An Analysis of Gone With the Wind

Hattie McDaniel

10 June 1893 - 26 October 1952

I suggest reading Carrie-Anne Brown's thoughtful analysis of Gone With the Wind. 

A wonderful analysis indeed. I thought that Gone With the Wind was very well-written, and I thought that the movie version was very well-made. That being said, I can see the horrific levels of racism and sexism in both. 

Too many people these days refuse to take an objective view of anything, and anyone who has the least little favorable thing to say about a work that has been deemed problematic is automatically a horrible monster who approves of terrible things. It is very difficult to have a thoughtful discussion anymore.

Sly's Tackle It Tuesday Holiday Edition + Inner Champion Workbook: Chapter 9: Find Strength in Adversity

Disclosure: If readers purchase a copy of the book through the above link, I earn a small commission from Amazon.

Today's post is written by my social activist alter-ego, Sly Fawkes.

Lessons I’ve learned from challenging experiences:

When it comes to people who are hateful towards me, I've learned that it really isn't me, it's them. Note that this does not prevent the things they say from hurting or stop me from going into a downward spiral of self-loathing in every case. However, these days I am more likely to consider the source. 

If you feel the need to say crappy things about another person, it says more about you than it says about that person. I am not talking about criticisms of bad behavior, I am talking about ad hominem attacks and negative stereotypes. 

dumb blonde

lazy welfare recipient

lazy fatty

lazy (insert race here)

slut

they could just try harder

at least I'm not...

like a girl

maybe if they laid off the cheeseburgers

it's for their own good

users are losers

just get a job

if they just tried they could (insert oversimplified action here)

if they just didn't look so gay people wouldn't pick on them

godless (person who doesn't worship as I do)

disgusting bum

looks too healthy to be sick

probably faking their illness to get out of things

needs to just be more positive

was probably asking for it

Have you ever said any of these things?

Then your New Year's resolution should be to stop being judgmental and hateful. You don't know what anyone else is going through or what conditions or circumstances led them to be where they are now.

Even "if I can do it anyone can" is no excuse for being horrible to someone else. No, not "anyone can." Everyone's circumstances are different. 

Five ways I can positively channel negative energy in my life:

1. You think I'm bad at the things I do? Fine, you are welcome to think that. I'm going to do them anyway.

2. Try to educate through action. I hate the fact that damn near everything I read has to have its Moment of Size-Shaming, which immediately lowers my opinion of the work and its author. It doesn't make me popular, but I call this out wherever I see it. I also try to put my money where my mouth is. I try to have at least one large character in every story who makes a positive contribution. Actions rather than appearances are what makes a person good or bad. Fat is not synonymous with slovenly or lazy. Small is not synonymous with weak. Old is not synonymous with incapable. 

3. Realize that seeking approval from others doesn't work. Anyone who needs me to be perfect or they will ostracize me is not someone I want to keep company with.

4. Tell my story so that others who are being bullied and ostracized realize that they aren't alone.

5. Engage in activism. Try to encourage change in the way people like me are treated. Call out the use of words like "obese," which are used to stigmatize, shame, and silence larger people. 

Obese is a word used to excuse poor treatment of larger patients, to shame them into silence, and to practice lazy medicine, attributing any malady the patient reports to their adipose tissue. This attitude results in dead patients, and I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that.

Ellen Maud Bennett was a 64-year-old Canadian woman. She had been feeling ill for years, but every time she went to a doctor to try and find out what was wrong, they told her that if she just lost weight, she would feel better. When a doctor finally took her seriously, it was discovered that she had stage 4 ovarian cancer. She died a short time later.

Ovarian cancer is extremely treatable in the early stages. If doctors had listened to Ellen instead of dismissing her because of her physique, she would probably still be alive.

Ellen did not want her death to be in vain. In her obituary, she called out the lazy and bigoted practices which resulted in her untimely demise.

Personally, I think that one Ellen is worth a million sanctimonious medical "professionals" half-assing their way through patient "care." Either treat your patients--all of your patients--with respect or find another profession. 

Sometimes doing the right thing means distancing yourself from people or ideologies who refuse to treat you with respect. I have stopped calling myself a feminist after 46 years of proudly bearing the title. I began identifying as a feminist in 1973 when I was eight years old and sick to death of being told what I couldn't do because I was a girl.

