Dworkin Was Right: "Right Wing Women" vs Current Events

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Dworkin Was Right: "Right Wing Women" vs Current Events

Dworkin Was Right: "Right Wing Women" vs Current Events

magdalyn

42

Mar 20 2025, 8:30 AM

#1

I finished my first read* of Chapter 1 of RWW this morning.

I'm barely into the book, and I just keep being reminded of Trump admin actions and other current US policy changes.

So I'm going to document those connections. This will take some time, but I'll try to organize them by chapter.

Chapter Index:

The Promise of the Ultra-Right
The Politics of Intelligence
Abortion
Jews and Homosexuals
The Coming Genocide
Antifeminism

*This is definitely going to take multiple read-throughs. Dworkin is non-stop 🤯

perimenopausal and cranky as hell. also laughs at the drop of a hat. it's an exciting life, what can I say?

magdalyn

Mar 20 2025, 8:30 AM #1

I finished my first read* of Chapter 1 of RWW this morning.

I'm barely into the book, and I just keep being reminded of Trump admin actions and other current US policy changes.

So I'm going to document those connections. This will take some time, but I'll try to organize them by chapter.

Chapter Index:

The Promise of the Ultra-Right
The Politics of Intelligence
Abortion
Jews and Homosexuals
The Coming Genocide
Antifeminism

*This is definitely going to take multiple read-throughs. Dworkin is non-stop 🤯

perimenopausal and cranky as hell. also laughs at the drop of a hat. it's an exciting life, what can I say?

magdalyn

42

Mar 20 2025, 8:40 AM

#2

Quote:Chapter 1: The Promise of the Ultra-Right

The political Right in the United States today makes certain metaphysical and material promises to women that both exploit and quiet some of women's deepest fears. These fears originate in the perception that make violence against women is uncontrollable and unpredictable. Dependent on and subservient to men, women are always subject to this violence. The Right promised to put enforcement restraints on male aggression, thus simplifying survival for women—to make the world slightly more habitable, in other words—by offering the following:

Form. ... The Right offers women a simple, fixed, predetermined social, biological, and sexual order. Form conquers chaos. Form gives ignorance a shape, makes it look like something instead of nothing.

Quote:Shelter. ...The Right claims to protect the home and the woman's place in it.

Quote:Safety. For women, the world is a very dangerous place. ...The Right acknowledges the reality of danger, the validity of fear. The Right then manipulates the fear. The promise is that if a woman is obedient, harm will not befall her.

Quote:Rules. Living in a world she has not made..., a woman needs rules to know what to do next. ... The Right, very considerately, tells women the rules of the game upon which their lives depend. The Right also promises that, despite their absolute sovereignty, men too will follow specified rules.

Quote:Love. Love is always crucial in effecting the allegiance of women. The Right offers women a concept of love based on order and stability... . A woman is loved for fulfilling her female functions: obedience is an expression of love and so are sexual submission and childbearing. In return, the man is supposed to be responsible for the material and emotional well-being of the woman.

Edited Mar 27 2025, 9:21 AM by magdalyn.

magdalyn

Mar 20 2025, 8:40 AM #2

Quote:Chapter 1: The Promise of the Ultra-Right

The political Right in the United States today makes certain metaphysical and material promises to women that both exploit and quiet some of women's deepest fears. These fears originate in the perception that make violence against women is uncontrollable and unpredictable. Dependent on and subservient to men, women are always subject to this violence. The Right promised to put enforcement restraints on male aggression, thus simplifying survival for women—to make the world slightly more habitable, in other words—by offering the following:

Form. ... The Right offers women a simple, fixed, predetermined social, biological, and sexual order. Form conquers chaos. Form gives ignorance a shape, makes it look like something instead of nothing.

Quote:Shelter. ...The Right claims to protect the home and the woman's place in it.

Quote:Safety. For women, the world is a very dangerous place. ...The Right acknowledges the reality of danger, the validity of fear. The Right then manipulates the fear. The promise is that if a woman is obedient, harm will not befall her.

Quote:Rules. Living in a world she has not made..., a woman needs rules to know what to do next. ... The Right, very considerately, tells women the rules of the game upon which their lives depend. The Right also promises that, despite their absolute sovereignty, men too will follow specified rules.

