Rohrlich's feminism is basically, massively right

Daniel A. Foss (U17043@UICVM.BITNET)
Mon, 11 Mar 1996 23:01:06 CST

evidential sense, *wrong* on said details, she remains massively right on
the Main Thing she stands for: We must concede, without hesitation, that
men in our culture are systematic victims of induced ignorance of certain
important, even critically important, apects of women and relating to them.
Even well-meaning men may require decades to learn that they don't know what
they need to know; that they don't know something(s) of major importance,
yet cannot begin to ask what it is.

In our mass-culture industry we find a propaganda apparatus relentlessly
focussed upon the efficient bifurcation of its audience into two mutually
hostile and suspicious camps, members of each being encouraged to continually
strategize, rationally calculate, inveigle, and both outfox the Competition
from one's own side and weaken, undermine, demolish the Berlin-Wallish resist-
ance of the Enemy. This is the superficial impression I, personally, derive
from casual perusals, in my Dr's office, of "men's magazines" and "women's
magazines."

From the latter, I am given to understand that a "man" is susceptible to
definition as an investment portfolio plus high occupational prestige score
plus high income, with prefereably a penis attached. There is much truth in
this bottomline calculation, given capitalist political economy. From the
former, the men's magazines, aside from the overriding paramountcy of certain
protuberances and/or other body parts, the whole question of the nature meaning
and purpose of womanhood is not touched upon at all. Perhaps, even, these are
unaskable questions, querying in relation to same may portend, or symptomatize,
Unhealthy Tendencies.

Any disagreement on this?

<terrorists for clinton> has noted, with considerable alarm that my longtime
friend Doctress Neutopia is not represented among the depicted Girls Of The
Internet in the April issue of Playboy Magazine. This is even more disturbing
as there would have been no need for Playboy to have remunerated Doctress
Neutopia in pecuniary terms. What she wants, as a Woman, is Publicity. She has
publicly declared that for Publicity alone, she is prepared to do "anything,
absolutely anything at all."
We spoke over the phone; she was massively depressed.
"I suppose what I really am is narcissistic," she said.
"G'wan," I said, "I'm as narcissistic as you are, and I'm not even a Woman."
"What is there to do, the capitalists have won, haven't they?"
"Lizzy, ya heard of the Million Man March?"
"Oh, yeah, but that's *men*."
"No, it's YOOTOO! You are the leader of the 3-million userid march!"
"On what? For what?"
"On the Hefner Corporate HQ here in Chicago, the Playboy Mansion, the
citadels of smut and filth which, moreover, ignore your existence. Unlike
The Nation, which called you "mad," and Newsweek, which called you
"prophetess." When we reach these buildings, we will burn, destroy, leave not
one stone standeth upon its neighbour! Because you are Woman! You are Weird!
You are Strong! You are Complicated! You cannot and will not be *denied*. And
unlike Rush Limbaugh, nobody can call you 'A Big Fat Slob.' Lizzy, you epito-
mize, in your utter confusion, the MULTIVARIATE CHARACTER OF WOMEN, THE FUTURE
OF WOMEN AS A NONLINEAR SYSTEM, A CHAOTIC SYSTEM FREE TO CHOOSE ITS STRANGE
ATTRACTOR! Nothing in this for me, lizzy, you called me your worst insult,
'considerate lover,' it took years recovering from that, and now it's your
turn to turn on the forces of Them. You have my word, if they shoot at you,
they'll hafta kill me first. Because I gotta take my suicidal tendencies Like
A Man! We march April 1! And we shall WIN!" <entirely imaginary applause>.

Ruby Rohrlich onceuponatime asked me for Doctress Neutopia's userid. Well,
here it is. <neutopia@genesis.nred.ma.us>. Godspeed your united front of pro-
gressive forces.

This is not funny. It's no joke. Because nobody at this time has the slight-
est idea what's objectively funny or silly, and what aint. That's where false
consciousness will get you, excepting we have got loose in this country a kind
of consciousness requiring a Truth Value even less True, even Falser, than
False itself.

No clarification will take place until 3 million userids have destroyed
utterly all that is Playboy's; all that is Caesar's will follow.

Daniel A. Foss