4 — Friday, February 28, 1992 - North Shore News The feminist cause: A revolt against nature IT APPEARS that some readers believe I dislike women, It would seem to be of cosmic importance whether (a) I do or (b) I do not. However, in the interests of grading one of the very smallest grains of sand on the Great Beach of Truth, the correct answer is both (a) and (b). That is: there are women I like, and women | dislike. 1 could say the same thing about men. Or the English. Or jazz. Or pieces of pecan pie. No, no. I take that back. I’ve never met a piece of pecan pie I’ve disliked. This is pretty arcane stuff so far, right? Anyway, we've estab- lished that 1 don’t dislike women. After ail, my mother was one of thein. So are my wife and daugh- ters. But if the question is put: Do I dislike feminists? Well ... closer. By the way, that can’t possibly be sexist, can it? Because there are men who proudly proclaim their feminism, In fact, come to think of it, even finunt it, in a penile, P'm-with-you-women-and-so- P'm-on-the-winning-side-no- matter-what sort of way. But, whether espoused by women or men, and carefully ex- cluding matters of equal rights in law and equal access in the mar- ketplace — not to be confused with the infamous *‘equal pay for work of equal value,”’ a concept beloved by feminist ideologues, by bureaucrats, and by solemn com- mittees of both, incestuously assisted by like-minded consul- tants and researchers — I'm op- posed not just to feminist ideology but to the arrangement of the mental furniture of the feminist ideclogues. It is depressingly modern fur- - niture, and it is depressingly ar- ranged. But who am I, you say? Who cares what | think, you say? OK, I quote someone who puts it ad- mirably well: **Women’s liberation comes to the crux of its true grievance. Not that women are mistreated, discriminated against, oppressed, WV funeral service set . for lawyer A FUNERAL service wil! be held March 2 at St. Stephen's Anglican Church, 885-22nd St., West Van- couver, for distinguished lawyer and labor-dispute arbitrator Hugh Ladner. Mr. Ladner died Feb. 18 while swimming off the west coast of Hawaii during a vacation. He was 52. Mr. Ladner was the son of the late county court Judge Graham B. Ladner. Mr. Ladner's mother, Mary, resides in West Vancouver. A UBC law school graduate, Mr. Ladner was called to the bar in 1965, He moved to Kelowna in 1976 where he started the Warren Ladner law firm. Mr. Ladner was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1982. He started work in 1987 as an industrial inquiry commissioner in several labor disputes. In recent years, Mr. Ladner es- tablished an equestrian ranch in Kelowna with Tennessee Walker horses. The horses were used to aid handicapped children. The area known as Ladner in the municipality of Delta was named after Mr. Ladner’s great grandfather Thomas E. Ladner. Mr. Ladner is survived by his wife, Sharon, his four children, Edward, Eric, Theresa and Susan; his mother, Mary; and three sisters. Trevor Lautens GARDEN OF BIASES enslaved, but that they are — women.”’ Exactly. For all its intellectual pretensions, feminism demands that society change what society clearly is incapable of changing. Nature. Feminism is nothing if not a revolt against nature. And thus the very best kind of stick with which to beat society and the most durable of grievances: the griev- ance without remedy. That is what disarms and frustrates feminism’s critics: the reason can’t ovt-reason the non- rational. That is the point of the passage quoted above, by Midge Decter, writing nearly 20 years ago in her book The New Chastity and Other Arguments Against Women's Lib- eraiion. More currently, no one is enraging feminists more than another woman who proclaims herself a feminist, Camitle Paglia. (Have you left, readers? Are you bored? Well, I can’t apolo- gize. { find the issue fascinating.) Camille Paglia is the author of a book that has caused a sensation in thinkin’ circles called Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickin- son. No, you won't find it in the Top 10 rack at the supermarket checkout, and it’s a hard read and a very erudite one. Some of her machine-gun sentences baffle me. But her cen- tral message is clear: like Midge Decter, she reaffirms the primacy of nature, working to purposes that confound societal goals and yearnings. Paglia compresscd a great deal of her message in an interview last fall when asked whether ‘*blonde jokes’’ were sexist. Said she: ‘The whole thing (feminism) is becoming increasing- ly morose, neurotic, passive-ag- gressive, victim-centred, melan- cholic, and so on. ‘*Feminists have become people “with clipboards and checklists, adding up the transgressions against them. The battle between the sexes should be seen as human comedy. It is funny ... Political correctness is ridiculous.”” For all her intetlectualism, Paglia is flat-footedly com- monsensical about some of the high-risk demands that feminism is insisting upon as a matter of right. Few men would dare assert, as she does: ‘‘Blaming the victim is justified if the victim is stupid.”’ Now, all of this is a very long introduction — hell, | could write 17 coluinns of introduction to any subject — to a reflection of Justice Minister Kim Campbell’s pronouncement to the Canadian Bar Association meeiing last weekend at Whistler. Or perhaps, more accurately, it’s a reflection on what the Van- couver Province’s black-caps headline made of her remarks: “NO SEXISTS NEED APPLY.” Now, I rather like our justice minister (and MP for Vancouver Centre), even though she once, | do believe, actually swore at me. She is a very brainy person and still manages to keep a twinkle in her eye. So what she said was, I'd say, rather more minimalist than the Province headline promised — certainly less than many ideologically over-heated Van- couver journalists would want her to say. Campbell said that among the disqualified for the bench is the candidate **known to be a notorious sexist or insensitive,’’ An exotic safari into the heart of fine East African cuisine PSSIYL! “Put some spice in your life” Bring in this ad for ONE FREE DINNER ENTREE When a second dinner entree of equal or greater value is purchased (up to $10.00). Not valid with any other promotional discount. Not valid with ! buffet. Maximum 2 [coupons p per dinner party. Valid to March 15/92. “OPEN 7. 7 DAYS A WEEK * * Recommended “Where to Eat in Canada”, '89, 90, "91 x x 1344 LONSDALE AVE. NORTH VANCOUVER 984-2775 F-A-S-T COLLISION REPAIRS CALL THE PROFESSIONALS AT JAYLORMOT IVE 1959 LTD. FREE RENTAL COURTESY CARS B.C.A.A. APPROVED — A.R.A. CERTIFIED 1.C.B.C. VENDOR FOR ALL MAKES JAYLORMOTIVE NORTH VAN. QUALITY WORKMANSHIP TRUSTWORTHY SERVICE MNINORTH VAN. SRSYEAT rs 985-7455 the Province reported. Fair enough. Doubtless there are misogynous men, though in the legal business I’d say that more common is lawyers’ often appallingly low pay for their legal secretaries, who frequently are smarter than their bosses. But the uncomfortable question remains: ‘‘a notorious sexist or insensitive’ potential judge ac- cording to whom? Who will judge the judge? They are, of course, already be- ing judged (along with politicians, academics, and journalists like myself who doubtless would receive a very low rating) by the feminist wielders of clipboards and checklists mentioned by Camille Paglia. To her credit, the justice minister defended the integrity of Peter Van der Hoop, then a coun- ty court judge, in a judgment in a sexual assault case that had feminist lobby groups screaining for his scalp. Those groups — and they’re not just ‘‘fringe’’ groups, they include very mainstream, establishment ones funded from the public purse, like the Status of Women — talk about the need for infor- mation and education for judges. But their record belies their claim. They mean indoctrination and intimidation. INTERNATIONAL RMEN’S & WOMEN’S QUALITY CASUAL WEAR ONE \ct LION DOLLARS OF . 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