And I am absolutley baffled at your stubborn adherence to the idea that people who have a more negative interperetation of Jadzia's character are sexists who want to suppress women's rights.
First of all, I didn't accuse anyone to "wishing to suppress" anything. What I said was that some very negative judgements of the character of Jadzia were influence by a backward attitute about gender roles.
And wouldn't you contend that someone who doesn't like that women are "free" would therefore prefer that that freedom be nonexistent--suppressed, if you will?
Perhaps it is the context of our individual points which are original...?
wut?
Well, at least now you are admitting judgement of character is about "shades of grey". It's an improvement already.
Improvement over what? I never claimed otherwise.
I though it was clear, but let's try again.
People have argued that Jadzia was "arrogant", "self-absorbed", "ball-busting", "hard-charging", "gung-ho", "disrespectful", "aloof", "loose", "manipulative", "uppity", "bitchy", "know-it-all", "condescending", "vapid", etc.
(Side note: You've once accused me of being "condescending" as well, as I recall (it was preceded by the F-bomb, I remember)--for calling you "sir" of all things. Overreacting is a universal problem. Moving right along....)
Now--here's something which I'd say expresses the "disrepectful" element. In "Looking For
Par-mach..." she blurts out to Sisko something which Worf
clearly wanted kept private--his crush on Grilka--and does so with a smirk on her face. Just an example.
Now, I and others saw nothing of the sort in the character. In fact, I would describe her as "self-assured", "collected", "free-spirited", "irreverent", etc.
It follows that the former assertions could not be a string of objective facts, but on the contrary a bunch of personal opinions.
Of course--and the same goes for the latter assertions, that her attitude should be viewed in a more positive light. I'm with you, so far.
Personal opinions are funny, because by their very nature are inextricably rooted in the fundamental beliefs of the people formulating it.
On this...I
suppose we can agree. Personal experiences and philosophies help infuence one's interperetations of the facts on the ground. Still with you.
So, such strongly-expressed negative opinions against a character who displays traits (self-confidence, competence, competitiveness, sexual freedom, etc.)--
Hold on.
Here is where we disagree. I think the problem is the use of euphemisms. "Oh, that's just self-confidence. You're not against
that, are you?"
Uhura and Janeway are certainly self-confident. You don't see us whining about then. As far as we are concerned, they are not arrogant nor condescending. (I should point out that Janeway is a captain--and that, myself, I would be proud to serve under her command.)
However, self-confidence, taken to the extreme, becomes arrogance and condescension. Those who don't care for Jadzia simply feel that she has crossed that line.
Now for "competence". Surely you're not claiming that we don't like Jadzia because she's good at what she does? Of course not! As a general rule,
all Star Trek regulars--women or men--are competent. (Even Neelix, in his own way....)
Surely you would not call Ezri incompetent. Sisko would certainly disagree with that. I would argue that she is
very competent at her job.
"Competitiveness". Now, this is a little vague. What do you mean by "competitiveness"?
"Sexual Freedom"--
big euphemism, here. Vague doesn't even begin to describe this. Aren't Kirk or James Bond or Julian Bashir "sexually free"? And yet womanizing heroes on the screen is considered sexist--degrading towards women--treating them as playthings to be discarded! What do you mean by "sexually free"?
See, the problem is doublespeak--vague terms which can be stretched. Because of this, the two sides in this debate cannot come to a common ground--because they use two different dictionaries. And it leads to frankly unfortunate conclusions, like so:
--that I consider expressions of women's liberation and emancipation, brings me to think that such vehement opinions are rooted in some strong-held beliefs about rigidly-defined gender roles, an adherence to more traditional dynamic between the men and women, and a disapproval of the recent trends in society about women's role.
I cannot believe I had to spell it out for you.
I'm grateful you did--because now, I see the roots of the disagreement.
Obviously not, because criticism of Ezri's whinyness is not rooted in a Victorian view of women's roles and attitudes. Find something else to suit your purposes: hating girls with short hair, I dunno.
Okay...let me explain how it
would be sexist:
Criticism of Ezri, for her personality, implies--by your reasoning--a distaste for her kind of femininity. Thus, women who possess that sort of personality are to be held in lower esteem than, say, the more "aggressive" and self-assertive Jadzia.
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Oh, I'd prefer to see it as...self-confidence, in my competence and competitiveness.
Now, in all seriousness, I do not compare myself to Socrates in matters of
intellect, per se. I compare myself to him in the idea of being One Who Resists The Tug Of Popular Sentiment.
That--and his method, his way of holding others' feet to the fire, is an admirable characteristic which I try to emulate whenever I can. I'm not at his level...but he's a darn good role model.
If you are to quote Ayn Rand, you should at least be honest about her job.
She was both a philosopher and a writer--as you should be aware, if you're going to be like that....

But I guess you are allowed your own fantasies.
My,
my,
iguana! I wonder what your criteria are for a "true" philosopher? There are many historical figures considered "philosophers", whose ideas are frankly laughable. Karl Marx, for one. Still, I wouldn't laugh at his being called a philosopher.
The same goes for those philosophers who claim that there is no objective truth--and expect us to take that statement as objective truth....