Comments on: Noam Chomsky: “Pornography is the Humiliation and Degradation of Women”

By: Satsuma

Satsuma — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:35:38 +0000

Thanks Aletha, now I remember those sexual harassment lawsuits at Pacifica many years ago. An old friend of mine had a radio show there for years, and she described the situation for feminists in the radio station as toxic. The leftist men were brutally sexist every time she came into the office to work.
This might be a good reason leftist women like Goodman are so silent about feminism or women’s issues, and that almost all the guests on the show are leftist men.

By: Aletha

Aletha — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:53:17 +0000

Amy Goodman works for Pacifica, though her show also airs on some NPR stations. I think she is the most highly paid of those who have shows at Pacifica. She probably does not want to risk rocking the boat, considering most of the management have been leftist males who wink at, if not actively participate in, rampant sexual harassment at Pacifica.

By: Satsuma

Satsuma — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:56:02 +0000

P.S. Amy Goodman has been so out of it on feminism, that I became curious about her. I was surprised that this radio voice is actually MY SAME AGE!!! So she grew up at the height of the feminist movement, but seems to just do male centric human rights and political stories. Anyone know what this is about? NPR’s problems with sexual harassment suits? Anyone care to comment on this?

By: Satsuma

Satsuma — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:54:16 +0000

What’s up with Amy Goodman anyway? She should be asking him these questions. “Democracy Now” is a good program but so devoid of feminist commentary that it is positively a throw back to the 60s SDS gang.

By: Satsuma

Satsuma — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:52:14 +0000

Well at least he admits this, but he always has to be asked.
If feminism in one of the if not THE most important movement to come out of the 60s (actually it is the 70s that was the heyday of modern feminism), then what does this say about his complete lack of commentary on it?
Again, leftist men are not talking about women. Their entire social critique is about men abusing other men. Women don’t exist in their world view and never have, so he represents the very problems he accuses others of perpetrating. Liberal men often just quit the discussion completely, and back off, never saying much at all. Oh please, ask me about Israeli men and Palestinian men, or male IBM executives and male congressmen… same old…
Women need to gang up on old Chomp– how many women students have advanced in the academic world with your mentoring? How many women professors have you supported, and who are they? How many feminist lectures have you been to? Have you met all the major feminist academics worldwide yet? Who? Just keep asking…

By: EC

EC — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:36:03 +0000

Chomsky has also recognized the criticism of him kind of sloughing off feminist analysis:

“Example 1: Not Feminist Enough

Q. A former student of yours was quoted in Mother Jones a couple of years ago as follows: “Chomsky thinks he is a feminist, but at heart he’s an old-fashioned patriarch. Of course, he’s a very good person. He has just never really understood what the feminist movement is about.” What do you make of that? How do you evaluate the feminist critique? Has it affected you or your work personally?

A. Well, I’m in no position to evaluate it. That’s for others to do. But yeah, I think the feminist movement is probably the most important development to come out of the Sixties, in terms of its actual impact on values and perceptions. How has it affected me? I don’t know. Hard to say. It probably has, but probably not as much as it should have.

Q. Is that a criticism you hear fairly often?

A. Yeah, in fact it’s a criticism I’ve been hearing for years, from friends and others. And I think there’s probably some validity to it.

(source: http://adamjones.freeservers.com/chomsky.htm )”

By: EC

EC — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:29:21 +0000

Just a quick comment regarding his politics; Chomsky is a leftist. Anarchism is apart of the left side of the political spectrum. In fact, it is the extreme left side of the political spectrum.

By: Satsuma

Satsuma — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:57:20 +0000

P.S. Woody Allen… pedofile filmaker… celebrated… so what else is new?

By: Satsuma

Satsuma — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:54:49 +0000

I’m not saying that women around the world haven’t benefited from Chomsky. What I’m saying, is that he never directly addresses the position of women in the world as women… he never even talks about women. He talks about countries, or cultures, or lack of freedom of the press, or growing fascism, but never about the fact that freedom of the press is really only about men’s right to talk.
He never comments on feminism, has no analysis of it. It’s all this authoritative “leftist” voice that is really one man talking to other men. Then when he is called on the “Hustler” interview, only then does he speak out against pornography.
I have never heard Chomsky say something that makes me mad, he is very sensible, and very good at critiquing male cultures worldwide, but it is the inherent assumption of “the male” voice, which most men can’t even detect, that is at issue here.
It’s why I don’t trust leftist men, because they use terms like “human rights” but obviously the human rights of women aren’t about to be discussed, nor are the attrocities that only affect women, for example.
A lot of women automatically believe these “great men” “include them” but I know that if women aren’t front and center, they really aren’t included. No men can possibly admit to this, because they can’t see it, feel it or hear it.

By: admin

admin — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:33:30 +0000

brainy, slightly befuddled and hapless types

Like Woody Allen. Ugh. Few behaviors match his for level of abject despicableness, yet he presents as this brainy, evolved, hapless guy, harmless like. And people keep watching his films and talking about how great he is.