Page 58 - Cogito, ergo sum
P. 58

Rethinking Gender : Unravelling


                                 The Clash of Narratives








             Salma  El-Wardany,  a  Huffington                 have  found  it  hard  to  get  people
             Post writer, describes herself as a               on their side. However, a century
             "half  Egyptian,  half  Irish  Muslim             later, it appeared to have become
             writer travelling the world eating                normal,  if  not  acceptable,  for
             cake       and      dismantling          the      women  born  with  all  the  rights
             patriarchy.       "As    part     of    this      their forefathers had fought for to
             dismantling,         El-Wardany         has       react with more harsh words than
             particular  affinity  for  the  phrase            had  been  used  when  the  stakes
             ‘all  men  are  trash’.  El-Wardany               were much higher.
             endorses        this     discourse        by

             arguing it translates to a critique               This campaign is not confined to
             of  masculinity's  glacial  growth,               Twitter  hashtaggery.  Over  the
             claiming  it  contains  women's                   last  decade,  we've  seen  a  variety
             wrath,      frustration,      hurt,     and       of  buzzwords,  such  as  "male
             suffering.       This      phrase,      she       privilege,"  enter  regular  public
             claims, serves as a rallying cry, a               discourse. Like most slogans, it's
             key to the "cross with men" club.                 easy  to  say  but  difficult  to  pin
             This  sentiment,  however,  is  not               down.
             confined          to       El-Wardany's
             expressions. Journalist Ezra Klein
             attempts         to      decode         this
             seemingly  extreme  expression,
             suggesting        it   is    a    way     of
             conveying          frustration         with

             pervasive  sexism  rather  than  a
             literal call for harm.


             Saying  'Kill  All  Men'  may  have
             been an overly enthusiastic tactic
             to advocate for female suffrage at
             a time when women did not have                    The  idea  of  'the  patriarchy,'
             the  right  to  vote.  First-wave                 which      suggests       that     modern
             feminists pushing for equality by                 Western cultures are constructed
             following such strategies would                   to favour men over women, has








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