My friends, I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about feminism. All right, here is how I feel about feminism:
If when you say feminism you mean the legions of man-haters, the bra burners, the wreckers of free enterprise, that usurps the simple right to association freely given, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the little children from the custody of their natural fathers; if you mean the evil ideology that topples the Christian family from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of #FULLCOMMUNISM, dependency and misanthropy, then certainly I am against it.
But, if when you say feminism you mean the end of mundane daily street harassment, the cease-and-desist order sent to the stormtroopers of discouragement who prey on the developing minds of young girls, the simple dignity that women be free from discrimination or dominion, that tips the female chin upwards in pride, free from belittlement or badgering from both men and fellow women alike; if you mean the cheer of equality in the eyes of the law; if you mean the commonplace observation that your sisters, your mothers, and your daughters too are all, each and every one human beings due no more and no less the dignity afforded to their brothers, their fathers, their sons; if you mean the rigorous analytical task of isolating, identifying, and curing the many structural and institutional barriers to the natural liberties of women to seek the best ways to flourish in this world we all share; if you mean that grand project, the pursuit of which pours into our hearts and minds untold truths of the complex, often subtle ways in which the vagaries of sex and gender shape and mold both expectations and outcomes, which are used to oppress, dismiss, discount, and ignore, then certainly I am for it.
This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise.
Sweet Talk 
Why do I get the feeling that when you wrote this, you were imagining yourself speaking to hoards of applauding listeners?
You’re not far off. Original context: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If-by-whiskey
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I’m really glad I found this place, even though I suspect I annoy y’all. I love it here. 🙂
Not at all! We’re happy to have you 🙂
Aw! That’s sweet, and good to know. Thank you. 🙂
I have a question about this “if-by-whiskey” thing, if you have a moment: Is it necessarily (self-) duplicitous? Is it possible to find a genuine and robust stance in both these seemingly contradictory arguments taken together? I’m thinking something like “I’m for feminism as long as we’re talking about lifting women up rather than putting men down”. What’s wrong with being all things to all people? 🙂
I use it as a way to point out that different people can have different, legitimate interpretations of the same thing. A lot of things are poorly defined, and people use different moral frameworks to model the same phenomena.
Thanks 🙂