June 29, 2020

What's wrong with being a warrior... and how is it inconsistent with being a woman?

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That's one of the protest murals in downtown Madison. It was photographed by me today, near this familiar corner:

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I know feminism is so last year, but as I'm getting this racial ideology slammed in my face, I must protest on the ground of feminism. A woman can be a warrior! Why would you bemoan your little girls growing into woman warriors?

I remember when young women were fascinated by the book "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston (1976). Excerpt:
After I grew up, I heard the chant of Fa Mu Lan, the girl who took her father’s place in battle. Instantly I remembered that as a child I had followed my mother about the house, the two of us singing about how Fa Mu Lan fought gloriously and returned alive from war to settle in the village. I had forgotten this chant that was once mine, given me by my mother, who may not have known its power to remind. She said I would grow up a wife and a slave, but she taught me the song of the warrior woman, Fa Mu Lan. I would have to grow up a warrior woman.... “And this is Fa Mu Lan... She was a woman warrior, and really existed.”

I should add that "Mulan" is a current film.

88 comments:

mccullough said...

Women cannot be warriors if the chokehold is banned.

tcrosse said...

Boys should grow into men, presumably unless they choose to become women.

rehajm said...

...because sometimes 'warrior' is a euphemism for 'asshole'.

rehajm said...

...which is inconsistent with being a warrior, but not necessarily being a woman.

Wince said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Static Ping said...

Don't worry. By next week whatever they are saying this week will be denounced as heresy. Stick around long enough and they will come back to your point of view, briefly.

Oso Negro said...

If you had ever, ever waited for news of your son deployed in a combat zone in an infantry billet, you would understand why you would never, ever, want to wait on your daughter in the same role. I am entirely uninterested in feminist bullshit about this. In addition to a son, I raised two fierce daughters. But combat zone? Warrior? Nope. Save it for the movies.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

I could not more agree with the top mural.

Expat(ish) said...

@Mulan was in 1998, the 2020 version is a remake.

-XC

Wince said...

Althouse is just...

"Shootin' at the walls of heartache. Bang. Bang."

Nichevo said...



I know feminism is so last year, but as I'm getting this racial ideology slammed in my face, I must protest on the ground of feminism. A woman can be a warrior! Why would you bemoan your little girls growing into woman warriors?


Because when warriors get slammed in the face, it isn't with racial ideology. You would feel threatened and offended if I dwelled on the consequences of, say, you getting your nose broken, but suffice it to say, the proper response to you prating of warriordom is, "Isn't she cute, now run along and play."

No, running your mouth isn't being a warrior. Gun classes is a step, but only a step, in the right direction. How do you feel about little girls getting range time? Warm and fuzzy?

Quaestor said...

I should add that "Mulan" is a current film.

I should add that "Mulan" is a fantasy.

Wince said...

I always liked the "Come out to playayeee" guy.

Leland said...

A man can be a martyr too. There's nothing inconsistent with being a man and being a martyr, unless you insist that being a man also means being alive, but then you can be a martyr without necessarily being dead (e.g. Nelson Mandela). The question is whether it is necessary to be a martyr, a warrior, or an activist? Wouldn't it be better to live a life where being a martyr isn't necessary? Where you don't have to be a warrior? Where activist are no longer necessary for change? That's the message I take from the mural.

I also want a pony, preferably an unicorn or flying pony.

Ann Althouse said...

“ "Shootin' at the walls of heartache. Bang. Bang."”

Ha ha. I thought of that too.

Ann Althouse said...

Not all warriors are in the military.

There are all sorts of warriors.

For example, social justice warriors.

Rory said...

John Adams said it better: "I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain."

BrentonTalcott said...

Well having a red bar is usually more fun than a blue one ;)

My old man made a interesting point in relation to my 5h layer dermis coloration:

My great grandfather was a russaian rabbi so......we are white as fuck but had nothing to do with the Karma of North American slavery.

My mom is a redhead of northern French descent, so probably some viking in there >.>

The Valkyrie's......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeWdQ5mXMqA

......and of course in Indian Mythology women are kick ass!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPQ2yEltVa0

Ann Althouse said...

My mother was a WAC in WWII. So I have a woman warrior in my family. She was not in combat, but she took care of men who suffered from what, at the time, was called battle fatigue.

