One of my acquaintances recently posted a note on his facebook describing how some guy crudely insulted his girlfriend's intelligence to her face (by stating that she's stupid because of her body parts) with no apparent negative consequence, and ended the note by wondering whether girls are honestly attracted to jerks like that (while he's a "nice guy" and can't engage in a relationship).
The answers I read were amazing. Amazingly horrible, that is.
Female replies are usually "I don't claim to understand it, but many girls are indeed attracted to misogynists."
My reply is a bit shorter, and a bit more violent: read a feminism blog, dude, and if I see a guy like that, I'll give him a special treat of conc H2SO4 (be grateful I am not saponifying the guy with NaOH).
The male replies were impressively elaborate. That's the only impressive thing about them. Various excuses abound (e.g. "feminists have no sense of humour, don't they see that it's a joke?"), along with theories about how women are "naturally insecure" and seek "strong" men, how "nice guys" have no pride and need to toughen up, how women are "forced" into equality and stay-at-home moms are oppressed for their choices, how that particular girlfriend in question is probably just stupid, etc, etc.
Dude. I have absolutely no familiarity with feminist studies, but even I know why these things are inappropriate. I don't laugh at this because it's not funny. Because it is actually offensive. Imagine that!
I don't usually encounter sexism in my circles, but this is it. These guys may be twenty-year-old idiots, but they'll grow up to be my colleagues and peers, and they'll still be misogynists.
I need to avoid facebook for awhile or I'll blow a mental gasket, reading this crap. Lots of people have said and explained all these things much better than I have, so I'll just point to Zuska's post about what guys who are actually interested in equality should be reading, and leave it at that.
Grrrrrr. Where's my calculus assignment? I need something to calm down with.
Monday, May 25, 2009
There Are Really People Who Think Like That?!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I find I have to avoid these people. Otherwise I just stay angry.
Thankfully, I have yet to experience any institutionalized sexism at work...my undergrad advisor has been particularly awesome and works really well with female students. (This could be a result of years of marriage to his uberfeminist wife...)
Post a Comment