Feminism, however, has changed a lot since then. These days, it seems more and more that feminism is only for women who meet a certain standard of attractiveness, and that certainly doesn't include fat women. In fact, most feminists will tell you that they refute size activism because it "promotes obesity and unhealthy lifestyles." Meanwhile, all fat people, but fat women, in particular, experience great difficulty in obtaining compassionate and competent healthcare. Women's concerns already tend to be dismissed by a sexist healthcare system as "hysterical." Fat women are seen as hysterical, lazy, and stupid.

Our current healthcare system literally kills people due to size bias. This bias, by the way, kills thin people too. A thin person is automatically assumed to be healthy, which leads to health problems being overlooked. Medical "professionals" believe that fat people would all be healthy if they'd just lose weight, thus their real health concerns are overlooked. 

Model and photographer unknown

The fact that fat women are seen by modern feminism as unworthy of activism to improve and in some cases save their lives means that modern feminism is unworthy of my support. This does not mean that I will no longer fight for all women's rights to equal treatment and opportunities. It simply means that I will no longer identify as a feminist while doing so. My actions may be feminist A.F., but until feminism embraces all women, including the round ones and those deemed "unattractive" in other ways, then feminism and I must part ways.

Sly wishes you happy holidays, be you thick or thin, and hopes that one day we can find more reasons to embrace rather than ostracize one another.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Image copyright juliahenze @123rf.com

Blow Your Stack Saturday: Feminism That Turns Against Our Fat Sisters is Not Feminist

I'm still discouraged by the use of the term "promoting obesity" regarding plus-size Instagram models by a feminist activist whose work I've long respected. Regardless of whether one feels these (generally young) women are exploiting themselves or seeking attention by posing in skimpy outfits, they are not, in fact, "promoting obesity.' 

I've heard the dismaying argument that feminism should not support size activism on numerous occasions. To believe this is to believe that a person's size is "a choice" and that everyone could "easily lose weight" if they'd just "eat less and exercise more." If this grossly oversimplified belief were true, there would be virtually no fat people because everyone who could do it would do it. If this oversimplified belief were true, I would have been a willowy twig during the years that I starved myself and engaged in orthorexia. I never was.

The woman above was Ellen Maud Bennett, a 64-year-old Canadian who died from ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer is highly treatable if detected during the early stages. 

Ellen had complained to doctors of feeling poorly for years. Their response was to tell her that if she lost weight, she'd feel better. When one of them finally decided to take her seriously, it was discovered that she had stage 4 ovarian cancer. She died a short time later.

Ellen did not want her death to be in vain, so she had her family include a letter in her obituary. I hope that everyone will take the time to read it, especially those "feminists" who believe that there is a certain weight at which your sisters should be disowned.

Here is Ellen's obituary.

For evidence-based arguments against current size-shaming medical treatment and societal prejudices against larger people, I recommend these three blogs.

Big Fat Science

Dances With Fat

Heavyweight Heart

Heavyweight Heart, in particular, has discussed the racism that was instrumental in forging our adherence to the hateful and unhealthy belief that a woman can never be too rich or too thin. All of these blogs are rich with scientific evidence against the currently held beliefs that fat is the very worst thing a person can possibly be. 

There are certain conditions that are correlated with a larger body type. Correlation is not causation. Generally speaking, telling a fat patient to lose weight in order to resolve underlying health conditions is like telling a man with male pattern baldness to regrow his thinning hair in order to lessen his chances of developing prostate cancer. There is a correlation between male pattern baldness and an increased likelihood of developing prostate cancer. Thinning hair does not cause prostate cancer. The underlying issue, increased testosterone levels, increases the likelihood of developing prostate cancer.

The Minnesota Starvation Experiment reveals what happens to the body and mind when a person engages in restrictive dieting behaviors. Diets do not work long-term in more than five percent of people who engage in dieting. Most people gain the weight they lost back and then some. After many years of weight loss attempts, the possibility of dieting bringing about significant weight loss sharply decreases.

I for one do not enjoy having every waking moment of my day focused on food because I am starving. I went through thirty-three years of yo-yo dieting, and all it brought me was "failure" and weight gain. Combining dieting behaviors with multiple endocrine conditions was a sure-fire recipe for a large body type. But neither I nor anyone else should be having to defend our right to exist and be treated with common decency in the bodies we have. 

