Well, I really appreciate what Helen has said. I was apprehensive about sending this because I find it an unhappy subject. And it's stressful how carefully I have to choose my words. Little is more offensive than human sexuality. Nothing makes me as sure that this world is, for all intensive purposes, ruled by Satan. I don't mean that literally. The universe might be indifferent, but that indifference has all the aesthetic of evil.
I'm tall, white, and I've been told that I look like an alpha male. Yet I've been single most of my life largely because I don't fit Steve Quackenbush's description of "all men". I've devoted my whole life to thinking carefully and the search for knowledge, so I take painstaking care when forming judgments of any kind. And I've always been uncomfortable with objectifying women, a sentiment that has drawn contempt from people of both genders. But as a white man, I'm both racist and sexist, and nobody gives a shit how carefully I think. I understand that the male gender is sexist, but it's because biology demands it. But that doesn't mean all men are personally sexist. Some of us refuse to participate, and often lose a great deal of power because of it.
If the left is going to corner white men into a demonized position, it had better give them a way out. If you never had any choice not to be guilty, something's wrong with the whole situation and it's not going to turn out well. Frankly, I'm worried that identity politics is ruining western civilization. I'm still shocked at the loss of emphasis on the individual these days. But anyone with strong opinions has to admit that this is a challenging moral dilemma. There are statistical differences between groups, in ways the left can be motivated or loathe to emphasize. On one hand, it's good to point out the vices of certain groups so we might change them. On the other, everyone should recognize the injustice of being considered guilty of something just because you're a member of some group.
I'm surprised to hear people agree so easily that ALL men are sexist. Really? Every single one, and all to the same degree? What about a man who is asexual? Or a man with autism who might not even recognize much of gender at all? What about a man raised with the highest degree of conscience, devoted his whole life to resisting any and all bigoted norms, even to the extent of losing everything and being judged as weak by his community? There's so much variation in the world so I don't see how the statement can be justified. Is the male gender generally sexist? Yes, as is the female gender in its own ways. I'd say biology is sexist, ...but cultural evolution might change that.
All of us were once children who had no idea what's going on and simply found ourselves in fortunate or unfortunate circumstances, enjoying our good luck or suffering our bad luck. We all simply flowed along the current of incentives, blaming each other and hardly ever realizing that it's the incentive structures ruling over us making it irresistible to harm each other. But each of us is responsible for the world; we are responsible for accepting these incentive structures or not. And because the crowd doesn't stand up together all at once, and almost everyone is guilty of simply following the current, those of us who don't accept unjust incentive structures often lose. The good almost always lose, it seems to me.
I'll also say that the female gender is not free from responsibility for the incentive structures that make puppets of us, including making men sexist. The attached page from Brene Brown's book "Daring Greatly" supports my view that women have a powerful role in shaping the dominance hierarchy of men and in driving men to seek power over each other. Also in my experience, other men tend to be more compassionate and understanding of male weakness than women. Biologically speaking (something we haven't yet transcended BTW) ...It's for women that men must be strong most of all. Also, power is often mysterious but I have some female friends who would admit that if you can come to understand women's sexual preferences, you can understand power and vice versa. And the "good" and "power" aren't the same thing. While the female gender might hold some responsibility, I hesitate to blame actual women for being this way because doing so would go against all sense. We're all trapped in the roles that we play and the incentives they provide, and it sometimes takes a life of almost suicidal rebellion to really do the right thing, and even then it's probably a waste unless one can change the norms and change everyone.
ALL people need to forever be expanding their minds to understand more what it's like to be others, and to understand our human nature. We are always undergoing the evolution of domestication and justification. I see the problem of identity politics as a consequence of progressives generally trying to do the right thing, and I see the justice women can get from approaching the day men will finally understand and respect what they have to deal with, but it goes both ways... or in all directions. The solution is for all of us to increase our moral sophistication. We're going to have to entrust common people with the responsibility of thinking carefully, and it has to start with intelligent, honest leadership.
Rather than getting every man to admit that he's a guilty sexist, we should keep in mind the incentives our roles come with and hold people accountable to the bigger picture. People should question the priveledges they get with their roles.
As culture evolves we are all continually learning what justice is, and I would say it is our duty as homo sapiens to continue that struggle. Every individual is responsible for the world.
Jamie
P.S. As an intellectual, of course my position is that justice depends on people getting better at finding out what's true... so in other words, yes, being more like me. But to be honest, I'm afraid of what the truth will do to us. I suspect culture evolves towards truth, so I hope the truth can one day be compatible with our feelings.
