The Cult of Masculinity
Pres. Bush thrills fans with a rousing rendition of “Word Up”
after delivering the 2006 State of the Union address.
While most of us were busy celebrating the third birthday of the war in Iraq (I sent the invasion a nice Hallmark card and a little teddy bar with a coffee mug that says “Believe In Yourself”), Linda Colley was writing in the Guardian about the cult of masculinity that grips American politics.
From her vantage point across the pond, it looks to Ms. Colley as if the pseudo-machismo of clowns like Bush and Cheney is the direct result of feminism’s relative success here in the U.S. She suggests that women’s rights overall have advanced further here than in Europe, and that Americans are shaken (subconsciously or otherwise) by the breakdown of traditional gender roles. In particular, politics in Europe remain almost entirely a male preserve, while Americans are faced with the rise of powerful female politicians like Hillary Clinton and Condi Rice. Colley believes that the resulting anxiety in the American psyche explains why macho posturing is so popular with our politicians, yet is virtually unheard-of in Europe.
Our current cult of masculinity is certainly real enough; no argument there. It’s the cult that fetishizes Bush’s wearing of cowboy hats and snug-fitting flight suits, his pseudo-cowboy swagger, and his neverending quest to chain-saw every last piece of brush on his fake ranch into oblivion. It’s the cult that admires Cheney for spending his vacations in such manly pursuits as shooting the heads off helpless farm-raised birds, a cowardly “sport” whose only resemblance to real hunting is in the rifles and big checked shirts. What counts in this cult is the appearance of masculinity, not the real thing. The implication, if Colley is right, is that Americans are so unmoored from any sense of what manhood really means that they are easily swayed by phony dress-up games and gestures.
Frankly, I think that Americans are unmoored from a sense of what anything really means, and that they are swayed by pretty much anything phony. Americans live in a bubble — a magical place of kittens and rainbows, where We Are Good and the only people who disagree with us are hateful bogeymen in black hats. Reagan got himself elected twice on the platform of “America the Beautiful,” and his entire Presidency was basically a Hollywood movie of what people wanted to believe about this country, with Ronnie in the starring role of the genial and principled Noble Leader. Bush is selling the same snake oil.
As for the gender thing, the American cult of masculinity long predates modern feminism. We’re the home of cowboy movies and John Wayne; we practically invented the 20th century ideal of the Manly Man. The fetishizing of those myths is to some extent just nostalgic yearning for a simpler past, a time when it was much easier to believe that we really were the good guys in the world.
Nevertheless, I think Colley’s argument has merit. European friends have always told me that the Old World remains more stubbornly sexist than the New (perhaps partly because European feminism has focused more on reproductive rights than on breaking through barriers in the public sphere). And there’s no doubt that changing gender roles are threatening to many Americans. Some people react with virulent hostility to feminism. Some embrace a primitive godbag philosophy that puts women back in the kitchen and firmly under male control. Some guys become Promise Keepers, while others go the Iron John route and spend their weekends drumming in the forest and killing small animals with their bare hands. (I predict the next fad will be a cult of God Keepers whose rites include drumming on naked feminists in the forest while wearing bright red codpieces and chanting “Who Let The Dogs Out?” No doubt this will help the initiates finally bring their ever elusive masculinity into focus.)
In other words, our current obsession with machismo could actually be a good sign. It’s a backlash, a symptom of just how thoroughly feminism has penetrated American society. Of course, it’s kind of hard to feel the joy when our politicians are swaggering around in penis pants and passing laws establishing government dominion over women’s bodies, but there it is. The question, as ever, is whether the backlash will break and roll back, or drown us with its fury.
71 Responses to “The Cult of Masculinity”
-
Alon Levy says:
Is the US really more feminist than Europe? Although lately the US has had Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Dole, and Condi Rice, Europe has had Maggie Thatcher and Angela Merkel. Further, in American politics there’s a tendency to view a politician’s wife as an extension of the politician, especially if that politician is running for President; hence Maureen Dowd’s horror at Judith Dean’s non-activism, or the conservative attacks on Teresa Heinz Kerry.
