What do you think of feminist reactions to Mary Daly's violations of Title IX?

Question

For those who suggest she is merely the subject of effusive posthumous praise or that most feminists were unaware of her misandry, I thought I'd present a controversy from during her lifetime.

She got into trouble for insisting that men could not attend her classes, a position she held for years until a Title IX suit was brought.

No MRA sources...

Here's a Salon article on the controversy
http://www.salon.com/it/feature/1999/03/17feature.html

And as feminist a source as you can get, list archives from the Women's Studies e-mail list (a resource most antis would probably never have even encountered) in which many defend her exclusionary and ILLEGAL policy
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/daly1.html

And an interview by Susan Bridle in the progressive EnlightenNext magazine
http://www.enlightennext.org/magazine/j16/daly.asp

Answer 1

Mary Daly is a perfect example of all the things wrong with what happened with the feminist movement. She was a sexist who wanted to blame every little problem she had on "The Patriarchy" and, in effect, particularly the way she explained it, men. She was apparently so frightened and had so much dislike for men she couldn't even have them in her classes. She was also a flaming hypocrite, who didn't like it when the very thing she fought for suddenly was in opposition to her views and now suddenly it was a bad thing.



Having said all of that, I'm not sure her ideas are that widely embraced. Salon isn't exactly a mainstream site and anyone with a brain takes what they say with a grain of salt...or a whole salt shaker's worth in my case. Even they didn't entirely describe her in always flattering terms, though it did seem to show her as a warrior fighting a noble cause, let's remember this is Salon, nothing more than a left-wing Internet rag. I didn't read a lot of the UMBC site but I did see a lot of people who didn't support her women-only classes. And who's really going to take that last source seriously? I do think there could've been more opposition to her rather than silence, but there was some opposition, some of it apparently pretty vocal based on those sources. I don't see a lot of real support for her or her ideas from more sensible people though (thank God for that). The nuts will be there whether she came along or not.



There is one major glaring problem here: the ones who did support Daly seem to be the ones calling the shots and having the influence. That to me is the biggest faliure of the feminist movement. There are plenty of feminists with legitimate complaints out there who do want to do good, but they've let the crazies take over. So I do see your concern to some extent, but the way you asked it is to condemn everyone who remotely considers themselves a feminist. I'm pretty critical of what I call "mainstream feminism" and even moderate feminism to an extent but I don't like saying everyone agrees with Mary Daly and is as nutty as she was and leave it at that.

Answer 2

It's an interesting topic. Thanks for bringing Mary Daly and her various controversies to our attention, J.D.



However, am I misreading something? I read the top half of the Women's Studies e-mail list, and didn't see much in the way of unmitigated defenses to Daly's actions. Some people kind of understood what she was going for, but aside from the original email, I only read maybe one person who thought that Daly's policies were honestly OK and not illegal or unethical or indefensible or better taken care of in some other way. Maybe farther down the list more dissenting voices speak out?



The way I'm reading all the material you've posted today, however, is more that (some) feminists still talk about Mary Daly because she said some interesting things, and some original things and maybe even some good things--not because everything she said or did was unimpeachable and generally awesome. And I think that's fine. On a similar note, I just finished reading a book by John Perkins and BAM! Had my doors blown off the hinges, as it were. Awesome. But do I agree with every last thing he said? No. In fact, in certain respects, I think he's probably a pretty crappy person, when all is said and done. Would I recommend his book anyway? You betcha.



Even the interviewer thought it was shocking that Daly would advocate a reduction in the male population. And Slate calls her a "hag." I don't think it can be argued that her p.o.v. is mainstream, even among feminists.

Answer 3

there have been and are infrequently any radical feminists, so it is frustrating to make generalizations approximately them, like no rely if or no longer they have been or are in many cases Christian or non-Christian or anti-Christian. countless human beings interior the bible puzzled God, and that i do no longer remember them being seen evil, so it is not any longer logical to assume that "absolutely everyone" who questions God is "inherently" evil. consequently, no feminist pictures have been "grimy". maximum persons of your statements are generalizations and illogical.

Answer 4

As we have seen time after time after time - feminists do NOT want equality, they support, promote and condone INequality which benefits women at mens & children's detriment.



I saw a petition by many of the students (ie feminist females) of her class after she had been 'fired'. They carefully crafted their petition to trick people into signing it. Instead of stating honestly that she had stopped a man from entering her class, they simply claimed that a student had not fulfilled the requirements necessary to be her student. The 'requirements' they referred to was ownership of a vagina. As a male, he could never possibly fulfill her requirements for the class.



And yet feminists systematically support, defend, condone and even promote what this sexist cretin had done.

Answer 5

Feminists support the selective use of Title IX to give women undeserved boosts at men's expense. They oppose it if it means allowing male studies courses or anything else that might help men.

Answer 6

As I am sure that you know, I am no fan of mainstream feminism's moral corruption.





But that is a particularly fetching new avatar.

Answer 7

It's a perfect example of the need for anti-feminism.

Answer 8

they 100% supported her