PASSION WENT OUT OF FASHION–THAT’S ALL YOU’RE CONCERNED WITH: There’s an interesting catfight about gender going on in Helen’s comments here. It’s intra-Yalien in the most desperate way, but I think her fashion metaphor is both interesting and profound. Obviously it doesn’t work in a lot of ways, but she knows that, and it’s worth taking the time to walk around inside the metaphor for a while, see how it’s shaped and what it changes about your views, rather than dismissing it because of the obvious ways in which it’s false. Or to put it more bluntly, I think you’d have to get up early to do a critique of this metaphor which it wouldn’t’ve already anticipated.
Also: If I had two wishes which could not be applied to anything other than debates about gender on the Interwebs, my wishes would be these: 1) You do not get to pretend that men caring for their children is obvious and unshakable, and 2) You do not get to pretend that we have made intercourse manageable. Those aren’t even disagreements about what is beautiful or sublime; they just require us to acknowledge dumb basic facts about sex, pregnancy, parenthood, and children in the USA right this minute.
I’m not on her side re: shame, but you knew that.
(Well shoot, as long as I’m here, I’ll also recommend Truffaut on “the Ursula Andress of militancy.”)