Theos-Talk Archives (September 1997 Message tl00108)

Tom Robertson strenuously objected to my characterization of the tone of 
his work as constantly expressing a "vicious" mode toward feminism. He 
asked several times for examples. But his response itself is the best (or 
worst) example that could be hoped for. All one needs to do to get 
examples is respond to him. There was at least one personal attack in 
almost every sentence and more than one in some. I will provide just one 
example of paranoid ranting, personal attack, and the invocation of the 
word "feminist" the way a McCarthyite (or Reichian) would use "Communist":

>Could you give an example of my "vicious" enmity towards the
>liberation of women?  Or did it just sound good, so you wrote it?  How
>you got your entire perception of what I have written is a total
>mystery to me.  Could you just be taking the word of biased feminists?

Then I saw that, as if one message could not contain his wrath, he had to 
respond a second time to my same message, this time including more than 
one personal attack per line. This is bizarre, outraged, outrageous, 
over-the-top, worrisomely crazy stuff.

Let me throw some questions your way, Tom. Catch or not as you will.

How do you feel about the inclusion of gender equality in the basic goals 
statement of the Theosophical Society?

How do you feel about the prominence of women in its leadership?

Were they fit to serve, and did their service help validate other women's 
aspirations toward leadership and service in their own life paths?

If so, are you glad?

Do you feel that the basic direction of feminism (a.k.a. women's 
liberation and the suffrage movement) from Mary Wollstonecraft through 
Blavatsky and Besant and on into the present day has been fundamentally 
misdirected?

Do you believe that women are unfairly assigned an oppressed and 
underprivileged status in society and that this should be remedied?

Were there some particular women or feminists that you knew personally 
who outraged you? What were the events if so?

And see if you can leave the constant personal attacks and snide 
imprecations out of it this time. Thanks.

--
Tim Maroney    tim@maroney.org    http://www.maroney.org