Q: What did Madonna's right leg say to her left?
A: Nothing--they've never met. :):):)

OK, now for the serious stuff:
As we were saying in class today, I think credibility should be the main goal of any author/artist, especially those who claim to espouse a certain "movement" or "theory." Even if at the beginning I had been predisposed to jump on Muscio's proverbial bandwagon, by now I'd be frantically signalling that wagon to STOP and let me off! I can not, will not, and never intend to voluntarily support hypocrisy, which is exactly what I would be doing now were I to be a strong supporter of this author's militant mindset. The best example of this is: here we have a radical feminist, who does nothing but chew up men and spit them out for a few hundred pages, yet who allowed herself to get pregnant not once but three times--and the last one, by her frank admission, happened when she no longer loved this man and they were indeed breaking up! Wow, what a send-off; my own disintegrated r'ships have never ended in such a way!
 Anyway, I'm sure everyone realizes that my point is NOT that a woman can not be both heterosexual and a feminist; I am merely observing that one of the very things this woman eschews--the ability of men to seduce/sexually exploit women--good Lordisa! WAKE UP!!! Except in the vile cases of rape, men don't contribute their share of procreation without a good deal of cooperation from women. Muscio's repeated use of her privilege of "choice" as a means of birth control is repugnant, and takes away some of the credibility of women who want to be Pro-Choice in a responsible way--not, as was said in class today, as a means of birth control. What Muscio needed to use was a little more self-CUNTrol, which she obviously doesn't have.
 And by the way--there is a certain amount of hypocrisy as well in calling upon a "Lordisa" while simultaneously making a sick mockery of other people's faith(s). Again, as I said today: whenever a group starts using backstabbing tactics such as these, whatever credibility that group may have earned is no longer served, and they place themselves in severe jeopardy of losing whatever respect they have gained.

First of all I really enjoyed listening in on some of the different opinions in class today, I really got more out of them than by reading on my own. I still stand by what I said in class today though I think the author of this book tends to place too much of her confidence on issues that she either knows very little about or too much confidence in the wrong aspects of feminism. In other words, she takes feminism to a rather unhealthy level. However, to her credit she mentions some great approaches to conditiong one's mind in order to face adversity but her intentions I feel remain jaded by her need to get a rise out of her audience as mentioned in class discussion earlier today. I still have more questions and concerns about this novel though which hopefully I can address or have answered in class on Monday.

Edited by author 03-25-2004 03:56 PM
Well, maybe I am the minority vote here, but I enjoyed reading this book. Yeah, there are things that I do not agree with- but if everything was as i liked, it wouldnt make me think- and would be quite frankly boring.
Jackie said everything that was initially on my mind about the book- the man hating and male bashing aspects of it really got to me. As a feminist, how can she be so hypocritical? How can she bitch about the opression/degradation of women when she says such negative things about men? If we are all to make a difference, there has to be an understanding, a common ground, and at least an ounce of humanity here. So, it made me think and reinforced that there ARE two sides to ever issue, and maybe it would do us all a little good and make a change more possible to look at some things that a man has to deal with too.
So, here's some lyrics written by Alanis Morrisette. She can say it better than I can...
A MAN...
I am a man as man i've been told
Bacon is brought to the house in this mold
Born of your bellies I yearn for the cord
Years I have groveled repentance ignored.
And i have been blamed, and i have repented
I'm working my way toward our union mended-
I am a man who has grown from a son
been crucified by enraged woman
i am a son who was raised by such men
I'm often reminded of fools i'm among.
and i have been shamed, i have relented
I'm working my way toward our union mended-
and i have been shamed, i have repented
I'm working my way toward our union mended-
We dont fare well with endless reprimands
we dont do well with our life served as a sentence
this wont work well if you're hell bent on your offence
I am a man who understands your reticence.
I am a man who still does what he can
to dispel our archaic reputation
I am a man who has heard all he can
cuz i dont fare well with endless punishment...

Muscio has got guts to write such a book and I think that opinions should be heard, but only if they are supported. Opinions are fine and dandy. People have opinions on everything, and some express them vehemently, irregardless of any kind of eviodence or support. However, in academic settings there has to be some kind of basis for the opinion, otherwise it is just amature speculation. At times, Muscio has valid perspectives on many topics, but at others it is clear that she is just specualting based on her very different and specialized experiences. Points of view cannot be taken seriously if there are no facts to back them up. It is one thing to write about personal experiences and leave it at that. A person can share all they want in whatever creative form they want and their work will most likely be taken as an inlet into another view of the world and its happenings. But Muscio has written a manifesto that she wants all women to engage in, and I do not think that that is possible in the form she has presented it in. The book is a very interesting piece that sparks a lot of different questions at the prevailing system. Nonetheless there are many aspects of the book that are just too far-fetched for many people to jump on board with Muscio's womanifesto. I agree that this is a provoking and engaging read and I did like reading it. I just think that the editor and the publisher could have been a little bit more involved than they were. The work is just a little too raw and incredible to be taken seriously.

i agree with jennifer in the sense that i really enjoyed reading Cunt. i also enjoyed hearing everyone elses opinions in class on wednesday; however i can't help but feel that we are not really looking at the big picture that is cunt. it seems as though we are tearing the book down with some offensive trivial details. personally, i like what muscio has to say... even though i admit at times some of her statements are brushing the edge.

I cannot agree with jennifer or bonnie because I still hate this book, even after reading all the way through it. I don't know how I am going to write this paper, and I think I need to do it with another person because I have nothing good to say and I need a different perspective. I just don't like how she presents the material, I don't like the shock factor, and I don't like her attitude about most of the topics. She seems so bitter and for me, that is very discrediting. I could go on and on but that would be repetitive because basically, I have not changed my mind since my last post. I actually feel upset now that I had to buy this book because I feel like I am supporting her and her issues. But I guess maybe it was good for me to read because it made me think about certain things, and now I can say I have an opinion on the book.

I would have to say that I agree with Puja (is that spelled right, I've never seen your name written out, sorry!) and Kathy that Muscio is lacking big time in the credibility department. Kathy, I agree, Muscio needed to have more CUNTrol, that was cute. I really don't have anymore to say because I agree that a lot was covered in class on Wednesday. The various points of view that were brought out and shared. I think everyone had a sense of what angles I was coming from. If the "reclaiming" of CUNT is supposed to be for all women, as Jackie and I both stated, Muscio did not have representation of women who choose to be and who are in healthy heterosexual relationships.

In reference to our class discussion today, I agree with whoever said that if we didn't get major sponsors to sponsor our events we would never get noticed by everyone, but also, if they didn't sponsor us then we would be pissed at them. It is a double edge sword...sometimes I think that no one is ever happy...but that is in all cases.