On the other hand, it makes sense that European feminism is more focused on reproductive rights. In the US, Roe vs. Wade has been law for more than 30 years; in Europe, most countries still restrict abortion far more than is permissible under Roe vs. Wade. Alito notwithstanding, Americans remain one of the most pro-choice nations in the West.
It would be interesting to compare not just the US and Europe, but also at a minimum Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and maybe non-Western countries such as Japan and South Korea. Canada in particular seems to be an incredibly feminist country, judging by the fact that it manages to have a 25% female legislature despite electing legislators in single-member districts.
March 20th, 2006 at 7:04 am EST -
Violet says:
Is the US really more feminist than Europe?
It’s what Europeans have always told me, and it’s borne out by what I’ve read.
The feminist movement in Europe focused on traditional women’s issues — reproductive choice, child care — and made great gains. American feminism in the 70s turned firmly towards the public sphere, with equal wage laws, getting women into public office, etc. This is one reason (among many, including Europe’s traditional socialism) that the American workforce is probably more gender-balanced than the European, and that Europeans have better parental leave laws.
As for culture — I think it’s clear that traditional machismo is alive and well on the Continent in a way that would be shocking in America. I’ve heard that consistently over the years. Just a single recent anecdote: an American woman in France reported a sexual assault to the police, and found herself propositioned by every single gendarme she encountered at every single step of the case. It was obviously the usual procedure for these guys. She simply could not get anyone to take her seriously.
As for Maggie Thatcher, she’s obviously a notable exception to what still seems to be a heavily male political scene in the U.K.
-
Barbara says:
“Frankly, I think that Americans are unmoored from a sense of what anything really means, and that they are swayed by pretty much anything phony.”
Witness the growing number of well-scripted reality shows. The ones that really turn my stomach are the Extreme Makeovers and other shows where some poor, infirm person gets a bionic house or a free operation. Americans can then just sit back and bask in the glow of what a generous people we really are.
I’m going to argue with you, however, about the glories of our more liberated status here in the US. Do we put our resources to good use helping our sisters get out of their downward spiral of poverty? The socker moms that I’ve seen are deeply entrenched in an SUV/minivan culture of servicing their kids, making sure that they have all the enriching activities money can buy. In other words, economic class divisions are growing and we women are willing to support a macho president who guarantees us and our kids all the proper creature comforts.
-
will says:
For the record, I HATE ann-tea-dotes for the main reason that every single case that I know anything about gets absolutely misreported in the paper. Also, even if the reported situation is true, that does not mean that it is not the exception to the rule.
Having said that, I think it is shameful how we are more proud about being a tough nation than we are about being a just nation. Moreover, I am typically happy for lip service, but it never ceases to amaze me how Americans are more concerned about lip service and the appearance of caring or being tough than they are about action.
Feminism and liberalism are both naughty terms due to appearances and a few extreme people. I firmly believe that the overwhelming majority of Americans want to do what is fair and just. But, feminism and liberalism has been unfairly painted as movements to get a preference or to get a handout. We have done a HORRIBLE job allowing these movements to be recast as something other than what they are.
A level playing field is something that people can rally behind. I blame the PR departments of liberalism and feminism. If only we could be more autocratic and control our message!!!!
-
Violet says:
You folks continue to talk amongst yourselves for a bit; I have to take a nap. Here are suggested topics:
1. The original post.
2. Why I’m full of shit.
3. Whether masculinity really is so hard to define in our brave new world, and whether wearing a red codpiece could help.When I come back I will answer all your questions.
Love,
Violet -
will says:
A nap at 9 am?!?!??!?! Are you a vampire?
-
Alon Levy says:
Why I’m full of shit.
I would volunteer that unless you have just pooped, you are full of shit, especially close to the end of your large intenstine.
