The wisdom of Dr. Serizawa
In the 2014 film Godzilla, fictional monsters begin to battle as a character named Dr. Ishirō Serizawa famously advocates the conflict by stating, “The arrogance of men is thinking nature is in our control and not the other way around. Let them fight.” It was a pivotal turning point in the movie.
Rather than disturbing one’s opponents when they clash, Serizawa allows perceived threats to humanity the opportunity to defeat themselves. This rationale is akin to not interrupting one’s opponent when an error is made so that one’s adversary will suffer defeat without significant effort.
Instead of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory—losing when it seemed a win was inevitable—Serizawa was wise enough not to interfere when behemoths fought. Today, I applaud the wisdom of Serizawa as antagonists struggle in the sociopolitical arena.
International Women’s Day
Today (March 8, 2023) is International Women’s Day. Visiting the website of this day’s namesake, I discovered the following:
Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all #EmbraceEquity.
In a blogpost entitled Oki-woke, Pinoke, I addressed my concerns with diversity, equity, inclusivity, and accessibility (DEIA)—often simplified by eliminating “accessibility” from the acronym, presumably to keep people from mocking “DIE.” This is a distinction without a difference.
On the surface, promotion of DEI may sound morally and ethically legitimate. However, under its covering, the illegitimacy of this form of activism becomes quite apparent.
The International Women’s Day website begins its declaration by stating, “Imagine a gender equal world,” and goes on to advocate “equitable” outcomes. Yet, these terms are contradictory.
One source explains that equality is the “access to and distribution of a set of resources evenly across individuals” and equity is the “access to or distribution of resources according to need.” The source adds, “Equality assumes that everybody is the same and everybody needs the same thing. But some people need more because they started with less.”
This framing may seem reasonable, or even good, moral, or appropriate to some people. Still, others—such as me—recognize the distinction as relating to Karl Marx who is credited as having said, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
Affording people an opportunity to access resources will not guarantee success. The idea of equity presumably rights this perceived wrong by manipulating who receives access to resources.
I’ve heard people claim that equity essentially assures equal outcomes. I reject this conclusion, because restraining some people while elevating others isn’t about equality—it’s about power and dominance.
As such, I consider the International Women’s Day website’s promotion of both equality and equity nonsensical, because these terms are incompatible. Not everyone will succeed in life and creating an unequal system to disadvantage some while advantaging others is, in my opinion, a monstrous affair.
Feminism vs. intersectionality
I can understand that some people don’t know the difference between feminism and intersectionality. Whereas feminism is said to addresses a belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes, I think of intersectionality as feminism plus neo-Marxism.
This is what gives rise to critical theory, which arguably ushered in DEIA principles. Personally, I consider both feminism and intersectionality to be net negative activist movements which are largely misunderstood and grossly misapplied.
To be clear, I consider these ideologies to be monstrous.
Today, as perhaps hundreds of millions of people will applaud women—for which I take no particular issue and in which I do not participate—I jovially observe two egregious belief systems clash. Let them fight.
Those who advocate women’s rights are currently at odds with people who champion women+ rights. Per one source, the expression of “women+ entails trans women, femmes, genderfluid people, cis women, and more.”
I have no ideological leviathan in this conflict. Therefore, I have no intention of interrupting these opponents as they brawl.
The arrogance of this man would be to think unnatural ideological systems are within my control, as I remain powerless regarding the reach and influence such opposing beliefs have over others. Therefore, let… them… fight!
Conclusion
This post has little to do with individuals or groups of women. I like some women, I dislike some women, and I haven’t met most women in order to form an opinion about an entire population of people based on a shared identity.
Women aren’t a monolith and I’m in no position to determine if they are good, bad, right, wrong, or otherwise based on petty differences from my own sex or gender. Therefore, I make no assertion about women as a whole herein.
Nonetheless, I do reject both feminism and intersectionality. As such, when these two unaccommodating ideological monsters meet for battle with one another, I have no interest in interfering with the philosophically mutual combat.
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Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
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Coleman, T. (2020, April 8). Women+ beyond the binary. TC Consulting. Retrieved from https://www.tanaishacolemanconsulting.com/diversity-inclusion-blog/womxnhood-beyond-the-binary
Enriquez, A. (2021, October 25). Q. How does fair use work for book covers, album covers, and movie posters? Penn State. Retrieved from https://psu.libanswers.com/faq/336502
GLAAD. (n.d.). GLAAS media reference guide 11th edition. Retrieved from https://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender
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Hollings, D. (2023, February 9). Feminism. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/feminism
Hollings, D. (n.d.). Hollings Therapy, LLC [Official website]. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/
Hollings, D. (2022, September 10). Oki-woke, Pinoke. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/oki-woke-pinoke
Hollings, D. (2022, November 7). Personal ownership. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/personal-ownership
Hollings, D. (2022, November 25). Victimhood. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/victimhood
Human Rights Campaign, The. (n.d.). Glossary of terms. Retrieved from https://www.hrc.org/resources/glossary-of-terms
International Women’s Day. (2023). International Women’s Day March 8, 2023. Retrieved from https://www.internationalwomensday.com/
Know Your Meme. (2015). Godzilla – Let them fight [Image]. Retrieved from https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/757498-godzilla
Movieclips. (2020, March 2). Godzilla (2014) - Let them fight scene (7/10) | Movieclips [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/NocoxyMuXg8
Murphy, C. (2023, January 11). Equity vs. equality: What’s the difference? Health. Retrieved from https://www.health.com/mind-body/health-diversity-inclusion/equity-vs-equality
Shewan, B. (2019, February 15). Are you femme? What femme isn’t and what it is. The Affirmative Couch. Retrieved from https://affirmativecouch.com/are-you-femme-what-femme-isnt-and-what-it-is/
Thomas, S. S. (2017, April 19). What it means if someone is gender-fluid. Refinery 29. Retrieved from https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2017/04/150470/what-is-gender-fluid
Thomas, S. S. and Andrews, T. (2021, March 26). Your everything-to-know guide on what it means to be cisgender. Cosmopolitan. Retrieved from https://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a25253578/cisgender-meaning-definition/
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