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| Most 12-year-old girls are not superheroines. |
One of my favorite dopey complaints from the Men’s Rights crowd is that action movies featuring ass-kicking women are “unrealistic” because real women are too dainty to do all that ass-kicking shit. On The Spearhead today, W.F. Price aims his withering contempt at the new film Hanna:
The ass-kicking chick flicks are getting more and more ridiculous as time goes on. In “Hanna” a girl is raised by her father to be a vicious killer somewhere in the arctic. Hanna is played by Saoirse Ronan, an Irish girl with a sweet smile who looks about as tough as a bunny rabbit. Nevertheless, we are supposed to suspend disbelief and accept that this waif is capable of breaking necks with a single blow.
Even worse, in the trailer for the film, young Miss Ronan is depicted doing … pull-ups! “In general, women can’t do pull-ups,” Price complains, “and the vanishingly few who can don’t look much like Saoirse Ronan.”
Price does have a point. Real women can’t do the things that female action heroes do in films. Angelina Jolie may be a deeply scary woman, but I’m pretty sure she can’t take out entire boats full of trained assassins by herself, or jump from truck to truck on the highway to escape pursuers in cars, as she did as super seekret double (triple?) agent Evelyn Salt. Also, to the best of my knowledge, Sarah Michelle Gellar has never really slain even a single vampire. And there is no such thing as an indestructible cheerleader.
But here’s the thing, guys: All that crazy shit that male action stars do? Real men can’t do that either. Matt Damon is pretty buff, and I’m pretty sure he could take Angelina Jolie in a fight, but he’s not actually Jason Bourne. Christian Bale doesn’t put on a batsuit at night and run around town taking out baddies with his bare – well, gloved — hands. Toby Maguire can’t swing from building to building, or stick to walls; if he were bitten by a radioactive spider, he’d need to go to the hospital. Arnold is not the Terminator.
Also, and I hate to be the one who has to break this to you, guys: professional wrestling is fake.
I know it might be tough to take all this in, guys, so here’s Captain Kirk fighting a very slow-moving alien monster on planet Not-Very-Far-From-The-Studio. Kirk has a little trouble with this one but in real life, I’m pretty sure William Shatner could take down an alien monster, provided it moved as slowly as this one.
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*Yes, that was a Bioshock reference.
>@T4TEven in areas where women outnumber men, the men are often held in higher regard.For example, I play in a handbell choir. The vast majority of handbell players are women, but if you go to a Handbell Festival, most of the people you see directing large groups or teaching classes are men. You don't see the reverse happening at gaming conventions, where both the majority of attendees and the majority of people in charge/holding panels are men.
>It's more of a case of people don't understand that support roles are not direct combat but often are fired at and are involved in combat situations by the nature of warfare.Partially. But our culture has a lot of narratives about men in support roles who suddenly step up and do something heroic – one example being Doris Miller, a cook on the USS West Virginia who manned an AA gun during the Pearl Harbor attack. AKA Cuba Gooding, Jr. from the Michael Bay movie…Anyway, people seem less inclined to admire such stories when they're about women.
>People see inclined to run away from stories about women warriers, really. There's a truly nasty vein in conservative circles, disparaging Jessica Lynch and either heavily suggesting that all women in uniform are like her, or outright saying it. Yet they don't do this to the men who got injured and captured. They were a poorly-trained maintenance company who hadn't had any special training in combat arms since basic, they took a wrong turn and came under withering fire, and a lot of these assholes go after Lynch, who's never been anything but blunt about how she's not a hero or stuff like that. Poeple like Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester—they're a footnote. So are all the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airman who serve and do so professionally and valiantly. There are few if any commercials that depict them coming home.
>I gotta say there's some hilarious posts on this blog. Here's what I learned from this discussion so far:- women are better than men at most physical, athletic tasks, and the only reason they don't compete against men is because the men don't want to, because they would feel inferior- butt-kicking action girls are totally fine because it's just a movie and it's not supposed to be realistic anyway, oh but a woman could totally kick guys' asses if she wanted to- ginmar is a very angry person with psychological issues- this whole blog seems to be dedicated to reading MRA boards, taking random quotes, and smugly criticizing them.In other words, par for the course for the feminist blogosphere, I'd say. 🙂
>Imagine, a woman getting angry at sexist assholes like you, who can't read, don't listen, and hate women? Why, that's crazy talk! It's like a black person getting angry at racist language. How dare they? Listen up, ladies, some loser wants us to use even smaller words, which he won't listen to anyway and afterward will just cling to his sexism anyway, because if women don't like him it's their fault, not his. So refreshing. Haven't heard this from MRAs at all.
>Are you for real? You should be in an action movie yourself, you are just adorable. Your superpower would be going on angry rants and snapping at people. You got it one day while attending an Alanis Morrisette concert and being bitten by a radioactive feminist. Or maybe it was a raccoon. We don't know, it's the mystery of the movie!
>Oh, Christ, do MRAs ever develop new tactis? Anger, rabid, labeling of some figure as being nuts, crazy, rabid—-that figures a lot in their litlte fantasies—and they can't understand why women don't take them seriously. Ion's latest girlfriend must have sprung a leak. /As he's proven he's a typical lying MRA, that's it for me.