Ann Althouse said...

I know there was an earlier version of “ Mulan.” Just thought it was more interesting that it’s something out currently.

CaroWalk said...

...because in general, men come equipped with the drive to protect and defend. Women seek security first and foremost, which dovetails nicely with their charism for nurturing. Sure, some men and women are exceptions...and we are living in a moment to rebel against our “createdness.” But when the sexual dystopia collapses, human beings will be thrilled to discover anew that their bodies, their physiognomies, have a great deal to reveal to them about their essential purpose and destiny.

Original Mike said...

"Why would you bemoan your little girls growing into woman warriors?"

Because this is today's woman warrior.

Howard said...

Warrior inflation, like hero inflation and grade inflation is just another sigh of the apocalypso.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

That first one is spot on. I'm shocked it hasn't been vandalized or removed yet.

Skeptical Voter said...

Women can be warriors--and successful warriors at that. Boadicea didn't have too good a record as leader of the Celtic tribes against the Roman invasion of Britain. She lost--and she may have committed suicide by taking poison.

The Russkies have had a bit of success with women warriors in the 20th century. There were four or five Women's Battalions of Death who fought for the Russians late in World War I--after many of the male troops were worn out and dispirited. In World War II, the Russians trained 2,200 female snipers--who took out 11,000 German troops. The leading female sniper had 58 kills. The Russian Air Force produced the only two female fighter pilot aces--5 kills each --in history. Their all female Night Bomber Regiment harassed the Germans so well that the troops called them "Night Witches". The Russkies also had all female machine gun companies in World War II.

There are lots of combat arms women in the Israeli Defense Forces.

There are a lot of "combat" slots in modern military forces where physical size or strength is not a major element of performance. Sitting at a console at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada guiding a drone over Yemen doesn't take physical strength. Humping an 81 mm mortar base plate and several rounds of mortar ammunition in a USMC infantry unit does. But on a horses for courses basis, women can, and actually do a lot of "warrior" jobs in the modern Military.

rhhardin said...

Egyptian had a word meaning "women or children." Wm. Empson wondered what connotation it would have. "No good for fighting," he speculated.

Narayanan said...

A woman can be a warrior! Why would you bemoan your little girls growing into woman warriors?
-----------================

esp if they are trans rather than cis - else all their battles could be losses

rhhardin said...

Women warriors usually means nagging.

gilbar said...

“And this is Fa Mu Lan... She was a woman warrior, and really existed.”

really?
from wiki
Hua Mulan (Chinese: 花木蘭) is a legendary/fictional* female warrior from the Northern and Southern dynasties period of Chinese history, originally described in the Ballad of Mulan

so, REALLY existed.... In LEGEND
and, WHEN did this legendary women supposedly exist?
The historic setting of Ballad of Mulan is in the Northern Wei. Over a thousand years later, Xu Wei's play from the Ming dynasty (~1600CE) places her in the Northern Wei, whereas the Qing dynasty Sui Tang Romance has her active around the founding of the Tang c. 620.


SO, IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER
A) for women**, Truth Means NOTHING. Fantasy == LEGEND == REALLY EXISTED
B) Even for women's Fantasy worlds; Female Warriors ARE SO RARE, that EVEN IN THEIR FANTASY WORLDS, you have to go back about 1,500 YEARS to find a famous female warrior
C) Can women be Killers? SURE
D) Can women be warriors? The evidence is Few and Far Between****


legendary/fictional* Mulan is more of a legend than a historical person, and her name does not appear in Exemplary Women which is a compilation of biographies of women during the Northern Wei dynasty.

women** i Hate to say it; but it seems like women are pretty Fucking IGNORANT***

IGNORANT*** see: Igna

Few and Far Between**** are we going to count Tammy Duckworth, as a Warrior? WHY?

Gordon Scott said...

There are western legends of women going to war and fighting alongside men. But if you are Disney and half of the box office happens in China now, it totally makes sense financially.

There is a reason so many movies now have a major Chinese character.

Kevin said...

I know feminism is so last year, but as I'm getting this racial ideology slammed in my face

We've been saying for some time that your whiteness is going to negate your femaleness.

In the end, white women protesting their grievances was a necessary step to put the larger revolution in motion.

But it's never going to be a revolution for or about you.