-
Jim Deeny says:
Masculinity has been around since the beginning of time. See, women make decisions on feelings and men make decisions on facts, atleast that’s my perspective. Women can make decisions on facts if they’re lesbian, and men can make decisions on feelings if they’re gay? Right?
-
Alon Levy says:
Please tell me you’re only doing a bad imitation of a troll.
-
Jim Deeny says:
I’m not a troll, nor am I imitating one. It’s my perspective Alon and I think it deserves it’s respect, just as I do yours.
-
Alon Levy says:
I just wanted to make sure… it sounded trollish, largely because women make decisions based on facts just like men.
-
Timothy Shortell says:
That comment has to be a gag. The silly gender dfference (as if anyone relied exclusively on either feelings or facts in their cognition) and the cartoonish add-on about lesbians and gays being reverse gendered. And then, to top it all off, the appeal to respect every perspective equally — as if assertions pulled out of the ass should be regarded as equivalent to social science. Ha!
There is truly a lot of nonsense on gender peddled by the “self-help” industry, and it is possible that someone actually believes that gender differences could be expressed by a feelings/facts dichotomy. My advice to anyone sincerely holding such a belief would be to pick up an introductory sociology textbook and read the chapter on gender and the family.
-
Jim Deeny says:
Picking up a book might just be a great idea but,
a belief is what it is, it can be introduced by a culmination of things. It can be solely one’s experience, it can be experience injected with a “textbook” (which then truly isn’t you’re own) or, it can be textbook only. I’m not puting women down, gays or straights. I’ve asked for directions when I was lost once, a nice woman told me to make a right at the house with the beautiful blue front door on it, then make a right at the one that has yellow daffodils, then, the house should be on your left next to the one with the pool in the back yard. If you ask a man for directions, he’s say go 1/4 mile, make a right onto Maple, continue East for one block, make another right on Chestnut, it will be the 3rd house on the right. There is a difference. -
Violet says:
If you ask a man for directions, he’s say go 1/4 mile, make a right onto Maple, continue East for one block, make another right on Chestnut, it will be the 3rd house on the right. There is a difference.
That’s how I give directions, and I can’t tell you how many guys I’ve met who couldn’t follow what I was saying because they didn’t know which way “east” was.
Jim, it’s just not true that men make decisions based on facts and women make them based on feelings. That’s very old-fashioned gender stereotyping. It’s a cultural assumption, not truth. And homosexuality does’t turn a person into the opposite gender: gay men aren’t women and lesbians aren’t men.
-
Burrow says:
Sidenote: Dr. Socks would you please stop comparing me to Bush and Cheney? I.e. besmirching the good name that is clown by applying it to those buffoons.
Please: they’re not funny, well they are in a sad and terrifying way and everytime I see clown attached to them I get very very sad. :(
Burrow the (real) Clown
-
Violet says:
A nap at 9 am?!?!??!?! Are you a vampire?
Actually it was just time for me to go to bed. I got a good 9 hour stretch, and feel great now.
For the record, I HATE anecdotes for the main reason that every single case that I know anything about gets absolutely misreported in the paper.
Which anecdote are you referring to? The one in my comment to Alon? I was just using that to illustrate the kind of ingrained sexism I meant, not to prove anything.
By the way, I’m surprised you didn’t express interest in the naked-feminist-drumming cult in the woods.
-
Violet says:
I’m going to argue with you, however, about the glories of our more liberated status here in the US. Do we put our resources to good use helping our sisters get out of their downward spiral of poverty?
Well, we can’t argue on that point because I agree with you!
I think Colley’s contention is just that American society is more liberated than European, not that American women are fully liberated (ha!) or that we’re doing anything useful to maintain or advance our liberated status.
But when you say this —
In other words, economic class divisions are growing and we women are willing to support a macho president who guarantees us and our kids all the proper creature comforts.
Are you opposing this to Colley’s idea about the cult of masculinity being a response to feminist upheavals? Are you saying that Americans dig Bush not because they’re threatened about gender roles, but because American women have become so complacent about feminist gains that they’re now willing to sit back and let a Daddy figure take charge? And if so (which is a leap because I’m not sure I’m reading you correctly), couldn’t this in fact be a deep-seated response to gender role anxiety?
