if a dick enters your mouth is the issue that inflames the feminist blogosphere.

Right, because we never talk about anything other than blowjobs over here. Have you actually read this blog?

As for all that other stuff, which gets 90% of the coverage on feminist blogs, it doesn’t inflame the feminist blogosphere because we all pretty much agree on those issues.

You’re absolutely right! Let’s talk about anti-geek hate crimes instead.

Well, how about we talk about women’s persistent disadvantage in wages?

How about we talk about the declining access to birth control and abortions?

How about we talk about the oppression and ostracism of gays, lesbians, and transsexuals simply to get the Bible-bangers to the polls?

Eh, fuck it. I guess you can just be an asshole, instead, Piny. None of the rest of that shit must be very important, if whether or not you have to turn in your Feminist License if a dick enters your mouth is the issue that inflames the feminist blogosphere.

I’m a sadomasochist, but I don’t think that just because lots of people do BDSM in different combinations it is not a feminist issue. I and my partners are playing with power differentials in an erotic context. If all we’re doing is replicating women’s subjugation in the largur culture in miniature, then that’s a problem. That’s not the conclusion I come to, on the whole, but just saying that the area is unproductive for investigation seems to me intellectually unsupportable. If some guys are replicating patriarchal messages that women are inherently subordinate and that their sexual needs are sinful and should be punished to get women to enter into 24/7 relationships that make them miserable and leave them feeling trapped and dependent, are we supposed to just wave our hands at is as though they make an election to be in that relationship against a cultural blank slate? I don’t think so.

That’s a straight answer, and a Feminism 101 response, because I’m extending you the charity of assuming you’re asking on the square and not trolling.

But recognize that you do the same thing you criticize others for: you say what is feminism and what is not.

No, she isn’t doing the same thing. Look, this isn’t hard: The chief distinctions Jill made were–

Can a woman fight against reproductive rights and argue that women should stay in the kitchen and still be a feminist? Absolutely not, because those actions are contrary to feminist thought itself.

Obviously if you favor limiting the options of women in society, that isn’t feminism. But that isn’t an arbitrary call made by Jill. It’s based on what feminism IS. You wouldn’t join the Anti-Defamation League and argue that we need to bring back concentration camps; likewise, you don’t call yourself a feminist and then pen screeds about how bitches need to stay in the kitchen where they belong.

Like I said, it’s not hard to work out.