To the Editor:
I write as a non-participant in and happy reader of Inner Bitch - there are many of us, you know.
A central tenent in feminist ideology is to subvert dominant forms of discourse. What this means is to escape from the distanced and unemotional logic surrounding most analysis and to venture into a balance between rationality and emotion. If intellectual pursuits are solely judged by their impassioned analysis of issues, how can a rape survivor ever tell her story and be taken seriously? Rape, incest, and molestation are serious crimes that devestate someone emotionally. Asking her to take the emotion out of her analysis and anger would be idiotic.
We can not assume that all intelligent discourse must take the same form. Some people like to write prose, some poetry, some hyperbole, some political analysis, and others a combination of all of the above. Just because a certain magazine does not prescribe to the dominant mode of discourse doesnt mean that it is not intellectual and should be dismissed.
Furthermore, all the men on campus who are over-reacting to the castration references in the magazine should ask themselves two questions. Do you really think that these women are going to come and cut off your penis? And if you really feel that they are going to, what in your past or current behavior is misogynist enough to lead you to think that these women would like to castrate you? This last question is the most important. Take a deep look into your own lifestyle; I bet if you are that paranoid that women are after you, youre going to find something that has to change.
This publication is no more a piece of trash than any other newspaper on campus is a piece of trash. Inner Bitch is a fine example of a non-traditional approach to a very difficult and emotional topic.
DAVID COHEN 94
