Mansplaining Feminism

Interview with Susan Hawthorne, author, poet, philosopher, feminist and publisher.

Together with Renate Klein, she is co-founder and director of Spinifex Press, a leading independent feminist publisher that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016 in Melbourne with a festival of radical feminism.

(00:00) Cows in Chennai 

(01:24) How controversial was the concept of separatism when Susan Hawthorne was working on the book in the 70s?

(06:29) When the oppressed want to fight the aggressors, they do set up separate groups...

(07:42) Is thinking of the women's movement as national struggles and the opposition as IMF useful? 

(12:49) Are non-political women only spaces useful too? 

(16:39) Where should we stand on the issue of protecting women (for example with women's only carriages) and changing men's behaviour? 

(20:30) Class and gender - how does class change the ideas of Susan Hawthorne? Memories from India. 

(24:28) Is separatism a long term solution? 

(31:41) For the men who has never been in the position of struggle because of their gender or background, what can they do? 

(34:00) The difference between the image of feminism and what it has turned out to be as we have studied it. 

(35:10) The clarity of In Defence of Separatism

(36:12) Final thoughts, recommendations for our reading list.

In the 1970s, Susan Hawthorne wrote most of In Defence of Separatism but struggled to get it published. The concept was controversial then as it is now. The basic idea is that men have access to more power than women, and that therefore any relationship between men and women, whether at work, in the family or anywhere else, will always have an unequal power dynamic. Separatism is the only way to allow women at the very least some rest and time to heal, but also a ground for political awareness which will allow women to collectively break free from patriarchy once and for all. We also talk about men who harass women, White Tiger and macro-economics.

Zillah Eisenstein is a Professor of Politics at Ithaca College. She's a feminist activist and scholar for over twenty years, she is the author of Radical Future of Liberal Feminism, The Female Body and the Law and The Color of Gender - and the book we wanted to speak about "Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case of Socialist Feminism".

Zillah Eisenstein is one of the most prominent feminist activists and marxist scholars. Her book, Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case for Socialist Feminism was influential in uniting socialist activists and feminist ones in a common struggle for freedom. Today we discuss what this means, and about that teacher who was sacked from Eton for mansplaining feminism. We also talk about Avatar

On the surface, Dr. Rahul Rao's book is about the anti-homosexuality law which was debated between 2009 and 2014 in the Ugandan parliament and its links to US evangelical Christian activists as well as its relationship with colonial law. The book also looks at similar dynamics in postcolonial India and other parts of the world where sexuality is more than a personal issue, but one of major political significance. However, at a deeper level, the book is about how even sexuality, perhaps one of the most personal aspects of our lives, is not only political but geopolitical. I speak here about the book and Rahul's thoughts about queer theory's relationship with feminist theory - and about what inspired him to write the book.

When Beyond the Pale: White Women, Racism and History was published in the 90s, it was a powerful message against racism in both colonial and feminist politics. Vron Ware discussed the concept of race and whiteness in particular within those political movements, and how it intersected with anti-racist and racist projects. Although problematising the very foundation of race, the book is beautifully written and was influential in both me and Billy's life. To be able to speak to her now was very exciting for both of us and we couldn't wait to speak to her about different ways in which the book is still relevant today. For example, the role of the white girl as a victim of South Asian grooming gangs in England seemed as powerful as those used by the right as explained in Professor Ware's work. But the interview started on a more personal note.

In 1978, Angela Carter published a book that was the complete antithesis to Andrea Dworkin's anti-porn stance. For Carter, pornography represented a possibility of a gender revolution. It was abstracted and pure, showed oppression as it fundamentally was, and it allowed the possibility of change. Carter did this through her analysis of Marquis de Sade and his pornographic literature, which she looked on favourably for reasons we explore in today's episode.

In 1976, Merlin Stone published her book on the prevalence of goddess worship in most of human history until the introduction of Abrahamic religions who erased not only the female gods, but also the role of powerful women in society. The end of the female creator god, or rather the sidelining of her as a "great wife" or "nurturer of prophets", mirrored the lowered status of women in society. Stone illustrates this using ancient sculptors and art work. We had some help at the end of this episode from Dr. Amina Nawaz, who shared some of her own experience doing research on the feminine in Islamic theology.

In 1975, Evelyn Reed did what Kate Millet said couldn't  be done. She traced the origins of patriarchy to its origins. Her argument was that it was the introduction of capitalism that brought the original, more equal, matrilineal societies to their demise. These societies were defined by the power of women within them, the equality that existed between the sexes and the rules which were in place to keep all of it together. We also talk to Dr. Igor Cherstich from UCL about the traditions within anthropology in looking at origins of patriarchy.

Anneka Harry, author, comedian, actor, producer, and general champion, spoke with Arash and Billy about her book Lady Sidekick. The conversation moved across Indiana Jones, Gladiator, and obviously Wonder Woman. Her book discusses 50 of the most common tropes for women in movies so we discussed how she imagined us moving away from narratives based in tropes.