-
Violet says:
Sidenote: Dr. Socks would you please stop comparing me to Bush and Cheney?
You’re right — I should probably just call them fucktards.
-
jimdeeny says:
Alon, I like your philosophy. I believe you. I’m not this headstong guy, I just tell anyone how I feel from my experience. If they’re able to sway it, I send a thank you to them. I read a little. If I divulge on who I read then I would be under some major scrutiny.
-
Burrow says:
Thank you Violet!!
and can’t *gasp* stop *gasp* laughing *hehehe* at photo *collapses in fit of laughter*
-
Violet says:
Yes indeed, Cameo and Larry Blackmon’s amazing codpiece. I LOVE that song!
It occurs to me that “Word Up” was a hit before Alon was even born. Godalmighty.
-
Jim Deeny says:
In an instant, I want to throw my hands up in the air and say “fuck it”., “fuck blogging”.
I can’t………
”
I am naive to this.We have all been young to something.
Jim, it’s just not true that men make decisions based on facts and women make them based on feelings. That’s very old-fashioned gender stereotyping. It’s a cultural assumption, not truth. And homosexuality does’t turn a person into the opposite gender: gay men aren’t women and lesbians aren’t men.”
Violet, I thought that was Alon, the roll thingy in between my mice’s was far quicker than me.
-
Vinnie Vespisti says:
20: “and can’t gasp stop gasp laughing hehehe at photo collapses in fit of laughter”
Gosh-o-golly, it sounds serious. Vinnie hopes you survive long enough to go straight. Don’t despair, though! There has GOT to be SOME clown out there who will have you. Maybe a nice blind guy with no olfactory receptors. :-)
-
Violet says:
Maybe a nice blind guy with no olfactory receptors.
Hey! You’re talking trash to my favorite clown!
-
Alon Levy says:
I’ve just recalled a statistic dating from the Summers Wars: a study comparing the percentage of women in science, math, and engineering in various countries has found that the US has the third lowest percentage in the developed world (the first two are Japan and South Korea) and is below many developing countries.
-
gordo says:
In 1991 Edith Cesson, the French Prime Minister, said that British men were mostly gay, because she detected a lot fewer oglings in London than in Paris.
The Sun ran a cover with a couple of swishy-looking men in Paris with the headline, “They Don’t Call It Gay Paree For Nothing!” A British MP tried to introduce a resolution that read, “This house does not fancy elderly French women.”
I can’t imagine American newpapers and politicians openly engaging in that kind of crap over here. Remember how much fuss Fox kicked up by calling Kerry a “metrosexual” on their web page? They had to apologize and take the comment down.
My point is that it does seem like the US is more feminist, but I don’t think that prevents Europeans from being more prone to assert and exagerrate gender roles and stereotypes. I think we’re ahead of them there, too.
-
Alon Levy says:
I can’t imagine American newpapers and politicians openly engaging in that kind of crap over here. Remember how much fuss Fox kicked up by calling Kerry a “metrosexual” on their web page? They had to apologize and take the comment down.
That’s because the British mainstream media is full of tabloid journalism, whereas the American media tends to be more professional, even when it runs a story on physics and gives string theory and Time Cube equal time.
-
Violet says:
European politics, at least on the Continent, does seem more traditionally sexist to me. French and Italian politicians in particular seem compelled to act the part of public Lothario, announcing which actresses they’d like to fuck and so on.
-
Larry Summers says:
a study comparing the percentage of women in science, math, and engineering in various countries has found that the US has the third lowest percentage in the developed world (the first two are Japan and South Korea) and is below many developing countries.
Socialist and ex-communist nations that have enforced Soviet-style gender quotas in the sciences naturally have greater numbers of women in those fields. But that’s an artifact of policy, not a result of women’s innate capabilities.
