Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 10:05:55 -0500
From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood-AT-panix.com>
Subject: Re: M-I: Re: Zizek on PKs


Rakesh, you're not going to get any argument from me on the repellent
nature of the leadership of the Christian right, nor am I going to find
anything kind to say about Ralph Reed. What I've been trying to do is
understand why massive numbers of people are attracted to such movements.
By focusing just on the (unarguably) evil leadership, you're just ignoring
the issue of what draws millions of people to such movements, or implictly
assuming that the American masses are full of fascist shock troops.

And as for this...

>My sense is that Marxists don't identify with those voices, often women or
>"pussy" men, because they are themselves a wimpy bunch who dare not speak
>up against a football coach and his call for male bonding.

I don't know if you're saying I'm one of these guys, but I'll proudly
identify with women and "pussy" men, and denounce the repellent idiocy of
male bonding rituals from now 'til I draw my last breath. I think you have
to acknowledge, though, that the PKs represent a departure from traditional
male bonding rituals - they sing, hug, and even cry. Now I'm sure we can do
some dialectical do-wah-diddy on this, how they're incorporating
post-masculinist sensitivity in a new re-assertion of masculine privilege,
but things are not as simple as you say.

Doug




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