If the majority of my sisters have decided to disown me and other women like me because we are fat, or to give lip service to supporting women of all sizes but then tearing down fat women as being lazy and "glorifying obesity" for not hiding our disgusting fat selves away from the view of decent people, then feminism has let me and my fat sisters down.

I will continue fighting for what's right, but I may no longer be able to identify as a feminist while doing so. I consider this a great loss. I first began identifying as a feminist in 1973 when I was eight years old and already tired as fuck of being told that I couldn't do anything interesting with my life because I was "just a girl."

Now I'm hearing "girls can do anything guys can do, but not if they're fat."

Fuck right off with that shit.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Image copyright juliahenze @123rf.com

Sly's Fat Friday: There Is No "Promoting Obesity"

Apparently, the singer Lizzo went to a Lakers game wearing a mini-dress with the butt cut out. Feminist Current correctly pointed out that this was one of those "WTF" things to do, which I agree with. However, the post then used the term "promoting obesity," and that is where they and I parted ways. The following is my response to the post. The comments are, predictably, a shit storm.

While I agree with pretty much everything you say here, I am disappointed to see the term "promoting obesity" used. In fact, I am disappointed to see the term "obesity" used at all. Obesity is a term used to shame, silence, and deny care to patients with larger bodies. There is no "promoting obesity." Further, that you would say such a thing implies that you feel that larger people are all gluttons who revel in their physique. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is, when you are looking at an "obese" person, you are probably looking at someone who is well-acquainted with restrictive dieting. You are most certainly looking at someone who is well-acquainted with self-loathing.

A person's physique does not indicate what or how much they eat as much as you think it does. DNA is the primary factor in determining the physique. Medical conditions and medications also play a factor. There is a high correlation between a heavy body type and poverty.

It is distressing to see the "feminism is for women, but not if they're too fat" ideal in play.

I am one of those horrible fat fatties, and I have always appreciated the fact that Feminist Current didn't seem to buy into this awful idea that women only deserve respect if they are thin enough.

I am also discouraged to see the number of commenters dragging this woman's body type into the conversation. It isn't necessary to mention her body type at all, even to say "nobody of any size should have worn such an asinine outfit." You wouldn't say that if a thin woman had done this. Why say it in this case?

~Sly Has Spoken~

Image copyright juliahenze @123rf.com

Sly's FOAD Thursday: The Trans Cult, Female Erasure, Homophobia, and Reinforcement of Gender Roles

According to TRA Theory, Jaden Smith has been going around raiding trans women's closets. Just read this entitled editorial for an explanation.

"People like Jaden are starting to wear the trans uniform without actually stating that they are transgender, and they’re claiming it for themselves under the guise of gender-neutral fashion."

So now dresses are a "trans uniform."

Jaden Smith is not transgender. Why would he state that he was? He's a young adult male. He is male regardless of what he is wearing. 

The genderist article gets worse.

"...whoever knew that they (Louis Vuitton) were actually selling womenswear for men?"

They're not. They're selling articles of clothing and accessories generally utilized by women. However, there is no rule stating that men cannot also utilize these items. 

"Jaden seems to be up for this gender-neutral, equal clothing rights thing which allows men to wear women’s clothes without any fear of ridicule."

The more I read of this entitled mess, the more I started to wonder if it was a parody. Alas, I fear this is not the case. The author seems deadly serious about enforcing rigid rules regarding WOMEN'S CLOTHES.

By the way, I'm wondering why WOMEN'S CLOTHES are the "trans uniform." Why are MEN'S CLOTHES not the "trans uniform?" Would not trans men prefer traditionally masculine clothing? Once again, TRAs erase trans men from the equation. Why is the author not in a tizzy about Jaden's girlfriend wearing MEN'S CLOTHES?

Is the girlfriend not stealing the TRANS UNIFORM for trans men by wearing MEN'S CLOTHES? Why does the author not care about trans men's uniforms?

"There’s a reason why men wear men’s clothes and women wear women’s clothes, and why they are generally so different.  OK, I know women have been wearing trousers for decades but they’re usually a femme version of the male equivalent - and I’m not talking about unisex clothes like jeans and t-shirts."

