Read Online Lunatic Fringe by Allison Moon - Free Book Online Page B

something about the term “militant”
made her think she should keep her mouth shut. Her ears warmed with
the fear of misspeaking. The corner of Renee’s mouth curved to a
smirk, and she shifted back onto her elbows, her bare legs
stretched out in front of her.
    “ We are opinionated ladies.
That’s an observation, not a critique,” Renee said. She reached out
her empty hand, beckoning for the glass. “And if you meant it as a
critique, girl, you are in the wrong place.” She smiled again and
took a healthy sip, then passed the glass back to Lexie.
    “ It seems like everyone
spends a lot of time talking about the way men suck,” Lexie said,
losing grip on her inhibitions because of the wine, or the day, or
the way Renee made her feel. Or, perhaps all three.
    Renee raised her eyebrows. “A lot of us
have issues with men, it’s true. A lot of women have issues with
men, because a lot of men are fuckwads. Some women turn their
issues into opinions and their opinions into manifestos. Some
women, like myself, for instance--like the Pack--turn their
manifestos into action. We all have different ways of getting to
the same place. As long as we arrive to do the work that needs to
be done, who cares how you got there?”
    “ That seems rather . . .”
Lexie struggled to find the right word.
    “ Essentialist?” Renee
offered.
    The actual word Lexie was going for was
“reductive,” but she let Renee continue.
    “ I think things are the way
they are until they’re not. It’s the job of the activist to be a
catalyst, to supplement the natural process of change and speed it
up for the good of everyone.”
    “ Everyone except the
original compound,” Lexie said, feeling smart for catching the
biology reference.
    “ Compound fracture,
compound interest, compound prisons, let ‘em all go to hell,” Renee
retorted.
    “ But it seems like there’s
such a chasm between these girls’ experiences and my own,” Lexie
admitted. “I feel like I’m a different species, and I grew up here!
I love my Dad. I have no problems with men.”
    “ Just because you haven’t
had negative experiences with men yourself doesn’t mean that those
experiences aren’t real for other women. Solidarity begs you to
treat those issues as your own, because what is it but luck and a
little bit of social progress that has kept you safe all these
years?”
    It sounded like a rhetorical question,
but Renee opened up a space for Lexie to respond. The question
confounded her. Lexie rooted through her memories, trying to find
the hidden moments in her life when it really was nothing more than
luck that had kept her safe.
    “ I don’t like looking at
the world as if I’m constantly in danger,” she said. “Whether it’s
true or not.”
    Renee softened her approach. “All I’m
saying is, you don’t need to have been raped or beaten to want to
work for a world in which things like rape and violence don’t
exist. Or genital mutilation, or ‘honor killings’, or the myriad
other ways our world hurts and oppresses women. We all suffer from
injustice. The point is to fight even when it’s not your head on
the block.”
    “ I just don’t think that
men are the problem.”
    “ Not all men are the
problem. There are many amazing men in this world, doing great
work, fighting for justice. But I won’t rely on them to make my
world the way it needs to be. That’s my job.” Renee swirled a reedy
index finger toward her chest.
    “ Besides, what we’re
about--” she said, sighing. “Well, what I’m about isn’t destroying
the patriarchy. It’s the kyriarchy I’m after.”
    “ The what?” Lexie
asked.
    “ Kyriarchy. Patriarchy
implies a gendered power structure ordered and arranged by men. But
not all injustice is perpetrated by men or the work of men.
‘Kyriarchy’ encompasses inequitable power structures across
genders, races, sects, contexts and so on.”
    Lexie sighed, rubbing her forehead at
the onset of a headache. “You’re