Take It Back!

Remember "Take Back the Night!" marches? 80s feminism responds to
"violence" in the "night" by drumming up the troops - to do what? To
raise awareness of violence against women and children by marching
down the streets of campus towns!

The statistics Take Back the Nighters recite ARE chilling, but being
aware of or against violence against women and children is NOT a
political position. It was a rallying point briefly for campus
feminism because, and I didn't know this when I was on campus, it
imitated the Temperance Movement's bluestocking posture.

Take Back the Night has al the elements of eighties activism - no
class consciousness (There is a big class divide here that is not
included in the stats), an excess of self-righteousness, sentimental
tone, and a moralizing attitude as silly as Phyllis Schlafly's. I
went on those marches in college, I walked through the streets of New
Haven, arm in arm with heiresses, fist raised. Take Back the Night
marches made us feel as if we were GOOD people.

When the Left is hypnotized by the Right's success at rallying its
troops to moral causes, it fails. It can only offer discounted or
moderate imitations of the Rights' hypocrisy. People on both
sides of the political divide keep trying to take positions that were
unassailable.

I say, let's take back the public sphere, take back the media, take
back critical thinking, take back democracy!