THE “F” WORD Linda Eve Diamond Some cringe at this word—as if it’s the downfall of society snarling it, pronouncing it with a sneer—the f bomb that chips away at glass ceilings, the fem-fatal ism feared as a threat to a precious, delicate imbalance as it questions perceptions and expectations and illuminates dispiriting statistics and lists even oddly ubiquitous linguistic tricks the f word, itself, telling—as an ism… … Deep voices on high say to be quiet and for f—’s sake stop saying the f word. There’s no need for feminism. Feminists, they say, sound angry and ought to know that women are already equal and don’t earn less, but also that there are reasons women do earn less, but relax; no one said we’re worthless; we’re just worth less. It’s all in how you calculate it, they say, and feminists are clearly calculating… … Meanwhile, women—without whose labor no one would be anywhere— go on being underpaid, under-respected underrepresented and under-protected fighting to gain and hold every bit of ground and told what’s been fought for was “given” hearing that hormones make us unbalanced, unable to compete, untrustworthy to lead from certain men who take pride in rage, excusing the inexcusable, out-of-control destruction allowed because “boys will be boys” and it’s just hormones; women don’t understand. Men can be driven by testosterone, but at least it’s not one of those terrifying lady hormones… …
IWWG NETWORK | Fall 2022 | page 22