You're the suckers in the big con.

Expat(ish) said...

@Ann, I know you knew, but the remake is ... a remake 22+ year newer bits around the edges.

The only kids movie reboot I though was worth warm spit was the Power Rangers reboot in 2017 which was BETTER than all the originals, while keeping the special cheesy flavor.

-XC

RNB said...

So registering women for the Selective Service is 'on' again?

rhhardin said...

Most women warriors are in the pioneer classification, meaning long ago, not affirmative action.

Hey Skipper said...

For example, social justice "warriors".

FIFY.

gilbar said...

So I have a woman warrior in my family. She was not in combat
tell us AGAIN, Why that counts as a warrior?
Are Pilots Warriors?
Are Rear Echelon Mother Fuckers Warriors?
My dad spent '52 to '53 firing a 105mm Howitzer in North Korea; does that make HIM a warrior?
I guess what i'm saying is: MOST of the people in the Army, aren't Warriors

tcrosse said...

What's wrong with being a warrior and how is it inconsistent with being a woman?

...asks the woman with an Amazon portal.

Kevin said...

"What's wrong with being a warrior... and how is it inconsistent with being a woman?"

It's not.

But too many woman start down the Warrior path and end up a Karen.

Static Ping said...

Ann: There are all sorts of warriors.

So the main debate here is defining terms.

The definitions of terms are changing so quickly that the effort seems pointless, but feel free to proceed with tilting with whatever windmills you wish until they are declared racist and denounced. That should take until, I dunno, next week. They've already torn down the Cervantes statue so you may wish to make haste.

Shouting Thomas said...

Marxist racialist thugs are holding your town hostage, prof, and you’re upset that your Marxist feminist dogma has to take a back seat? That’s rich.

Perhaps you haven’t heard, but the racialists thugs have decided you should be executed for your class crimes.

Your “white women are oppressed just like blacks under Jim Crow” thing from the 60s is coming back to haunt you.

Be a good white girl and stay in your place.

Drago said...

There are also dem/lefty/LLR-lefty approved Iranian "warriors" whom the left adores, which brings us to this:

"IRAN ISSUES ARREST WARRANT FOR TRUMP OVER SOLEIMANI ASSASSINATION."

We already know our Althouse lefties would approve mightily of Trump being arrested for the killing of the lefties Beloved and Refined and Cultured Soleimani.

jeremyabrams said...

Professor, did you really think the revolution would let you keep your feminism?

I'm Not Sure said...

"For example, social justice warriors."

SJWs? That's why you have murals, not windows.

Rabel said...

Those are three very traditional conservative thoughts. WTH?

Static Ping said...

I'll also note that the "not warriors" mural is currently heresy. The whole point is hate and conflict now and forever. The painters will need to be re-educated.

Ken B said...

Feminist fragility.

Quaestor said...

There are all sorts of warriors. For example, social justice warriors.

All sorts, yeah. Warriors are like mechanics -- there are automotive mechanics, jet engine mechanics, quantum mechanics. If your willing to attenuate a word until it's no deeper than a Planck length you can get folks to ponder which is the proper wrench to apply to a down quark.

Not Sure said...

I don't care about women as warriors one way or the other. But I am a bit concerned that people view kids as being definitively L, G , B, T, or sometimes Q, as opposed to pre-pubescent beings who don't really understand sex.

effinayright said...

Althouse:

For example, social justice warriors.
******************

Fuck a bunch of social justice warriors. They are ALL assholes.

And, Miss Ann, would you like to educate us on the difference between "justice" and "social justice"???

Shouting Thomas said...

George Floyd, by the way, was a second story man, a home invader.

A very large number of black men in prison are there for home invasion and the rape of white women.

The Marxist racialist thugs want white women to stop reporting such crimes to the police, or even mentioning them, Althouse. They’re toying with the idea of murdering you if you refuse to comply.

Gahrie said...

Let me suggest the influence of a religious ideology that begins with the letter "I".

rhhardin said...

Women who are warriors tend to be warriors for stuff that won't work. The structural vs feelings gender divide.

If it would work, men would already have done it. No warrior needed.

Oso Negro said...

@ Skeptical Voter - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outpost_Harry

That is what my father lived through. If you would like to imagine young women doing this, you go right ahead.

walter said...

