wemptronics
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Back in March I read many of the accounts in the 7 October Parliamentary Commission Report which attempted to document all recorded attacks of the day. Based on that, a common role for female IDF women kidnapped or killed on October 7th were in listening or surveillance outposts along the border. There were at least a couple instances of women (and men, too) holing up in a command post or signals room while others put up resistance waiting for relief. I got the vibe that the border gals weren't really expected to engage in combat if it could be avoided. Of those that had a chance to react they were placed in last stand territory. They were not, generally, put out to defend the wire.
The "socially conservative" countries also did the things the reactionaries criticize, so I don't think it soothes anxieties around collapse. These places fell to the same pressures: educate women, push them into the workforce, compete globally, and acquire wealth. Afghanistan has a declining TFR, but not at a rate that will bother the Taliban anytime soon.
I don't think you need to argue societal collapse to see room for improvement. Yes, there is a mean spirited fantasy of the shitpostariat that goes full bore into denigration. Sexless reactionaries are resentful and as a result they don't value women very much, or express as much. The edgy memes were evolved in a period where anything not-feminist -- whatever it meant on a given day -- could be summarily discarded as misogynist. Full stop, end of story. How dare you? Which means some part of the reaction here can be chalked up to unfortunate, if predictable consequences.
At the very least it seems important to investigate radical changes to our society with an appetite for rigor. Improvements may not lie in RETVRN, but they may not lie in our understanding of concepts like "gender role" as wedded to things like second-wave feminism. Judith Butler shouldn't get the last say on how women think of themselves in our world. That's madness! Instead, women should listen to me. Barring that, we should want to look for alternatives or improvements. Why couldn't the next revolution be more traditional without fulfilling a young adult dystopian fiction? What if we can't have whatever makes you happyism without the cost of anxiety disorders, unhappiness, and civilization grinding to a halt?
We probably will avoid that last bit, but "traditional gender roles" shouldn't be off the table for consideration as a Scarlet Letter. That is also not the conclusion of this essay/book review by Ginevra Davis. She is more concerned with biological constraints she feels were imposed on her as a woman, and how that interacts with ideals of traditional feminism. I found her conclusions disagreeable, limited, pessimistic, and a little sad, but this thread made me think of it so I'm plugging it as a different take of being a woman.
One common conservative value, which most people don't outwardly object to though fewer find actionable, is holding motherhood as (if not the "highest and most virtuous") a significant, fulfilling achievement. Most progressives with families value motherhood, but of young women -- who are becoming more progressive with time -- this is a conservative coded value. Society relies on the fact cool, progressive girls ignore their politics, which they consider more important in more key areas than the past, and discover a natural desire for kids. At best, this seems suboptimal and unnecessary.
If we can effect a change in our values we might be able to leverage values into stuff. If it's all structural nothing-we-can-do forces, then the future is looking grim indeed. Baron Trump might put it off, but eventually he'll have to do the annual insemination tour to keep tax dollars flowing. I do hope this is our Malthusianism, and somehow we go back to something more normal and satisfactory in the future. Oh, and personally, I appreciate a woman who can read a book. You can trust her with so much more!
Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire by Richard Frank. Thorough research from Both Sides helps the reader better understand the decision to drop The Bomb. It builds on scaffolding that allows the reader to judge how justified the decision was in terms of what relevant actors did know, what they didn't, and some of what they should have. It is a darn convincing defense.
I returned to sci-fi while traveling and on vacation recently. First was Rendevous with Rama which was a quick read and enjoyable. The plot is currently in the news. An object flies into into the solar system hurtling towards the Sun. Except in the book this is a massive 50km x 20km not-comet. The reader goes along with the only team available to check it out.
The second was The Mote in God's Eye which could have cut a bunch. Maybe I am a curmudgeon or I take for granted sci-fi was once new and unrefined. The time it spent thinking about aliens was nice. It has the old school sci-fi autistic charm where the authors forget to include a characters arc then suddenly remember to throw something in. It wasn't a slog, but could've been better.
Technical issues aside, I've had the thought the place would benefit from some limited grass roots marketing. Once or twice a year mods could pick a week and suggest holding a goodpost for it. When it hits everyone all at once breaks the don't talk about Fight Club rule:
For 5-7 days people are encouraged to blast links into the ether. Twitter, Substack, reddit, or wherever. This results in an influx which results in a period of managed headache. Downsides are this might result in more attacks, unwanted attention, or permanent damage to a fragile ecological system.
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