In contrast, U.S. academia is a pure meritocracy, and in a meritocracy women simply can’t hack it in the sciences. They get bogged down in that whole “mommy truck” and “daddy truck” thing.
-
gordo says:
Violent–
And don’t forget Berlusconi’s crotch grabbing and “corna” flashing.
Alon–
The newspapers can be explained by a tabloid media culture, but the politicians can’t. The last time I can recall something like that here was when Dick Armey referred to Barney Frank as “Barney Fag.”
There was a difference, though–Armey apologized, saying it was an innocent slip of the tongue. Frank commented that in all her 80 years, nobody had every made a slip and called his mother “Mrs. Fag.”
-
Alon Levy says:
Socialist and ex-communist nations that have enforced Soviet-style gender quotas in the sciences naturally have greater numbers of women in those fields.
I didn’t know Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, and Spain were all socialist, ex-communist nations. Thanks for enlightening me.
-
Violet says:
I admit, I’m surprised that not a single one of my male commenters has addressed the issue of masculine identity in a feminist world. Are all you guys that secure? If so, boo-yah. I think you should go out like missionaries and spread your message of enlightenment to the world. Hit the Iron John seminars first, then work your way up to the Promise Keepers. Eventually you’ll be ready to take on Vox Day.
-
gordo says:
Violent–
My dad wanted to take me to an Iron John deal when I was about 25. All I could think was, “thank God Bly didn’t have this bright idea 10 years ago, or I’d have had to go.”
About midway through college, I stopped worrying about what it meant to be a man, what a man’s role is, and where a man’s place in society should be. I realized that I was a man, so my role was to be me, and a man’s place was wherever I happened to be.
I can’t see how that would change in a truly feminist world, unless Pat Robertson’s right. In that case, I suppose my role would be gathering herbs so you and your lesbian sisters could make various potions and cast your evil spells.
-
Violet says:
I realized that I was a man, so my role was to be me, and a man’s place was wherever I happened to be.
Perfect. Pair that with the female version (”a woman’s place is wherever I happen to be”) and you have the essence of feminism.
It seems simple, yet it’s so difficult for so many. Why?
(By the way, do you realize that you always mis-type my name as “Violent”? It’s rather charming, but I fear people will think I’m an anarchist.)
-
Burrow says:
I’m your favourite clown? *blushes*
Ah don’t mind him, he’s just angry that a cockroach has a greater IQ then he does, not to mention sex appeal.
-
will says:
“By the way, I’m surprised you didn’t express interest in the naked-feminist-drumming cult in the woods.”
How did I miss that? What could be more fun than hanging out with a bunch of hairy, pissed off men-hating women?
By the way, how are you allowed in the feminist cult since you have large breasts? Do you have to keep them strapped down? Arent they considered a tool of the patriarchy?
-
Violet says:
By the way, how are you allowed in the feminist cult since you have large breasts?
You’re confusing me with the Countess. I told you, mine are average.
But no — the cult is for men whose rites include drumming on naked feminists. As opposed to the cult we’re starting in the Virginia woods, in which feminists and men will drum on each other. Keep your imaginary cults straight, will ya? Jeesh!
-
gordo says:
Violent–
So people think you’re an anarchist now? Boo-hoo. Thanks to you, they think I’m a trannie.
-
Alon Levy says:
I admit, I’m surprised that not a single one of my male commenters has addressed the issue of masculine identity in a feminist world. Are all you guys that secure?
I honestly have no way of knowing how secure I am. I know I don’t have much of a masculine identity, in the sense that I don’t identify with the average man any more than I do with the average woman (in fact, I suspect that on average I identify with women more).
Perfect. Pair that with the female version (”a woman’s place is wherever I happen to be”) and you have the essence of feminism.
It seems simple, yet it’s so difficult for so many. Why?
I don’t know why… probably because of sexist traditions, coupled with severe stereotyping.
-
Txfeminist says:
Perhaps that kind of open-endedness (”wherever I happen to be”) is too scary for some people. In order to feel secure they want to be defined by something “bigger than themselves”.
