As you know, the politics of this site has turned 180 degrees since this conversation first took place. The 44s has since become far more feminist (according to some definitions). Since this post, I’ve personally agreed not to post about feminism or other controversial topics, and I’m going to stick to that promise. But since you’re bringing it up, I just wanted to acknowledge that I’ve read your comment (and am not just ducking you!).

Anyway, if you’re interested in front paging, I think Dialectic and Lopes would be interested in your opinions. I would too. Let us know!

Second, yes, it’s a radical; thank you for presuming I didn’t know that. Woman came from man, etymologically and mythologically. Likewise, the history of Chinese linguistics is inextricable from social circumstances and contexts.

So what? I didn’t say such connections unequivocally prove sex inequality. No one would make that argument. As you folks have argued time and time again on this forum, it comes down to awareness. We ask for acknowledgement.

The word for man is comprised of “land” and “strength.” At one point, a man was validated by the crops his toil could yield. I’d love to see all men up in arms about being objectified for their brute. Feeling offended by this history won’t change anything. Denying it altogether *definitely* won’t change anything.

And really. The “angle” for this website is intellectualism? Is intellect hinged on education only? We need to preface what we say with our skill sets and qualifications and if we don’t, it’s bunk?

By the way, yes, the alleged “Kingstonian” view certainly has been substantiated by reputed and creditable members of the academia. In China. And the opposing views espoused here are also “substantiated by reputed and creditable members of the academia.” None of us can go back in time and verify for sure what the intentions were in the conception of these words and radicals. Yet to pass it all off as a matter of coincidence and of no relevance to today’s “intellectual” discussions is, as I first mentioned, ignorant, narrow-minded, and evident of a group of bloggers who are full of shit.

But as nightshade pointed out, it’s just pronunciation anyway.

I didn’t say it was pronunciation–I said it was a radical. (I’m not a Mandarin speaker–I’m a Cantonese speaker.)

I think Akrypti tried to print the actual Chinese characters, but they don’t come out on our English-centric board. But as nightshade pointed out, it’s just pronunciation anyway.

now lastly, as a Mandarin speaker myself, I’d like to know what other dialects and other Chinese writing systems there are as Zhangfei (my arch nemesis) points out are there for “slave” and “woman.”

Cao Cao and Zhang Fei weren’t archnemeses! C’mon, there are numerous versions and myths! In the Maxine Hong Kingston version, Cao Cao and Zhang Fei are best friends who were fighting over Mulan until a white guy came along and rescued her from them. In the David Henry Hwang version, they were gay lovers.

I’m just kidding, though I’m not all that far off since Mulan had characters written on her back in Kingston’s version of Fa Mu Lan and David Henry Hwang had Kwan Yin going crazy head over heels in love with the white hero in the Lost Empire.

So I agree with you. Why have we come so far away from trying to learn truth? Let’s elevate the importance of truth and history. We need to get rid of this deconstructionist approach to culture.

because for certain the kingstonian racists always point out to China as some sort of monolithic straw-man entity they point fingers at for being footbinding female aborting hellhole; when in the reality there’s much diversity and transitions and changes during China’s 5,000 years of written history alone.

there were many systems of writing invented by many of China’s sub-ethnic groups and there are still many different dialects.

and there are even today news of small regional matriarchal communities where women control the resources and make the politics.

therefore, it’s nothing less of racist for the kingstonians to make these BS accusations against asian americans with fake made up racist caricatures of Chinese history and culture.

like the mainstream racist media who label asian-americans as the forever inscrutable foreigners, these “kingstonians” are using that racist ideology to pin and label anything that has to do with asians (namely AM in this gender wars) as being the same as their reified and self-constructed straw-man notion of China as a female aborting, footbinding hellhole for women.

to them, like in popular media, all AM are inscrutable foreigners with thick accents and cannot be assimilated, while the AFs are perfect amerikkkan dialect speaking romantic partners for WMs.

this is nothing less than the racist stereotypes constructed by white media and society and willfully perpetuated and distorted images of Asian cultures by the auto-racists like the “kingstonians” for their own nefarious selfish purposes.

i’m more cynical and less polite than the others here, so i personally believe it’s grasping for straws to say that her father told her the characters or pronunciation for slave is the same as for woman.

any real Mandarin Chinese speaker before the 1970s wouldn’t even know what this BS argument is for “nu3″ or “nu2″ because that’s with the introduction of the pinyin system of Chinese using Roman letters that evil people who want to distort Chinese latched unto somehow “nu” (slave) is the same as for “nv” (woman). and “nu” alone doesn’t mean anything without “nu li” in terms of Mandarin Chinese for “slave.”

therefore, the pinyin system is moot as far to bring up slave=woman because it’s just racist and ignorant to say that Chinese always had woman=slave when in fact it’s only the pinyin system using occidental Roman letters provided the auto-racists a means to appease to the occidentals superiority complexes.

even nowadays in China, the pinyin and simplified character is typed using “NV.” you can easily verify this with any Chinese input software.

so I’m calling Akrypti out for lying about Chinese, the same as the “kingstonians” do when they pin non-existent racist caricatures upon Chinese people and culture.

Go to the forum (click on the red bar on top). When you get to the forum, click on “private messages” right under the red bar on top. “Send new message” will be on the right hand side under the “Private messages” part.

Asian American Feminism 4 is up.

Call me incredibly slow, but how do I message you? >.<

There is no need to actively destroy mainstream ideas. We merely complete our comprehensive, inclusive agenda, and do outreach.

I’m excited.