Trousers for women are cut to fit the female body--imagine that! It isn't a "uniform" for women. Any clothing manufacturer who refuses to acknowledge that men's and women's bodies are shaped differently isn't doing their job. Women tend to have wider hips and bigger butts and thighs than men, which is why "unisex scrubs" are so annoying for women who have curvier bodies. Unisex scrubs are scrubs cut for men, but thinner women can wear them. Some women can wear pants cut for men. Most women, however, require a different cut for their trousers than the cut that works for the average man.

I never went shopping for trousers and said to myself upon finding a pair that I liked:

"Well! There's the 'femme version' of an article of MEN'S CLOTHING. We women should not be wearing MEN'S CLOTHING because we are supposed to be wearing dresses. But it's okay, as long as the trousers are 'femme coded' or some such horseshit." 

No!

What I thought was:

"These might fit."

"Stereotypically, men wear trousers and women wear dresses and skirts.  That’s the ‘norm’ and it’s more than that – it’s a uniform."

The 1950s called. They want their dress codes back.

"When you get out of bed in the morning the most important thing you have to do all day is tell the world what your gender is, because from that, everything else flows."

When you're this fucking obsessed with your gender, the most important thing you have to do all day is to examine why the fuck you are this obsessed with your gender.

Upon getting out of bed in the morning, the most important thing I have to do all day is to go to the bathroom so I don't piss myself. The next most important thing I have to do all day is to take my medications and eat breakfast. The next most important thing I have to do all day is to make sure I have clothes on because it's generally frowned upon in the United States to walk around the street naked. The next most important thing after that is to attend to whatever tasks I have at hand for the day so I can contribute to my household in various fashions.

Not once--never once--do I consider the "need" to "tell the world what my gender is." 

From waking up alive, everything else flows. Not from assuring the world that "man, I feel like a woman!"

This sort of rigid genderism is the kind of oppressive crap that radical feminists have been fighting against for decades. People like the author of this article are trying very damn hard to set things back decades.

"Deep down your real job is to reproduce, and showing other humans your gender is the first step on that path."

No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! Did I mention NO? World, galaxy, and Universe of NO!

My "real job" is not to reproduce. Also, how is this bullshit not counter to the TRA assertion that one is the gender they say they are just by saying it? Trans women are biologically men. If their "real job" was so important to them, would they not be driven to look as stereotypically masculine as possible so that women would be attracted to them and want to reproduce with them?

Trans women are hoping to look like women. If we are going with the whole "everything is making babies" screed, a woman-presenting person is hoping to attract a man with whom to reproduce. But trans women do not have female reproductive organs. Therefore, if a trans woman hopes to reproduce and still possesses male reproductive organs, she will have to reproduce either with a trans man who still possesses female reproductive organs or a biological woman.

So, is the author saying that trans people are shirking their REAL JOB duties because they are presenting as the opposite sex and therefore will attract the wrong sex to reproduce with? I really don't think the author thought about anything but their outrage at Jaden Smith wearing a dress and tried to make that outrage sound legit because somehow Jaden Smith in a dress is the equivalent of taking away the "TRANS UNIFORM", which consists of stereotypically feminine clothes. Whatever, let's move on.

"So, to help make it plain for anyone to see which gender you are, you put on a uniform.  Men put on trousers and have men’s haircuts, and women put on dresses and skirts, feminine tops and tights and women’s shoes to show their femininity and declare to the world that they are female."

Both of the people in the picture above are women. They are female. The one on the left has a more traditionally feminine haircut. The one on the right has a short, "masculine" hairstyle. Both are still equally female. The number of XX or XY chromosomes in a person's body does not increase or decrease with the length of their hair.

Lea Delaria, the woman on the right, is not a trans man. She is a butch lesbian. Who, apparently, is shirking her "real job" of reproducing by desiring a sexual and romantic relationship with another woman. However, we don't care about trans men anyway. There are no scathing articles about women like Delaria stealing their "uniforms."

"They have women’s hair-dos and they put use cosmetics to make themselves look nicer and more presentable and to reinforce the female uniform a bit more."

I haven't worn cosmetics in twenty years. I have long, wavy hair, which I guess is a "women's hairdo." So, I guess Peter Steele and I are both women. Our hair is a similar length and texture.

