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Mansfield on Palin’s "Corrective" to American Feminism

In an interesting article, the esteemed professor Harvey C. Mansfield gently suggests that Sarah Palin may be more a corrective to than the embodiment of feminism.   

Discussions - 8 Comments

Wow: what a clear-sighted man; and what an incisive article.

My favorite sentence: "You may be sure that I am not the first one to notice that feminist women are unerotic."

That was my favorite sentence too...conservative critics of feminism often point out the dismissal of nature and natural sex differences that drives its most extreme contemporary forms yet often neglected is how stultifyingly unerotic it is....in attempting to transcend nature it simultaneously trancends the natural opportunities for erotic expression.

He really is profound, and obviously an authority on what is erotic. I am suprised that Mansfield is able to type, for all the energy he must spend beating away women with a stick.

"She spoke proudly of "my guy," grateful to the man who was hers--implying that she needed him, and that any woman needs a guy of her own."

This implication eludes me. If I speak proudly of my kids, does that mean that I need them, and that others need kids, as well? If I am proud of my college, does that mean that I need it, and that everyone else needs a college, too? Is it the pride, or the ownership that implies that others of my gender need what I have? If I speak of my prostate trouble, does that imply that others should suffer the same? Or, must we add the pride for this implicit implication to apply to others of my gender?

"She introduced her children, especially little Trig, the one with Down's syndrome. She was displaying a mother's unconditional love, as opposed to the conditional love that insists on a "wanted" child. She did these things unapologetically, quite unafraid of seeming to be a normal, healthy sexist female: one who knows what it is to be a woman and enjoys it."

I remember being inspired by Jim Kelly, who was very open and publicly loving of his son, Hunter, who died in 2005 of a rare disease of the nervous system. Now, I am confused, if Kelly (ex-QB for the Buffalo Bills) was actually exhibiting behavior only appropriate for sexist females, does that make him some kind of a freak of nature?

Clearly, Fung has never met HCM . . . nor any woman who has.

Well, I saw the photo that ran in the Forbes article. That WAS "HM" in the top photo, correct? The one with the cold sore on his lip?

Fung proves (again) that it's not only feminist women who are mystified by things erotic. Between distractions with cold sores and prostrate troubles, it's no wonder the imagination is so limited.

i agree w hcm that "my guy" was the perfect way of describing the man.

I remember well, how the erotic Gerald Ford referred to Nixon's ex-buddy Rummy with the same endearment. Oh, what a time they must have had!

https://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917912-2,00.html

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