IAINews February 27 2014
How Nietzsche’s concept of slave morality can help women shift the burden of Judeo-Christian morality.
When women rule the world… What a promising first sentence, and what a utopian image. But when women do rule – and let’s suspend our incredulity for the space of this short article – what kind of world might we expect? “One built on kindness, humility, selflessness and toleration,” you may be mumbling under your breath. And you’d be in good company – it’s something countless others have mumbled before you. Perhaps you’re right. Perhaps some mixture of hormones, evolution, destiny and whatever else comes under the lazy heading of “wiring” these days has indeed made women into semi-saints.
But we should acknowledge the chance that this seemingly benign piece of inverse sexism could in fact be masking a toxic assumption: that women are somehow more pure, and more embodying of Christian virtues, than men. To attribute this to our nature is to affirm all of its correlates in contemporary culture. These days, women’s apparent lack of aggression in the business world is seen as a sign of their weakness, even as they are praised as being experts at slightly despised traits like organisation, mediation and caring. Women are better off in low-paid, low-status jobs, or clinging precipitously to the halfway point of the career ladder, because nature has made us kinder, less aggressive and more humble. The myth of idealised Judeo-Christian womanhood is toxic and it’s holding us back.
There are obvious parallels here between Nietzsche’s understanding of slave morality and the natural characteristics that are attributed to women. Nietzsche wrote: “Slave morality is essentially a morality of utility” in that “qualities are brought out […] which serve to ease existence for those who suffer” and “pity, the complaisant and obliging hand, the warm heart, patience, industry, humility and friendliness are honoured.” These are attributes which make them “tame, easy to get along with, and useful to the herd”. What does that remind you of? Could it be coincidence that a mind-set developed – according to Nietzsche, who admittedly isn’t exactly reliable as far as sources go – by the oppressed and enslaved thousands of years ago should be reflected back to us in our conception of femininity? Or is there something far more meaningful afoot?