"Although its moving forward with bankruptcy, BarFly is reopening Michigan dining rooms on June 13 and reopening dining rooms in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Indianapolis, Indiana, on June 22. Other restaurants will open in phases with dates to be announced soon."
HopCat Parent Files for Bankruptcy

Oso Negro said...

@ Gilbar - Your father's 105 mm howitzer might have saved my father. Who, at 90, still worries that the Chinese are coming into the trench again when he tries to sleep at night.

Drago said...

Howard: "Warrior inflation, like hero inflation and grade inflation is just another sigh of the apocalypso."

Note: Howard literally called the antifa soyboys the equivalent of our Normandy invaders.

Discuss.

Automatic_Wing said...

Shooting at the walls of heartache
Bang Bang
I am the Warrior

William said...

Who are all these LGBQT children? Asking for a friend from NAMBLA......Store windows just encourage people to shop. Plywood murals encourage people to be better citizens. An empty plinth gives a child something to aspire to. Every day in every way America is becoming a better country.

gwuertz said...

Scary female warrior: Fredis from Eric the Red days...

https://www.ancient.eu/article/1300/ten-legendary-female-viking-warriors/

Richard said...

Don't forget Xena: Warrior Princess!

bagoh20 said...

The problem is nobody is growing up into anything - just perpetual toddlers.

n.n said...

Feminists are winning the war against unwanted Fetal-Americans with nearly a 100% mortality and, with progress, a growing number of excess deaths. Then there are the Mengele clinics (e.g. Planned Parenthood) or clinical cannibalism for social progress.

Social justice (i.e. relativistic) anywhere is injustice everywhere.

That said, men and women are equal and complementary in nature. The natural order will martyr men in order to safeguard women and children ("our Posterity") and mitigate progress (e.g. Dodo Dynasties, other dysfunctional choices).

bagoh20 said...

I can't think of anything more desirable than a warrior woman at my side. I need someone to protect who can get physical with a Karen.

n.n said...

As for feminine roles, women can be soldiers. Normalize, tolerate, or reject?

That said, women should be barefoot, available, and taxable. Social progress.

Nichevo said...


Ann Althouse said...
Not all warriors are in the military.

There are all sorts of warriors.

For example, social justice warriors.



No, dear, that's just what they call themselves. And no, your mommy was not a warrior. If you feel better about yourself because you thought she was and now you feel worse about yourself now that you know that she wasn't, well, that's on you. She served, and that's enough, but no, not a warrior. Howie has his clown nose off today. Speaking of which, Howard, I saw your reply on the Russian Bounty thread, pick up there or we could take it to another thread.

Birkel said...

What have I written about cafeteria-style Leftism?
ANSWER; It is not an option.

Identity politics and grievance studies don't give a shit about feminism.
You are a means to their ends.

They only want power.

Sebastian said...

"She said I would grow up a wife and a slave"

"a slave"? I call BS.

DEEBEE said...

Ann, it is fascinating always watch how your usual perspicacity aborts itself whenever the topic is your emotional fave. Homosexuality, abortion and the example in here feminism. The entire message is an admonition to all three categories not to be their natural selves and not robotic next steps

gilbar said...

Oso Negro said...
@ Gilbar - Your father's 105 mm howitzer might have saved my father.


Was he near Pork Chop Hill? My dad's battery burnt out a few barrels shelling there.
Don't get me Wrong! My dad played an important part
He KILLED a LOT of Chinese, and (therefore) he (probably saved American lives).
But, he Never saw a Chinese (though, he DID get to see a LOT of THEIR shrapnel)
he never saw a North Korean, he saw damn few South Koreans
What he saw, was Mud, then Snow; and his "fighting" consisted of picking up a phone,
hearing some coordinates, dialing it in, having someone load the gun... Then pulling a cord & repeat
(or, a trigger, or however you fire a 105)
Then, he shift would be over, he would get some breakfast, and go to bed
Sometimes, to make it interesting, they'd get to jump into a bunker and listen to Chinese Artillery come down.
I'm NOT even saying it wasn't dangerous, or exhausting
But, was he a warrior? I'd say No; he was a soldier in the Field Artillery

GingerBeer said...

Sorry. You gals had a nice run. But it's trans' turn to show you how womaning is done now.

gilbar said...

