I’m following the blogs of many Russian bloggers. And obviously they are all for Ukraine and against Putin, they want their country to abandon its feudal route towards barbarity and embrace Western values, they are all well-read and brilliant, etc.
And then we all hear the news that the Russian parliament is trying to pass a bill against sexual harassment. I read one of the blogs by these brilliant, ultra-progressive Russians and discover that the bill is a disaster because if sexual harassment in the workplace is penalized, this would cause a demographic catastrophe in Russia because how will people ever procreate?
Obviously, I immediately unfollow the blog and go to the next one. It tells me that the bill is bad because the blogger heard on good authority that there is no such thing as rape. Rape accusations are all made by spiteful women who want to attract attention. Of course, I immediately unfollow the blog and go to the next one. And then the next one. And they all say something like this or worse.
These are the best among Russians, mind you. Now imagine the worst.
I had a very similar experience recently when I read what the super-progressive, pro-Western Ukrainians had to say about the LGBT movement.
Clarissa's Blog 
Sometimes I think the only difference here is that such men are keeping their opinions to themselves (mostly). The sentiments you quoted are alive and well here given what I hear among men. I find it refreshing when I run across a true male feminist like myself.
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I find you very refreshing, too! 🙂
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This has been your regularly scheduled reminder that:
1.There’s a lot of selectively progressive or selectively libertarian people out there.
2. Progressive, libertarian, feminist and non-racist do not always overlap or even most of the time.
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I don’t understand. If you read even Russian neo-Nazi sites, why not continue reading those bloggers to grasp better what’s going on and what kind of people “brilliant, ultra-progressive Russians” are? I understand the emotional reaction after expecting better from them, but If they are brilliant otherwise, I would’ve continued reading them.
Speaking of Nazis in Russia:
“Один из вариантов школьного дневника вызвал возмущение екатеринбургских родителей. В “шапке” над разлинованной частью размещена информация о различных людях, чьи имена вошли в историю. Однако появление в этом ряду изображения и биографии Адольфа Гитлера восприняли неоднозначно. ”
http://marko19511.livejournal.com/1175104.html
Is this problematic in your eyes?
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Neo-Nazis didn’t disappoint me. I knew they were freaks and they continue being freaks. But these people did disappoint me. And I’m very, very unforgiving. I don’t deal well with being disappointed.
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I remember I was very backward when I first came to the US some 15 years ago. I had no understanding of the LGBT issues, I thought they should not be able to adopt kids, I thought it was a lifestyle choice… I also thought the gratuitous misogyny that surrounded me at every step growing up was how things were and that I was cool for going with the flow and not being sensitive.
I am now a strong supporter of LGBT equal rights and in general a feminist. I am very ashamed of what I used to think back then, and I was as intelligent then as I was now, just younger and with considerably more narrow world view; if you had confronted me then about my narrow-mindedness, I wouldn’t have had any of it.
What I am trying to say is that people are shaped by their experiences. Living in several countries and experiencing, truly, how people very different than yourself live, cannot be replaced. Being intelligent and curious helps broaden the confines of a limited experience, but cannot truly break it.
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