Unfortunately, that leads to defining others in ways we may not like to or want to be defined.
-
will says:
“But no — the cult is for men whose rites include drumming on naked feminists. As opposed to the cult we’re starting in the Virginia woods, in which feminists and men will drum on each other. Keep your imaginary cults straight, will ya? Jeesh!”
This is a male-female communication issue. Clearly, you misunderstood. We are not talking about drumming when we say “I want to bang a feminist.”
-
Alon Levy says:
Perhaps that kind of open-endedness (”wherever I happen to be”) is too scary for some people. In order to feel secure they want to be defined by something “bigger than themselves”.
The vast majority of people are hopelessly conformistic.
-
gordo says:
Will–
You don’t get to tear your shirt off when you score on an open goal.
-
Barbara says:
Are you opposing this to Colley’s idea about the cult of masculinity being a response to feminist upheavals? Are you saying that Americans dig Bush not because they’re threatened about gender roles, but because American women have become so complacent about feminist gains that they’re now willing to sit back and let a Daddy figure take charge? And if so (which is a leap because I’m not sure I’m reading you correctly), couldn’t this in fact be a deep-seated response to gender role anxiety?
No. I guess basically I’m saying that the women are attached to their SUVs and minivans and are happy for a macho president who gets them their gasoline at a reasonable price. I also know a lot of moms who are so afraid that the local movie theater might let their kids into an R-rated movie — because of the “sexual content” or “language” (I love that one: language! What else do we communicate with all day???) but who don’t care at all if their kids go to movies filled with violence.
…but I’m probably getting way off track from the original post…just expressing some pet peeves, I guess!
-
gordo says:
Barbara–
I’ve noticed that my sister also became very sheltering with regard to sex as soon as she became a parent. I think one problem is that the minute you start thinking they’re old enough to be more open about it, they come home with bubblegum stuck in their hair. She’s fairly consistent when it comes to violence as well.
-
Vinnie Vespisti says:
to 35: While I appreciate ad hominem attacks from sexist women as much as any other macho stud-muffin would, clowns are where I draw the line.
-
Violet says:
…but I’m probably getting way off track from the original post…just expressing some pet peeves, I guess!
Barbara, this blog specializes in getting off track from the original post!
I think most American women are extremely complacent about feminist gains. They don’t appreciate how recent our gains are, how fragile they are, and how easily they can be swept away. So, as you say, they vote their pocketbook (or at least they think that’s what they’re doing) or vote how their church tells them to. I don’t know how or if that interacts with gender anxiety.
-
Violet says:
I know I don’t have much of a masculine identity, in the sense that I don’t identify with the average man any more than I do with the average woman (in fact, I suspect that on average I identify with women more).
Maybe you’re like me in this: I don’t fundamentally self-identify as a woman, but as a mind. I’m a human intelligence, an entity. I’m me. Female identity is something I learned, but apart from the obvious (sexuality, etc.), I don’t actually go about thinking of myself as female, much less as “Woman.”
-
gordo says:
Violent–
Maybe there has to be a mind movement to go with feminism and the Iron John thing. Maybe the Ethereal Socks movement.
-
Violet says:
Ha! Now you’re doing it on purpose. I was about to put up a post linking to your blog, but now I must punish you for mangling my name.
-
gordo says:
Violent–
Yes, it was accidenntal the firsnt 22 ntimes I did int. the “n” key is just a scant 1 1/2 inches from nthe “nt” key, so I ofnten mash nthem bonth ant nthe same ntime.
NBTW–
NThis is nthe worsnt punishmennt I’ve ever gontnten for accidenntly screwing up someone’s name.
-
Alon Levy says:
Maybe you’re like me in this: I don’t fundamentally self-identify as a woman, but as a mind. I’m a human intelligence, an entity. I’m me. Female identity is something I learned, but apart from the obvious (sexuality, etc.), I don’t actually go about thinking of myself as female, much less as “Woman.”
