Hilarious:

"A video letter from Henry Rollins to Ann Coulter"

http://images.worshiptheglitch.com/EP3LettersFromHenry.swf

It's an interesting way to frame a story so that it sells copy (or gets hits as is the modern internet equivalent) but when you think about it the argument holds little weight...it's pulled down by its irony and vagueness word play on the difference between a feminist success story and a success story of a feminist. Take the following hypothetical. Let's say that after universal women's sufferage was passed a recall vote was held 10 years later to determine whether women's sufferage should be repealed. Because of the previous law women can vote in this election and do. In fact they vote overwelmingly to appeal women's sufferage. By the logic of the article this would be a feminist success story because women's voices are being heard and making a difference in an election (in fact playing a crucial role). But clear that success is more nuanced than that. Women appealing women's sufferage is as much a feminist success story as Ann Coulter's ability to have her voice heard in major media outlets. On one hand but for feminism she would be silenced. On the other hand, she speaks to silence feminism and critisize feminists.

what evidence do u have the she speaks to 'silence feminists'. she speaks as an (often) opposing voice. coming out in opposition to what somebody says =/= trying to silence them.

in a sense, imo, she is a feminist success story. an extremely powerful, famous, influential woman who has chosen her career path and who has an alternative viewpoint.

back in the days of lenny bruce etc. can u even imagine any woman "pundit" on the same level of controversy and influence?

i think not.

oh, btw i am a hyooge henry rollins fan. i saw the guy when he was the lead in black flag, as well as his spoken word stuff

his essay "the iron" is a great piece of writing imo

Well yeah jabosian, I think that by your definition a female serial murderer is also a feminist success story. She has chosen her path, which is to terrorize men, she is powerful (?) and she has an alternative viewpoint. Or… what about Paris Hilton? She has chosen her career path and she is quite controversial too.

i think that's an absurd analogy...

coulter is a huge success at a legal undertaking (not true of the serial killer), and one we would all be proud of if her "message" was one we agree with

just as condi rice is a feminist success story, so i coulter.

coulter could not have even existed 30 years ago.

equal opportunity for women, means ALL women - not just liberals.

there are those on the left who are (arguably) equally as vitriolic as coulter. think sister souljah

is she not also a feminist success story?

how about bell hooks? mackinnon? dworkin?

if coulter were also ugly on the outside, would she be on tv spewing her hate? i think not, yet karl rove and rush limbaugh and bill o'reilly all thrive despite their fat-nasty looks. in that regard, female hatemongers still have a long, long road to walk.

it is also part of coulter's schtick. when people see her, then HEAR her, the dichotomy is staggering

that is part of it

fwiw, men and women in the media - ceteris paribus - benefit from good looks. tucker carlson, joe scarborough, the ron reagan jr., (insert first name here) kennedy, etc.

but u are absolutely right that women, on average, get more mileage from their looks than men do.

but let's not forget - there are a # of rather ugly female pundits who do quite well in the world of visual media-
susan estrich, and greta van sustern (sp?) come to mind.

Anyone else think that Coulter wouldn't be so mean if she actually ate a meal every once in a while? She could be a poster child for anorexia. Someone send her some food and see if she turns out to be a nice person.

Just because Coulter is "female" and "successful" doesn't make her a feminist success story. Being a successful women isn't enough to qualify as a feminist success story. Plenty of women have garnered success in our patriarichal society by catering to the patriarchy and saying the things it's so desperate to hear. While Coulter may owe a debt to feminism, she routinely makes comments deriding it and makes a pointed effort to distance herself from it's objectives.

It takes more than having ovaries to be a feminist, ovaries are, in fact, not necessary at all. There are hundreds of socially conscious feminist men who better exemplify "feminist success stories" than Ann.

Reckless Tongue has it right, success by a female does not equal feminist. Two words - Phyllis Schaffly.

Hmm...
A feminist wants more for women and it's debatable if Coulter wants that. She doesn't think women should vote. She wrote the introduction to Phyllis Schafly's latest anti-feminist book, Feminist Fantasies (2003) in which she praises Schafly for singlehandedly defeating the ERA and Schafly says women should not work (though she's a lawyer and works). In the introduction, Coulter also says conservative divas such as herself are a legacy of Schafly, the best-known anti-feminist of our time so I wouldn't call her a feminist although she has obviously benefitted from feminism.

Wiki:
On a few occasions Coulter has suggested that the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote should be repealed. In a 14 February 2000 National Review Online article she wrote, "If this ticket doesn't close the gender gap, it's time to repeal the 19th Amendment."

In a February 2001 Politically Incorrect episode, Coulter argued that banning women from voting would ensure Republican presidents would be elected, and that "women should all have to give up their vote."

Amazon:
In her foreword, Coulter asserts that Gen-X conservative divas may have sprung from the femme fatale-cum-right-wing wellspring Schlafly established over four decades ago with her group, Eagle Forum.

I suspect that Ann Coulter's ego is inflated enough that she seeks out stories on herself, in which case, it's my fond hope that this particular story upset her anti-feminist leanings. "Oh God... they think I'm ONE OF THEM!!!"

