Quite Rumours

Quiet Rumours turned out to be a pretty interesting bit of reading. I couldn't have told anyone what Anarcha-Feminism was until after reading this. It reminded me (not surprisingly) of a number of things that we discussed in my Women in American Society class that I took last quarter. The difficulties women had trying to obtain basic rights, all while working for the rights of others. How they were put off their feminist cause when they were told that "they'd be taken care of later" or that they're being selfish. They were not taken care of later. The women who chose to focus on women's rights stuck with it through the abolitionist era, through the demonstrating for black rights and against the war. They were considered unladylike and outspoken- but they got further than anyone else did. These writings discuss what would be necessary to bring real equality- not bring women equal with men, by passing an Equal Rights Amendment.
"The Equal Rights Amendment will not transform society; it only gives women the 'right' to plug into a hierarchical economy."
They want to get rid of the patriarchal society we currently live in, and create something entirely different. The quote, "What feminists are dealing with is a mind-fucking process- the male domineering attitude toward the external world, allowing only subject/object relationships," is not necessarily the way that I would have put it, but it certainly clarifies the author's point. The interviews at the end were interesting. Learning about what people are doing, what they believe and how they're sharing that provides a more real example of the ideas that people have.
"But anarchist feminists are concerned with something more. Because they are anarchists, they work to end all power relationships." This brings something more to the idea of equality than just female equality with males. At an even more basic level, it looks to end the power relationships of the world- whether between males and females, females and females, males and males- no one dominates anyone. Some women, it says, are more out there- extroverted than other women. These other women may be dominated by the extroverted ones- and then there's the power relationship. Because who would be more likely to speak, be heard, be in charge? The person who isn't as shy and who will more eagerly share her opinions.
"Feminism practices what anarchism preaches."
"Feminism is the connection that links anarchism to the future."
The book mentions that anarchism is usually associated with "chaos". It argues, however, "the best word is to outgrow rather than overthrow." Anarcha-feminism is not looking for an upheaval of society- rather, an evolution of its methods and ways towards less of a subject-object relationship to a "subject-to-subject" relationship that will eventually eradicate the male hierarchical thought patterns from society.

All of these ideas are relatively new to me, and very interesting. Because we have never known society to be any way but hierarchical and patriarchal, imagining a different world is difficult and takes some creativity. These explanations clarify not only the real ideas of anarcha-feminists but their goals and ideals.