Quote:Love. Love is always crucial in effecting the allegiance of women. The Right offers women a concept of love based on order and stability... . A woman is loved for fulfilling her female functions: obedience is an expression of love and so are sexual submission and childbearing. In return, the man is supposed to be responsible for the material and emotional well-being of the woman.

Elsacat

223

Mar 20 2025, 8:43 AM

#3

I look forward to your unpacking of this book! I want to read it but I'm a little afraid to. I'm afraid of the anger, resentment, and sadness I know I'll feel.

Elsacat

Mar 20 2025, 8:43 AM #3

I look forward to your unpacking of this book! I want to read it but I'm a little afraid to. I'm afraid of the anger, resentment, and sadness I know I'll feel.

lesbiansherlock

18

Mar 20 2025, 9:22 AM

#4

You make me want to re read it ! It’s insane how topical the index you posted feels !

Kind of how The Handmaids Tale used to portray a nightmarish scenario but now feels like it might be where the US is headed.

lesbiansherlock

Mar 20 2025, 9:22 AM #4

You make me want to re read it ! It’s insane how topical the index you posted feels !

Kind of how The Handmaids Tale used to portray a nightmarish scenario but now feels like it might be where the US is headed.

komorebi
“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” – Audre Lorde

316

Mar 20 2025, 9:39 AM

#5

Really looking forward to this!

komorebi

“I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.” – Audre Lorde

Mar 20 2025, 9:39 AM #5

Really looking forward to this!

Sunny

29

Mar 20 2025, 3:39 PM

#6

Exciting!! This is on my to read list.

Sunny

Mar 20 2025, 3:39 PM #6

Exciting!! This is on my to read list.

magdalyn

42

Mar 27 2025, 9:01 AM

#7

(Mar 20 2025, 9:22 AM)lesbiansherlock You make me want to re read it ! It’s insane how topical the index you posted feels !

Kind of how The Handmaids Tale used to portray a nightmarish scenario but now feels like it might be where the US is headed.

I still haven't read The Handmaid's Tale. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it. The thought still fills me with dread.

perimenopausal and cranky as hell. also laughs at the drop of a hat. it's an exciting life, what can I say?

magdalyn

Mar 27 2025, 9:01 AM #7

(Mar 20 2025, 9:22 AM)lesbiansherlock You make me want to re read it ! It’s insane how topical the index you posted feels !

Kind of how The Handmaids Tale used to portray a nightmarish scenario but now feels like it might be where the US is headed.

I still haven't read The Handmaid's Tale. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it. The thought still fills me with dread.

perimenopausal and cranky as hell. also laughs at the drop of a hat. it's an exciting life, what can I say?

magdalyn

42

Mar 27 2025, 9:06 AM

#8

(Mar 20 2025, 8:43 AM)Elsacat I look forward to your unpacking of this book! I want to read it but I'm a little afraid to. I'm afraid of the anger, resentment, and sadness I know I'll feel.

I totally get it. Dworkin's reputation is well earned - she definitely tells it like it is.

I'm too busy being impressed with her writing to really get emotionally involved in what she's writing about, at least so far.

(Admittedly, I have medical help in managing the wild mood swings of perimenopause, so I'm not reacting as much to emotional stimuli these days, anyway. Might be part of why I can read this now.)

perimenopausal and cranky as hell. also laughs at the drop of a hat. it's an exciting life, what can I say?

magdalyn

Mar 27 2025, 9:06 AM #8

(Mar 20 2025, 8:43 AM)Elsacat I look forward to your unpacking of this book! I want to read it but I'm a little afraid to. I'm afraid of the anger, resentment, and sadness I know I'll feel.

I totally get it. Dworkin's reputation is well earned - she definitely tells it like it is.

I'm too busy being impressed with her writing to really get emotionally involved in what she's writing about, at least so far.

(Admittedly, I have medical help in managing the wild mood swings of perimenopause, so I'm not reacting as much to emotional stimuli these days, anyway. Might be part of why I can read this now.)

perimenopausal and cranky as hell. also laughs at the drop of a hat. it's an exciting life, what can I say?

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