Australian Left Review
Article Title
Feminist judo: throwing with the weight of the state
Abstract
The current debate in Australia about affirmative action, particularly from the right, to deliberately mindless and confusing. We need some categories to apply to the debate which will be useful at dinner parties and other venues where people get you so angry that you turn blue and red and can't think what to say. These remarks are quite practically intended even though they may sound very theoretical. The four categories are: (a) the issue of accurate definitions; (b) the issue of what I'll call, in shorthand, the automatic moral superiority of women; (c) the issue of class, income, and masculinity protection; and (d) the issue of using the patriarchal state, or what we might call the judo of feminism.