Black Bear...
Sounds like our dads were a few miles away
My dad's battery was attached to the 3rd Infantry at that time

Jupiter said...

"Why would you bemoan your little girls growing into woman warriors?"

Or your little boys becoming drag queens.

Nancy Reyes said...

why do you point to Mulan and not Mary Rawlandson, or Joan of Arc?
And what about the many pioneer women who protected their families (see Ms Zito's story about the pioneer woman statues)?
The problem of women warriors: Pregnancy. True, Queen Isabella of Spain led her soldiers to war dressed in armour while pregnant. But I guess she isn't PC either.

Dave Begley said...

Nobody in Wisconsin can be a Warrior after Marquette University dropped its long-standing nickname as the Warriors. Now the Golden Eagles.

Kids can be Golden Eagles; not Warriors. Native Americans are supposedly offended by the name Warriors.

Gordon Scott said...

Things could change quickly, Gilbar. Your father served at the end, when the lines were more stable. But in the earlier phases, your dad might have had to grab his rifle and start shooting. Artillery men found themselves battling North Korean tanks trying to overrun the position.

He was fortunate. But I would not say that he was not a warrior. He was.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

I'm Not Sure said...

SJWs? That's why you have murals, not windows.


we see through their plywood propaganda

NCMoss said...

Caro Walk, if that's really you speaking that's quite some insight.

Clark said...

What is supposed to be wrong with being an advocate?

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

what cause are their son martyrs dying for?
what enemy is their daughter warrior fighting?
what type of special status are their LGBQWERTY LGBQWERTY's advocating for?

have they carefully and correctly identified their nemesis?
how much of the struggle that they perceive is unique to race
is ubiquitous for all, and part of life?

In a sense, Life does call us to be martyrs, warriors & advocates
when the occasion arises.
Rise to the occasion
We dont live in Eden any more. Yes,
we've got to get ourselves back to the Garden

...but scorching the earth isnt the way.

stephen cooper said...

There is an extreme level of stolen valor with lots of these black people, or white people, or Asian people, who are trading off the suffering of other people in their race, thinking they can do so simply because the others share their genes at the level of "race".


I know a lot about human beings but I simply cannot understand someone who has so little respect for other people that they go in for this stolen valor scam. I think they must be really lost in the coldness of their own hearts to do that. Well, actually, I know a lot about cold hearted people, and actually I do understand. But I do not like to say this, but I find it difficult to feel anything besides contempt for these stolen valor creeps.


The Germans and the Russians murdered, two generations ago, everybody I was related to who had not emigrated to America from the lands where the Germans and Russians murdered so many innocent people.

God has punished all the murderers - trust me on this, I know what hell looks like, and you do not want to argue with me, and I know what God has done to the murderers of my relatives, who often died unrepentant - but I do not get to scream like a little angry creep at innocent Germans and innocent Russians living today. That is not how it works.

Anyway, since the rich young black kids and their creepy selfish white accomplices started having their violent fun with the violence in poor neighborhoods, Trump support among black voters nearly doubled. So my intuition is correct.

CaroWalk said...

Thank you, @ncmoss. I’ve been boning up on JPII’s theology of the body.

Big Mike said...

Fa Mu Lan may or may not have existed, but there is no question about Leigh Ann Hester being a real person, and a warrior.

glacial erratic said...

There are masculine virtues. There are feminine virtues. There are the virtues of a soldier, which are different from the virtues of a warrior.

Mixing them all into a blob of gray goo erases clarity.

But that seems to be the goal.

chickelit said...

Madison continues its shithole vibe. Hopefully soon, my share in my mother's house will be bought out and I can leave Madison -- mentally as well as physically.

chickelit said...

A stab at equality: Men have swords and women have sheaths.

Chris said...

Ah, Hopcat, which originated here in Detroit used to sell the worlds best french fries called "Crack Fries." So good! But they were deemed racist because of negative racial connotations of "Crack" now they suck.

Tina Trent said...

You didn't get the memo in 1967 about white feminists getting on their knees?

Maybe ask the shop owner who still has to pay rent and skyrocketing insurance while begging for mercy from the animals who beat not so random people on the streets.

Shouting Thomas is right.

traditionalguy said...

Warriors Must put fire on target first. That is an aggressive attitude which few women try to develop. But Joan of Arc understood it.