Tag Archives: idealizing women

What Do Women Want?

Posted on February 7, 2023 by Abigail

At the beginning of the American feminist movement, a distinguished philosophical journal, The Monist, brought out an entire issue on the subject. It included my contribution, “Feminism Without Contradictions.” There I pointed out some of the dangerous rocks, shoals and … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Biblical God, bigotry, bureaucracy, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Law, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, science, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a female perspective on Freud, American feminism, caricaturing women, castration fear, civilized discontent, compensating women, confidences between strangers, cost of sublimation, European women, female role models, females as defective males, feminine models, femininity and womanliness, feminism and philosophy, Freud's map of consciousness, Freudian inner life, Freudian New York, Freudian sublimation, Freudian unconscious, gender balance, gender identity, gender norms, gender specific, idealizing women, incestuous passion, liberated women, men as the enemy, nonbiologic aims in Freud, Oedipus complex, opening up to strangers, pre-feminist America, pre-feminist double binds, pre-feminist fashion, pre-feminist women, primal defect, protective privacies, protective rights, rollback of rights, sexual identity, sisterhood, sisterhood and feminism, social constructs, southern women, sublimation in Freud, The Monist, unconscious strategy, unequal power dynamic, unisex facilities, what women want, woman as social construct, women as castrators, women as defective, women on a pedestal, women writers, women's bathrooms, women's Freudian compensations, women's Freudian sublimation, women's locker rooms, women's prisons, women's right to achieve, women's rights, women's sports, women's vulnerability, World of Desire | Leave a comment

The Eternal Feminine

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Abigail

The Eternal Feminine The other night I had a dream where some medical expert was examining me for breast cancer. He seemed properly qualified to do this and the examination did not in the least bother me. Then I noticed … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, bigotry, bureaucracy, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Law, Legal Responsibility, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, master/slave relation, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, Mysticism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, pacifism, Past and Future, Peace, Philosophy, Poetry, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, science, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged "femininity" misused, 92nd Street Y, American Philosophical Association, APA dinner, APA meeting, Be a woman!, belittling women, breast cancer, bullying women, city smarts, collegial dinner, conceptual misunderstandings, criminal skills, debasing women, defending a buddy, deference to woman, don't hit a girl, dream vision, feminine power, feminine yielding, femininity rightly used, feminism as male excuse, Feminism's unintended consequences, fighting dirty, ganging up, Goethe's Faust, groupthink, honoring women, idealizing women, invisibility as self-defense, male gallantry, male honor, Male Power, male protectiveness, man's strength v woman's strength, media representations of women's prowess, medical privacy, misreading women, misunderstanding feminism, misuses of language, New York City fireman, protective power, pseudo-feminists, real v imaginary combats, sexual predator, strategic use of prayer, suffragists, talk in code, the eternal feminine, unprotective males, women's privacy, women's rights, women's vulnerability, women’s dignity, yielding as power, yin and yang | Leave a comment

The Man/Woman Thing

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Abigail

The Man/Woman Thing We were having dinner at the Mission Inn, which is one of the attractions of Riverside, the town in California where we stayed during the week of my neuropathy treatments. The Mission Inn is an architectural and … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Female Power, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Institutional Power, Judaism, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Masculinity, master/slave relation, memory, Mind Control, Modern Women, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romantic Love, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged a good man, accepting poor treatment, American aesthetic, American architecture, American landmarks, bashert, bashert marriages, being stood up, co-creative relationships, common courtesy, creativity in difference, debasing men, eligible man, excuses men make, exploiting vulnerabilities, expulsion from Eden, female powerlessness, healthy relationship, holding oneself in high regard, honor in relationships, honoring men, humiliating women, ideal relationships, idealizing men, idealizing women, Judah ha Nasi, King James Bible, lose-lose v win-win, male/female polarity, man/woman asymmetries, man/woman discourtesy, mutual protectiveness, neuropathy treatments, non-advice, non-ideal relationships, original sin, phony excuses, profaning relationships, public humiliation, rabbinic midrash, Riverside California, romantic destiny, seductive line, self-esteem, selling the Brooklyn Bridge, settling for less, social constructs, taste in architecture, the curse on Adam, the curse on Eve, the price you put on yourself, the way God sees us, toxic relationship, unfair advantage, yin and yang, zero sum game | 1 Comment

Androgyny?

