white women's woes

Cultural Imperialism
There she goes again! National's spokes-twat for Screaming about Maori sexism, Judith Collins, embarasses herself & colleagues in a shameless show of white-feminist petulance at a powhiri for CYF.

"Ms Collins has previously stated publicly she would not sit in the back row for ceremonies at public sector institutions."

She said: "It was extremely humiliating to be sitting there and to be insulted and abused." Save the sympathy. An MP with a record of white feminist hissy-fits at powhiri, she deliberately defied convention knowing full well her behaviour was not just discourteous, but provocative.

"That bloke could stand up and abuse us, yet we couldn't stand up and give it back, because the moment we tried to speak there we would have been shouted down," she said."

WRONG! It's entirely appropriate for you to respond. To rise up and stand your ground. YOU laid down the challenge, the opposition responded, it's expected that you would defend yourself. That you chose cowardly, victimised silence, just means you can't handle the heat. So don't pick fights if you can't follow through. No point starting a scrap, getting your arse kicked, and then whining the other side chose to fight back. Dumb twat must have thought Maori men were docile, compliant little white wimpy men, easily coerced into silence through feminist intimidation tactics. And so it is. Cruising the blogosphere today, it's the Nat & Libertarian men cheering Ms Collins most loudly. The Nats - who oppose meddlesome regulation - want to barge in with busbody solicitation to save Maori from their unenlightened barbarity! And libertarians, espousers of freedom. Except, it seems, the freedom to conduct powhiri according to one's own cultural norms.

"The incident developed into a verbal brawl, with the National MPs saying they were humiliated for defending women's rights"

Excuse me? Which women? Whose rights? A woman's right to be rude? A woman's right to disrupt and sabotage public events because of one's own personal grudge? A woman's right to insist all culture practices conform to her own world view, with its own assumptions, values & prejudices? A woman's right to demand all Maori culture accomodate her neurotic delicate frailities?

Maori women do NOT need Collins to speak out for them on how 'oppressed' they are. Judith's outbursts represent the uglier face of white-feminism: affluent, educated, succesful, middle-class women bleating on about how hard done by they are. Do you think the average Maori woman, mired in poverty or other hardships, cares for the petty grumbles of a rich white tart? Has Collins surveyed Maori women, seeking their opinions before crusading against 'injustice'? If Maori women were truly upset about powhiri, they would speak up. Trust me! They're very vocal, unwilling to suffer in silence. For hundreds of years wahine have sat behind their men without complaint. Could it be that it isn't actually a problem for wahine, but only for spoilt pushy white b*tches, clueless about Maori traditions?

Feminist idiots, like Collins, are extremely selective over their targets of outrage. A powhiri begins with a WOMAN's karanga (a 'speech' where she may opine uninterrupted), it can not start without her assent. The visitors move onto the ground with WOMEN in front. A WOMAN will complete each speech with a song/chant/oratory; a commentary that may endorse, reject, oppose or ridicule everything the speaker just said. His mana enhanced or diminished according to her reply. Ultimately a WOMAN will close the session with an invitation to eat. Do the men shriek about their 2nd-class status? Do Maori men bawl because of this breach of their human rights? No, because they're adults. Not silly white twats fleeing from phantom patriarchal shadows.

I don't mind people opposing the proliferation of public sector powhiri, forced upon an unwilling, unprepared, uncomprehending white populace. Quite reasonably, it could be challenged that powhiri waste time. They cause confusion among non-Maori speakers who don't know what to do, what's being said, what's going on, what to do next. They are boring. I understand Maori, but unless a speaker is particularly witty, eloquent, charismatic, humorous or fascinating, they reduce me to yawns. Outside of Maoridom, I really don't understand what purpose they serve, except as some cosmetic, token gesture to make some PC twits feel good.

The irony is, a powhiri is supposed to bring people together, to put hosts and visitors at ease, to establish rapport between various groups who have gathered to discuss more important matters for which the meeting was convened. Ms Collins childish tirade was unproductive. The CYF meeting is deprived of the Nat MPs' input, the entire gathering was unnecesarily upset, and the bad publicity has cemented widespread Maori mistrust of Dr Brash's party.

National has a Maori problem. Not enough Maoris vote for them. An increasing voting bloc, the problem's only gonna get bigger. You'd think they might try soften their anti-Maori line. Or at least choose more substantive issues to rail against. Unlike the foreshore/seabed issue, land rights, separate racial funding etc, powhiri don't resonate as an issue with most people. Because few regularly attend, the problem is someone else's. You'd think Pakeha had more pressing complaints about Maori; like Maoris stealing their cars, robbing their banks, assaulting their men, raping their women. But no, it's the seating arrangements at powhiri that gives Collins the vapours.

"National's Paul Hutchison has written to the Prime Minister calling for a reprimand for the kaumatua who rebuked the MPs, and an apology"

No! The Nats should apologise for not reigning in a surly, rude, inflexible harpy unable to display humility nor endure stoicism for a brief welcome ceremony without an outbreak of ovarian hysteria. It's called PR. She really should learn to go with the flow. Public temper tantrums are never attractive. Most MPs gracefully endure the set backs of political life: hecklers, booing crowds, gruelling schedules, feigning smiles at multiple photo-ops, pointed questions from journalists, travel delays and other inconveniences, all without howls of puffed-up self-indignation. Even the most strident Labour feminist would never pull this stunt. Helen Clark's team is too politically savvy, knowing the perils of alienating significant swathes of the population over trivial matters.

Full of her own self-importance, Ms Collins thinks she can waltz onto a marae with her badge of women's victimhood and bulldoze over entire cultural institutions. Poor Jude, her sense of self-worth and 1st-class citizenship contingent on front row seats. Thank goodness that her obnoxious, foot-stamping, me-first, bloated sense of self-entitlement will continue to further alienate thousands of Maori voters. Thankfully the continuing demographic rise of Labour-voting Maoris will help stop this arrogant white slag from ever sitting on the treasury benches. I wonder, sitting perenially on the opposition side of the House, if she feels like a 2nd class politician?