Well, I don’t self-identify as anything other than myself, too. I mean, jokes about the IJC and the EAC aside, I don’t view myself as “a Jew,” “an atheist,” or even “a liberal.” When I talk about myself as a member of a group, it’s always to show that I’m not the only one touting a certain idea.
-
Txfeminist says:
“Maybe you’re like me in this: I don’t fundamentally self-identify as a woman, but as a mind. I’m a human intelligence, an entity. I’m me. ”
Yep. I always wondered why the inside of my brain didn’t look or feel “female”. It’s because it’s just me in there. Femaleness is incidental.
Perfect!
-
will says:
Yet, you identify yourself as a Tax feminist…
-
Violet says:
Comment #41 by Will was hilarious. But comment #43 by Gordo appears to be in secret guy code. I don’t understand.
-
Violet says:
Txfeminist, one of these days I want to do a survey of how many people really deeply identify as their gender, as opposed to it being something incidental to their sense of self.
-
will says:
VS:
It means that you shouldnt celebrate an easy victory. I shouldnt dance around chanting “I’m Number 1″ because I beat a bunch of 8 year olds in a race.
I think he was calling you easy.
-
Violet says:
I think he was calling you easy.
He was calling me what??? Hoo boy, I’ve got some killin’ to do.
-
gordo says:
Viole…er, t–
In soccer, a guy who scores a goal typically jumps around a lot, and often tears off his own jersey to show how happy he is. Mia Hamm once created controversy by doing this.
If the keeper stumbles, creating an “open goal,” then it’s considered bad form to celebrate too much when you score. An opportunistic goal still counts, but it’s not a jersey-tearing occasion.
-
Violet says:
Yeah, but what’s the goal and who scored?
-
gordo says:
Will–
From now on, I’m going to scroll through subsequent comments BEFORE leaving one of my own, to make sure that the point I’m making has not already been made (see #57 and #59).
-
will says:
“Yeah, but what’s the goal and who scored?”
You. And accordingly to Gordo, anyone who tries.
-
Violet says:
I think Gordo’s got another think coming. My standards are high!
-
gordo says:
Will–
Thanks for the help, but I’m perfectly capable of digging my own holes, and burying myself.
-
Profaner says:
Can someone please explain to me what feminism is? I’m sorry for being such a backward person. I see alot of references to feminism and i can’t follow along becuase I don’t know what it is. I’m not asking for a tome. Just a short moment of someones kind time so I can be up to speed. I’d appreciate the education. Maybe a book to read or something. A definition?
-
Violet says:
Feminism is:
1. The radical notion that women are human beings.
2. The movement for the social, legal, and economic equality of the sexes.
3. The reason you have the right to vote, get an education, enter a profession, own property, and hold a bank account in your own name. -
Violet says:
Profaner, I went to Amazon and got this link for you:
Feminism Is For Everybody, by bell hooks. This is probably the most accessible introduction to feminism out there.
-
will says:
“I think Gordo’s got another think coming. My standards are high!”
I’ll take the blame for the poor communication this time. That isnt what I meant when I said you must have been on crack to have dated those men.
-
Profaner says:
Thank you Violet. I hve looked it up since I asked. It is in a nutshell womens right to be equal to males under the law and socially. I am going to read Feminism is for Everybody. Much appreciated.
On another note, it was Brandy Chastaine rather than Mia Ham who ripped off her shirt in celebration of her winning goal against China in the Female World Soccer Cup. It had been a humdinger of a game- a real nail biter. It wasn’t that big of a deal becuase she had a tight fitting shirt on underneath. A sports bra as some folks are calling it.
-
orlando says:
OK, I know it’s absurd to comment on a post that’s well over a year old, but I’m new here and enjoying all the catch-up browsing, and I just can’t let this phrase slip by unridiculed:
“U.S. academia is a pure meritocracy”
(cackles insanely for extended period) How could you all miss out on the chance of throwing a chortle-party over that one? -
The Ghost of Violet says:
Orlando, I totally forgot that Larry Summers had commented here! I wonder if he still reads me.