The late Peter Steele, a 6' 7" icon of femininity

"So, when some people come along and want equal clothing rights, that upsets the apple cart a bit."

The late David Bowie, professional apple-cart tipper 

"Male-to-female transgender people rely on props like clothes, shoes, make-up and hairstyles to create the gender identity they want to portray to the world because most of the time their bodies alone are unable to do that.  There are a few lucky ones who don’t have to do a thing to put across a female persona, but most trans women have to work hard at it."

Fine, but how the actual fuck does Jaden Smith in a dress stop you from doing that?

You better take off that dress and eyeliner, Kurt Cobain! You are stealing the TRANS UNIFORM looking as womanly as you do, and not at all like, you know, a man in a dress wearing eyeliner.

"The danger for trans women is that if wearing what are traditionally women’s clothes becomes the norm for men too, then trans women will no longer be able to rely on these props to help them display a female gender identity - and for many, that could be a serious problem."

If your gender identity is so fragile that Jaden Smith in a dress threatens to overturn your apple cart, you need to be discussing that with a psychologist. 

Woman is not a costume that one puts on. One either is or is not a woman. So, if we are to buy into the TRA screed that "trans women are women," why are they not women regardless of what they--or Jaden Smith--is wearing? Why is their gender identity so fragile that it is fractured by a man in a dress?

You better take off that dress now, Prince! How dare you rob fragile genderists of their gender identity?

"But trans people should be aware that well-known faces like Jaden Smith are starting to encroach on our territory.  They’re starting to wear the trans uniform without actually stating that they are transgender, and they’re claiming it for themselves under the guise of gender-neutral fashion. All of which begs the question: where does that leave us?"

It once again begs the question WHY DOES WHAT JADEN SMITH IS WEARING MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE TO YOUR GENDER IDENTITY?

Further, why should Jaden Smith state that he is transgender? He isn't. He is a young adult male. 

I don't think Jaden has said even once "all the dresses are mine!" Jaden isn't wearing your dresses, he's wearing his dresses.

Why does it have to leave you anywhere but where you are? No-one is stopping you from wearing a dress or putting on makeup. Rather than ranting at Jaden Smith for stealing the "TRANS UNIFORM," perhaps you need to take a moment to reflect on why your gender identity is so precarious that he needs to be prevented from wearing dresses just in case it might make your gender identity feel threatened.

Biological women should also never refer to such issues as menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause because these are things that also upset the apple carts of fragile genderists.

Fuck right off with this shit.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Image copyright juliahenze @123rf.com

Sly's WTF Wednesday: Fragile Genderists

Friday Flashback: Sly Speaks: Me Too: The Workplace Edition

Copyright Tara O'Brien

This post was originally published on 13 December 2018. It was penned by my political alter-ego, Sly Fawkes.

I was thinking back to a "wonderful" incident which happened while I was working as an assistant district manager at the Denver Post in 1986. One of the carriers became friendly with me, initially in a perfectly acceptable and professional way, and I enjoyed our little chats. But then one day he said to me: "I'd like it if I could give you a hug sometime and maybe a kiss."

A lot of you ladies, particularly of my generation or older, will be able to relate when I say that I was trained from a young age to "be a lady" when a situation like this arises and to "not hurt his feelings," so rather than asking him in what the hell universe hitting on his supervisor was appropriate, my first response was to say "I'm married," so I wouldn't hurt his feelings. As if doing this sort of creepy thing would have been appropriate if his target wasn't married.

My initial reaction is to think what a doormat I was for reacting this way. Plus I never even told my supervisor, because I didn't want to get the guy in trouble. But my next reaction is to be angry that I believed his feelings were more important than mine, which was disgust and betrayal.

So, yeah, not going to be angry at my younger self for being taken aback and not behaving in a more assertive fashion in this lurid situation. The guy displayed not only gross sexism in having zero respect for my position of albeit mild authority just because I was a young woman, but he displayed zero respect for me as a human being in seeing me as an object that he could potentially grope and slobber on.

For some reason, when I was younger I seemed to draw a lot of creepers like this to me, probably because I tried to be nice. I'm honestly not at all sorry that my current age tends to render me invisible to this breed of asshole most of the time.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Graphic copyright Juliahenze @123rf.com