Coulter is an anti-feminist success story.

Perhaps an historical perspective could help this discussion.

In a not too distant past, a married woman’s identity was equal to her husband’s. Women could not own property or sign legal contracts, attend an institution of higher education or enter a professional occupation, and they could not vote or hold an elected position in government.

Not only does Coulter have an identity of her own, she is not even married. Her assets are substantial, she is a well-educated professional, and, if she’s not going to be running for public office any time soon, it’s not because she’s a woman.

If feminism is “the belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way, or the set of activities intended to achieve this state,� as defined The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, then I would say that the journalism professor from Boston University is exactly correct in saying that Coulter is a feminist success story. Indeed, she is the very definition of a feminist success story.

A woman does not have to be a feminist to benefit from the past endeavors of feminist activists, and a woman such as Coulter who is flagrantly opposed to feminist thought can be a successful woman because of the struggles and sacrifices past feminists, whether she chooses to acknowledge it or not.

okay, i think this one boils down to what defines "Feminist success story."

If you define it as someone whose success has been enabled by feminism, then, without a doubt, Ann Coulter is a feminist success story. She couldn't be where she is without feminism paving the way. The fact that she exists and is able to get the recognition she does is, most definitely, a feminist success story.

On the other hand, if you define it as someone whose success is a positive development for feminism and the ideals feminism strives for, Ann Coulter is not a success story.

Further, if you define a "feminist success story" as the story of someone who not only benefits from feminism, but recognizes where that benefit comes from and resolves to give something back, then Coulter is a groundbreaking failure.

It's all a matter of definition, really.

some points... (i always have points) :)

first of all. i don't think you get it. it's a SCHTICK. she TRIES (and succeeds) in trying to be outrageous. see: Lenny Bruce. see: Boghosian. see: Richard Pryor. etc. etc. etc.

coulter has cut down barriers. sorry, but you gotta admit. what female "pundit" has ever had the success she has had? answer: none.

again, 20 to 30 years ago such a person could not even be imagined. she is a bestselling author, a successful lawyer, and a go to person for the issues of the day.

deal with it.

it never ceases to amaze me the way so called progressives who would be (and are) so offended when women are judged by their looks - make snarky comments about coulter's. not to mention all the claims in the lefty blogs that she is actually a transexual etc.

"It takes more than having ovaries to be a feminist, ovaries are, in fact, not necessary at all. There are hundreds of socially conscious feminist men who better exemplify "feminist success stories" than Ann. "

this disgusts me and reminds me of some of the criticisms pointed towards conservative women not too long ago as being "without ovaries" iow "inauthentic women". iirc, this was done to thatcher.

reminds me of the people who claim that Colin Powell, Condi Rice et al aren't "authentic blacks" since they dare to have political views that are not in line with the accepted ones for blacks in our society

feminism is about equal opportunity for women, NOT just liberal women.

it is undeniable that coulter is whipsmart, quite a clever writer at times, and relishes in shocking and pissing people off. we are talking a woman who was fired from NRO quite some time ago for pete's sake for her comments.

anne is a vanguard, a bestselling author, a pundit, and is hated/loved/admired/loathed etc. for her views.

that is POWER. and if that isn't an example of feminist success, nuttin is

This is SO wrong. Feminism is about equal opportunity for women. Ann Coulter does NOT support equal opportunity for women. Ann Coulter OPPOSES feminism. Ann Coulter's success is based on her support of a conservative ideology defined by opposition to feminism. Therefore Ann Coulter's success is an anti-feminist success story.

One of the most incorrect mindsets in the world is where a person's skin color or sex substitutes in for what impact that person has in evaluating their success. If a Jewish person starts an anti-semitic organization and attacks synagogues and Jews, we don't celebrate it as a Jewish success story do we? If a woman gets high by attacking equal rights for women, it is not a womens' success story either.

Ann Coulter is not a conservative.. shes a "modern conservative." Traditional conservatism had only one goal: reduce government intervention. Modern conservatism is about religious government, attacking civil liberties, and attacking equal rights. Modern conservatism and feminism are incomptabile. It is one of the fundamental tenets of modern conservatism to oppose feminism. That is an indisputable fact. Bill Clinton's election was a feminist success story, even though he wasn't a woman, because it preserved a woman's right to choose. Ann Coulter's success based on a fundamentally anti-feminist ideology is an anti-feminist success story.

jabosian:

Coulter is an extremist who has at various points in her career slandered just about everyone who has ever disagreed with her in a widely read forum, advocated murder in both mass and individual forms, lied about facts on just about every major political topic, and advocates against science.

Whether or not she actually believes any of the things she says, a fair number of other people do, something she must be aware of. The fact that you seem to consider her a "go to" person for anything rather supports this.

I tend to be amused that the same people who foam at the mouth about Muslim extremists also tend to support Coulter, who advocates exactly the same sorts of things.

Her success story is almost exactly equivalent to the success of female mafia bosses in Italy -- once entirely a male-dominated profession, there are now stories of cars of women engaging each other at high speeds with machine gun fire. That is also POWER. Some of those ladies are richer than Coulter.