Posted on October 22, 2019 by Abigail

Androgyny? “The Lure of Androgyny” is the title of an article I just read. It reports that the trend to downplay biological differences between the sexes is now world-wide. This is different from giving women equal opportunity. More like: THERE’S … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, Anthropology, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, books, Chivalry, Christianity, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Immorality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master/slave relation, Medieval, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, morality, motherhood, novels, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, Political Movements, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, Reading, Reductionism, relationships, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, scientism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged actors and actresses, androgyny, anti-male prejudice, athletes, biological female, biological male, blue jeans, censorship, crude men, cultural change, Dante's Beatrice, debased men, defending honor, defending women’s honor, Emmanuel Levinas, entertainment fields, equal opportunity, female vulnerability, feminine security, fire fighting, firefighter rescue, French philosophy, Freudian prohibitions, gender as social construct, Hamlet, hatred of men, high fashion designers, idealizing women, level playing field, Levinas’s “And God Created Woman”, life or death situation, magazine article, make love like a man, male bashing, male gallantry, male protectiveness, male trustworthiness, marital partnership, marital protection, Marriage, Mary Eberstadt’s “The Lure of Androgyny”, masculine protection, misandry, misogyny, Ophelia, overcoming inhibitions, parental role model, policewoman, political correctness, pop music, pressures on men, prizes for acting, protective fathers, redemptress, relations between the sexes. human to human v man to woman, respect for women, Richard Lovelace’s “To Lucasta on Going to the Wars”, sexual revolution, sexual tact, single mother, targeting weakness, the arts, the eternal feminine, The New York Review of Books, the victimized woman, theatre awards, toxic masculinity, trendy article, trust, truth in sports, unisex, unisex bathrooms, unisex designers, unisex outfits, unisex sports, winning the race, women athletes, women firefighters, women in the military, women's liberation, women’s self-defense, Woodstock, worldwide trends | Leave a comment

Apologies to Kierkegaard

Posted on August 15, 2017 by Abigail

Apologies to Kierkegaard In a previous post or two of “Dear Abbie,” I found myself sharply critical – denunciatory even – of Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). He is the Danish philosopher/theologian who is still studied by serious people today, both inside … Continue reading →

Posted in Absurdism, Academe, Action, Afterlife, Alienation, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Atheism, Autonomy, beauty, Biblical God, Childhood, Chivalry, Christianity, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, Erotic Life, Eternity, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, Guilt and Innocence, Health, Hegel, hegemony, Heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, ID, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Immorality, Immortality, Institutional Power, Journalism, Legal Responsibility, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Memoir, memory, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mortality, Mysticism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, novels, Ontology, Oppression, Past and Future, Peace, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Poetry, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, radicalism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, secular, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, Spirituality, status, status of women, Suffering, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Theism, Theology, Time, victimhood, victims, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged ancestral curse, anthropology, apology, Archiving, Ardor, Australian anthropology, Biographical researchers, biography, Bordello, Change of mind, Cold feet, Condemnations, Cursing God, Danish philosophy, Danish theology, dating, Dead and gone, Dead but not gone, Death and forgetting, Death and loss, Decent husband, Definitive biography, denunciation, embarrassment, Engagement to marry, Exotic, Exploited servant, fallen woman, Family curse, Far away places, Fear of intimacy, Fear of syphilis, Feminine pride, first love, genius, Good wife, Having enough faith, Having more faith, Healthy-minded girls, Hidden agenda, House of ill repute, idealization, idealizing women, imperfect world, Instability, Insufficient faith, intimacy, Joakim Garff's Kierkegaard’s Muse: The Mystery of Regine Olsen, Joakim Garff’s Kierkegaard A Biography, Kierkegaard biography, Last energies, Letting one down, Lifelong ardor, Loner, Marriage proposal, Masturbation, Merchant class, Mere cleverness, Mind Control, Morbid tangles, Offenses against God, original sin, Paper trail, patriarchy, philosopher, Poor shepherd boy, Pre-marital cold feet, Preserving memories, Prosperous merchant, Protestant culture, Psychic tangles, Regine Olson, Respectable families, Reversed judgment, Reversed opinion, Romantic memory, Running in the red, Second thoughts, Secret heart, self-protection, Sensitive loner, Serious thinker, Shotgun wedding, significant other, Soren Kierkegaard, Soul capture, Spiritual sincerity, Std, Straightforwardness, Sufficient faith, Syphilis, The unseen, theologian, theology, To jilt, Trivializing first love, Truthful, truthfulness, Tying the knot, Unavailable girls, Uneasy conscience, Unforgotten, Unseen witnesses, vulnerability, Whorehouse, Withdrawn condemnation | Leave a comment

