Feministin: Frauenstudien spielen Opferkarte nicht konsequent genug

Today, feminism has a major image problem. Celebrities like Taylor Swift, Bjork, and Lady Gaga have vocally disavowed feminism, and even Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer and Supreme Court judge Sandra Day O’Connor deny being feminists, despite actively fighting against gender discrimination. Those who do carry the feminist mantle often do so in the most tentative language. "That word can be very extreme. I guess I am a feminist. … Why do you have to choose what kind of woman you are?" asks Beyonce.

Auch die Autorin Elizabeth Segran hat immerhin erkannt, dass ihre Ideologie in einer tiefen Krise steckt. Bizarr ist allerdings ihr Lösungsversuch: Frauen noch stärker als bisher zum Opfergeschlecht zu erklären. Das nämlich würde der Fachbereich "Frauenstudien" zu sehr vernachlässigen:

Across the board, the syllabi begin with a history of feminism and theories of gender, then shift to political debates: At Williams, students delve into reproductive justice arguments, while at the University of Pennsylvania they learn about disability rights; University of Florida offers a module on "interlocking systems of oppression," while at Barnard, they examine "hunger as ideology." These are all important topics—some more relevant than others—but what is missing is an engagement with the culture that students face immediately outside the classroom. Today, 1 out of 5 college women is a victim of attempted or completed sexual assault, and three-quarters of those victims are incapacitated. At the same time, researchers find that slut-shaming is a regular occurrence on campuses. Surely these are the kinds of issues we should be discussing in the Women’s Studies classroom.

Solange Feministinnen als Strategie gegen die wachsende Kritik an ihrer Bewegung (außer der Diskreditierung der Kritiker) nichts anderes mehr einfällt, als noch mehr auf die Rape-Culture-Karte zu setzen und mit Statistiken zu hantieren, die jeder Lebenswirklichkeit widersprechen, kann man, was die Zukunft dieser Ideologie angeht, immerhin guter Dinge sein.