Despite being an advancement in a traditionally male-dominated field, I don't think this counts as a victory for feminism.

It's not that Coulter's not liberal; it's that she's not ethical. Or, if she actually believes any part of what she says or writes, even sane. I make a point of reading and conversing with conservatives who can at least argue rationally and support their viewpoints, even when I find their views occasionally abhorrent (Volokh comes to mind in particular). Coulter doesn't fall into this category. The ability to run a spectacular scam does not qualify one for any sort of award. As has been pointed out by others, she isn't even taken seriously among conservative politicians.

On the other hand, if you define it as someone whose success is a positive development for feminism and the ideals feminism strives for, Ann Coulter is not a success story.

Further, if you define a "feminist success story" as the story of someone who not only benefits from feminism, but recognizes where that benefit comes from and resolves to give something back, then Coulter is a groundbreaking failure.

It's all a matter of definition, really.

Puckalish,

By defining a feminist success story as “someone whose success is a positive development for feminism and the ideals feminism strives for,� or as “the story of someone who not only benefits from feminism, but recognizes where that benefit comes from and resolves to give something back,� you are actually defining the word feminist in the process.

The point is that a woman does not have to be a feminist to be a feminist success story. She doesn’t even have to acknowledge the fact that the feminist movements of the past are largely responsible for her success.

From the article:

She'd hate to hear it, but Coulter is a feminist success story, as well as being an emblem of the collapse of the American news media.

Part of what makes Coulter such a hypocrite is the fact that, if it weren’t for feminism, she would not be successful. If she weren’t successful, no one would listen to her. If no one listened to her, she wouldn’t be able to criticize feminism (not widely, anyway). She refuses to acknowledge this little inconsistency.

Also, I dont think Coulter has really opened up many new avenues that were unavailable. Although I know this is going over Jabosian's head, for the rest of you readers, Coulter represents a new type of rightwing TV/book pundit that only started becoming popular around 2000. If you look at womens' visibility in traditional media, it was people like Barbara Walters Connie Chung and Diane Sawyer that really broke through the visibility barrier in womens' media exposure. But even if she did represent some sort of new level of visibility, the bulk of her impact has been to indoctrinate her sad followers with extremist reactionary talking points. This ideology she supports is diametrically opposed to feminism, and this is where her impact and story ought to be judged.

The point is that a woman does not have to be a feminist to be a feminist success story.

certainly... according to one definition of "success".

i put forth 3 definitions, however, none of which i think of as the be-all-end-all.

i don't think you get what i was trying to say, lacigolli. i was stating is that there are a variety of ways to determine whether or not someone is a "feminist success story." i outlined three possible definitions of "success." there are certainly more.

just as some people would be said to be "successful" because they have a lot of money and others because they have a lot of friends.

do you really disagree with me so much that you want to play a game of semantic gymanstics?

will it ever be okay to have more than one "correct" narrative at a time?

Jabosian,

I stand by my statement fully. If you choose to misconstrue my comment to mean that I was arguing that Coulter is not a woman, so be it, but any reasonable person can read the statement and realize that is not the intent.

You have chosen to ignore the nuanced arguments others have made about the definition of "feminist success story" in order to continue your distorted argument. That is your choice, however reflects poorly on you and your arguments.

I will only bother to address your last point, that feminism is about POWER. Feminism is not merely about power, patriarchy is about power. Feminism is about equality and respect for all individuals no matter what their gender is, male or female. Coulter represents power, which is patriarchy, she does not represent feminism which is about accepting the full humanity of individuals--she works directly against that end. Coulter far from exemplifies a "feminist success story," she is a shining brilliant example of "anti-feminism" at it's best.

Puckalish, great point about multiple narratives.

Puck,

If I followed your logic it would be impossible to ever define anything. Here, this may help (help: assist somebody with activity).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Success

And if I was engaging in semantics, what do you call this:

certainly... according to one definition of "success".

You deflected everything I said in my last post with the use of semantics….

lacigolli,

puck wasn't using semantics, she was just pointing out that people have been using different definitions of the term "feminist success story." The arguments that puck put forth are nuanced and intelligent. You have chosen one definition of "feminist success story" and others operate under different ones. Puck's point is your definition is not the only valid one.

Reckless T,

Do you agree that a woman has to be a feminist to be a feminist success story?

If you read my post you would see that my definition is broader than Puck's.

err... sorry. All of them.

reckless,

thanks for making me feel like i'm not yelling into a well :).

yeah, i think it's pretty fascinating the way that different, especially conflicting, narratives can provoke such strong reactions. i guess we all need to do better jobs of really listening to one another.

i'm a boy, by the way... lol...

lacigolli,

I don't think a woman has to be a feminist to be considered a feminist success story, but I do think that a woman is disqualified from being a "feminist success story" if she actively works against feminism and uses her position to bolster the patriarchy and oppress other women. Then she's a patriarichal success story, because she's based her success on degrading women.

Reckless is right. Coulter is a success story because of feminism but "feminist" in this usage is a adjective that describes "success story". The "success story" is not "feminist" because it does not support women or give more to women so it is not a "feminist success story".