The Blame Game

Posted on March 21, 2017 by Abigail

The Blame Game We don’t start life with a clean slate. Childhood is the time we spend figuring out what kind of a hand of cards we’ve been dealt and how to start playing it. What happens to us – … Continue reading →

Posted in "Absolute Freedom and Terror", Absurdism, Academe, Action, Alienation, American Politics, Anthropology, Art, Art of Living, Autonomy, beauty, Childhood, Chivalry, Cities, Class, conformism, Contemplation, Contradictions, Cool, Courage, Courtship, cults, Cultural Politics, Culture, Desire, dialectic, eighteenth century, Erotic Life, Ethics, Evil, Existentialism, exploitation, Faith, Fashion, Femininity, Feminism, Films, Freedom, Friendship, Gender Balance, glitterati, Guilt and Innocence, hegemony, Heroes, hierarchy, History, history of ideas, Idealism, Ideality, Identity, Ideology, Idolatry, Institutional Power, Jews, Journalism, Legal Responsibility, life and death struggle, Literature, Love, Male Power, Martyrdom, Masculinity, master, Memoir, memory, Messianic Age, Mind Control, Modernism, Moral action, Moral evaluation, Moral psychology, Mysticism, nineteenth-century, novels, Oppression, Past and Future, Phenomenology of Mind, Philosophy, Political, Political Movements, politics, politics of ideas, post modernism, Power, presence, promissory notes, Propaganda, Psychology, public facade, Public Intellectual, Race, Reductionism, relationships, Religion, Roles, Romance, Romantic Love, Romanticism, Seduction, self-deception, Sex Appeal, Sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, Social Conventions, social ranking, Sociobiology, spiritual journey, status, status of women, Suffering, Terror, The Examined Life, The Problematic of Men, The Problematic of Woman, the profane, the sacred, Time, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Utopia, victimhood, victims, Violence, War, Work, Writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged appeals to fairness, black leotard, blaming the victim, cartoon, cat calls, childhood, civil rights movement, class bias, clean slate, contradictions in capitalism, coquetry, cultural bias, despising women, documentary film, dodging blame, end of class struggle, end of history, enemy of the people, exploiting women, feminist movement, film footage, gayborhood, going viral, group identity, group preferences, guillotine, hand-to-hand combat, hanging out, hitch-hiking, idealizing women, indignant outcry, intersectionality, involuntary pregnancy, Les Tricoteuses, lynch mob, Manhattan, mob rule, moral rank, Neo-Marxism, New York City, off-Broadway comedy, people of color, persecution of feminists, protecting identity, racist film, reality TV, Reign of Terror, Robespierre, romantic truth, safe space, second wave feminism, self-defense, skin in the game, social asymmetry, social conscience, social experiment, social identity, social inequality, strategy for women, street mores, street people, tabula rasa, the blame game, the dance of life, the game of life, the hand we're dealt, the internationale, the knitting women, the male animal, the oppressed, the weaker sex, the wretched of the earth, thought police, victim competition, victims status, white people, wolf whistles, women as losers, women asking for it, women's rights, women's vulnerability, working class solidarity | 2 Comments

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