The second worst thing in the world is to be called a sexist. Because. But really what is a sexist?
Is it someone that believes that men and women are different? Is it someone that supports the patriarchy or toxic masculinity? Is it someone that believes women should be kept barefoot and pregnant?
Or maybe it is just someone that believes that the Civil Rights Acts mean what they say, that the government shall not discriminate on the basis of sex.
Actually I get it. It is all understood in Eric Hoffer's famous aphorism that "Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket."
Or more directly, the problem with every great cause is that after it succeeds it never goes home. But sticks around doing more of what worked to advance in the cause in the days of its innocence. Thus, says Google's Ngram Viewer.
Come on, feminists! You mean to say that we need to talk more about sexism after the government passed a law to make it illegal for government and most private organizations to discriminate against women. I don't think so. I mean: shouldn't we have been having a conversation about sexism before the Civil Rights Acts in the 1960s?
Actually, I believe that the government should discriminate in favor of women. Women are peculiarly vulnerable, and not because of millennia of patriarchy, but because women are physically weaker, because women are particularly vulnerable when they are pregnant or caring for young children. And because Oscar Wilde's question about what women want is flat wrong. It is not what women want, but what they expect. And primarily what they expect is to be protected.
Let me give you an example. Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently criticized President Trump for a tweet criticizing impeachment witness Marie Yovanovich. She praised the former ambassador's "strength" and then went on to say that "people don't insult people."
This is, as we say, just like a woman. Guess what: you never praise a man for his strength. You only criticize him in the event of weakness. So our Nance is a sexist. Then the insult thing. It's true. Women don't insult other women to their face. What they do is complain about a third-person woman in an intimate one-on-one conversation with another woman, as in "I can't believe she said that." And at some point the women's culture of name and shame and shun kicks in. And the woman in question finds that she doesn't have any "friends" any more. You tell me which is worse.
Here's more sexist stuff.
I believe that votes for women is a bad idea, because the only valid job for government is protecting us from dangers, and women don't do that.
I believe that abortion is a bad idea, because no man should have the option of saying "get rid of it."
I believe the sexual revolution was a bad idea, because women just don't do hookup culture, not unless they have drunk half a bottle of vodka before the party.
I believe that no-fault divorce is a bad idea, because it encourages men to dump their wives for a newer model; and it encourages women to act on the advice of their friends to ditch the loser.
I believe that careers for women is a bad idea because I think young women should be thinking about marriage and children and married women should be working with other mothers in the community to raise the children together, and that older women should be regulating the neighborhood with their name and shame and shun culture.
I believe that women are learners and carers and teachers, and their instinct is to keep things going. I believe that men are creators, fighters, and destroyers, and their instinct is to march towards the sound of the guns.
I believe that we can see women starting to push back against the follies of the last century, that women can live and work "just like a man." I believe that the reaction against the hookup culture is a start, that the #MeToo hashtag is a realization that women do too need protection in the public square. And I believe that microaggressions and safe spaces are an indicator that women don't do face to face challenge.
And what I think is that men are in the early stages of creating a new men-only culture where courage is expected, insults are just a fact of life, and rebelling against conventional wisdom is a sign of manliness.
So yeah. Call me a sexist. I don't care. Because all the vile accusations flying around are merely the crude attempts of political activists to divide people and conquer them. But accusations only work when we cringe. If we do not cringe, then the accusation starts to lose its power.
OK, OK. It's easy for me to say that, because I don't earn my living in the public square: I can't be "canceled."
But right now the accusation of sexism is an accusation that can hurt your career big time. You cannot say: so's your father, because women don't do face-to-face insult -- the Noble Society of Fish Wives excepted, God bless 'em.
So really, the only thing to do is to own it. Yes. I'm a sexist. Because I'm a man, and a man has to bravely outdare the dangers of the time. Whatever the cost.
Is it someone that believes that men and women are different? Is it someone that supports the patriarchy or toxic masculinity? Is it someone that believes women should be kept barefoot and pregnant?
Or maybe it is just someone that believes that the Civil Rights Acts mean what they say, that the government shall not discriminate on the basis of sex.
Actually I get it. It is all understood in Eric Hoffer's famous aphorism that "Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket."
Or more directly, the problem with every great cause is that after it succeeds it never goes home. But sticks around doing more of what worked to advance in the cause in the days of its innocence. Thus, says Google's Ngram Viewer.
Come on, feminists! You mean to say that we need to talk more about sexism after the government passed a law to make it illegal for government and most private organizations to discriminate against women. I don't think so. I mean: shouldn't we have been having a conversation about sexism before the Civil Rights Acts in the 1960s?
Actually, I believe that the government should discriminate in favor of women. Women are peculiarly vulnerable, and not because of millennia of patriarchy, but because women are physically weaker, because women are particularly vulnerable when they are pregnant or caring for young children. And because Oscar Wilde's question about what women want is flat wrong. It is not what women want, but what they expect. And primarily what they expect is to be protected.
Let me give you an example. Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently criticized President Trump for a tweet criticizing impeachment witness Marie Yovanovich. She praised the former ambassador's "strength" and then went on to say that "people don't insult people."
This is, as we say, just like a woman. Guess what: you never praise a man for his strength. You only criticize him in the event of weakness. So our Nance is a sexist. Then the insult thing. It's true. Women don't insult other women to their face. What they do is complain about a third-person woman in an intimate one-on-one conversation with another woman, as in "I can't believe she said that." And at some point the women's culture of name and shame and shun kicks in. And the woman in question finds that she doesn't have any "friends" any more. You tell me which is worse.
Here's more sexist stuff.
I believe that votes for women is a bad idea, because the only valid job for government is protecting us from dangers, and women don't do that.
I believe that abortion is a bad idea, because no man should have the option of saying "get rid of it."
I believe the sexual revolution was a bad idea, because women just don't do hookup culture, not unless they have drunk half a bottle of vodka before the party.
I believe that no-fault divorce is a bad idea, because it encourages men to dump their wives for a newer model; and it encourages women to act on the advice of their friends to ditch the loser.
I believe that careers for women is a bad idea because I think young women should be thinking about marriage and children and married women should be working with other mothers in the community to raise the children together, and that older women should be regulating the neighborhood with their name and shame and shun culture.
I believe that women are learners and carers and teachers, and their instinct is to keep things going. I believe that men are creators, fighters, and destroyers, and their instinct is to march towards the sound of the guns.
I believe that we can see women starting to push back against the follies of the last century, that women can live and work "just like a man." I believe that the reaction against the hookup culture is a start, that the #MeToo hashtag is a realization that women do too need protection in the public square. And I believe that microaggressions and safe spaces are an indicator that women don't do face to face challenge.
And what I think is that men are in the early stages of creating a new men-only culture where courage is expected, insults are just a fact of life, and rebelling against conventional wisdom is a sign of manliness.
So yeah. Call me a sexist. I don't care. Because all the vile accusations flying around are merely the crude attempts of political activists to divide people and conquer them. But accusations only work when we cringe. If we do not cringe, then the accusation starts to lose its power.
OK, OK. It's easy for me to say that, because I don't earn my living in the public square: I can't be "canceled."
But right now the accusation of sexism is an accusation that can hurt your career big time. You cannot say: so's your father, because women don't do face-to-face insult -- the Noble Society of Fish Wives excepted, God bless 'em.
So really, the only thing to do is to own it. Yes. I'm a sexist. Because I'm a man, and a man has to bravely outdare the dangers of the time. Whatever the cost.
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