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What's at stake ('advantages' of maintaining the 'Angel' myth)?
(results of 'special pleading') - women get far less punishment for criminal actions - women are permitted, in law, to attack men with near-complete impunity - women's illnesses get far higher priority - as 'protected persons', women get special safety legislation - women get priority in services/jobs etc. on the basis of gender rather than merit - women continue to get the comforting delusion that they're 'nice' (the 'essentialist'/neo-Jungian fallacy) What's the cost (of maintaining the 'Angel' myth)? - basically(!), women's power and self-esteem - mothers have no status in society - "they're angels, they don't need 'status'" - dangers of the 'temporary insanity', 'battered woman syndrome', 'PMS' and other legal defence tactics - ultimately undermines most feminist gains elsewhere - being regarded as 'insane' or 'under control of hormones' is not necessarily an improvement on being regarded as 'criminal'... examples - assigning all responsibility to others assigns all power to those others - for which, under the terms of the delusion, those others are then blamed - the eventual result of denying responsibility is self-denial of rights |