>Weird, every time I had enough of a feminist's nonsense and announced I was leaving, they'd triumphantly call it a 'flounce' and take it as a sign of victory. Maybe I should do the same? Nah. But don't go, I have the first part of the script for you!SCENE 1 – Outside a Sleazy Bar, Nighttimeginmar: What do you mean I'm getting kicked out! This is a blatant example of the patriarchy keeping a woman down! I swear you'll pay for this!!!Bartender: Sorry lady, no more drinks until you pay your tab. You want me to call you a cab or what?ginmar: OOOH, sure, I'm just a helpless woman who can't call her own transportation! Good thing there's a strong man here to take care of me! Isn't that right? You make me sick! *vomits on sidewalk*Bartender: What? Look, I just meant you're in no condition to drive and-ginmar: Spare me your -BLEARGH- mansplaining! -ARGLBL- You sexist *cough* *cough* small-dicked *hack* bingo card *splutter* MRAs *cough* loser!Bartender: Whatever, lady. You're on your own. *walks back inside*ginmar: That's right, you're just another loser who can't handle a strong woman like me! Ughh… now where did I park… *smacks into streetlamp* Aha! A phallic symbol placed here by the patriarchy to oppress women! I'll get you too, don't you worry *stumbles away, muttering*more tomorrow if I don't get banned 🙂
>Ion, coming into a feminist space, acting like an obnoxious twit, and then telling the people who don't tolerate your bullshit to chill out is nothing new. At least bring something new to the table: Manboobz already has twenty trolls just like you.And you won't get banned. David doesn't really moderate the comments here. Sometimes I wish he did – Discount has a penchant for rendering comment threads not worth reading. But it's his blog and his choice.
>DAvid, I think that's pretty much beyond the pale. Can you ban this motherfucker? Ion's ability to create such bullshit makes you realize how rotten he is at listening to women. I bet he's really shitty at hearing and abiding by the word 'no'. He certainly creates shit out of whole cloth and lies, and that makes me wonder just what he does to women in real life.
>DAvid, you and the other guys here might find this shit amusing but keep in mind, us women have to deal with shit crap every day. By letting these assholes run roughshod over the women, you're crossing a line from observing to enabling. It may be entertaining to you…..but you don't get it every day.
>"acting like an obnoxious twit, and then telling the people who don't tolerate your bullshit to chill out"…huh? Where did I say that? I made a couple of comments, ginmar frothed herself up into a frenzy over them, responded with a bunch of insults that were pretty random and didn't even seem addressed to me, and here we are.But seriously, whoever's moderating should consider this: ginmar and a few others have been using abusive language, sarcasm and unprovoked insults and attacks throughout the entire comments section. Now that someone else posted something she doesn't like, she is screaming for them to be banned – and even using the 'save us poor women from this abuser' line, which is dishonest if hilarious, because 1) what am I really doing? and 2) she and her cronies had no problem dealing out the abuse earlier. Banning me at this point would indeed be the way things work on most feminist groupthink blogs, but I'm hoping this one is different. I'll stop now because I don't do thread derails. Just remember… if Dave strikes me down, I will become stronger than you could possibly imagine! I'll be creating shit out of whole cloth and lies! ROFL
>"..huh? Where did I say that? ….a couple of comments frothed herself up….. a frenzy….insults that were pretty random ….abusive language, sarcasm….unprovoked insults and attacks….screaming…dishonest….hilarious…cronies…..abuse groupthink….." So to Assnugget here, he has nothing to do with what someone 'does to herself.' Here's him, not doing anything to anybody: …..for real?…adorable. Your superpower….angry rants…..snapping….attending an Alanis Morrisette…..being bitten by a radioactive feminist…. raccoon……."This is what an MRA thinks is okay and fair—-as long as it's not directed at him. He appears to have some filter in what passes for a brain, translating everything into standard MRA tropes. He comes into a feminist space, throw around insults and lies, then whines that people are being meeeeeeeeeeean to him. He refuses to acknowledge that his behavior has been shitty—but he thinks it's acceptable for him to criticize responses to it. This is almost as good—-and as blatantly obvious—as when Cold declared that child support was worse than rape.
>So here we have it. It is MY fault because I was born MALE. Off the rails, right away. Listen you fucking halfwit, did I say anything about FAULT? No, 'calling it even' bit referred to your apparent contention that since LEGAL oppression is a thing of the past, mostly, at least in the developed world, that there's no more inequality. Therefore equality. Therefore things are "even." Egad you are stupid. It seems to me that is the same thinking that let's Christian's think were all born of shit because of Adam and Eve. It seems that way to you because you don't have two brain cells to rub together. I will go out on a limb here and point out that odd's are you have never been denied the right to vote or denied access to education or prevented from buying property or fucking anyone you desire. Maybe your grandmother, or great grandmother. But YOU personally, highly unlikely if you grew up in the west. As far as being oppressed or abused goes, why dont we share some stories and see if were on equal footing in that regard. Golly, you sure showed me. Wait, what? Yeah, just another example of T4T's pathetic comprehension skills. What were we talking about again? The distinction between LEGAL discrimination that is WRITTEN INTO LAW, and cultural discrimination which is the result of centuries of accumulated cultural attitudes, stereotypes, and beliefs about gender. You are saying that since there's no legal discrimination, there's equality. That's an obviously stupid position to take. I mean, if it were true, how can you possibly explain the Civil Rights Movement? Ion, if you can't take it then don't dish it out. Nobody's going to strike you down… unless you count your own assholishness as a "somebody."
>Let me just highlight this little piece of idiocy from T4T:As far as being oppressed or abused goes, why dont we share some stories and see if were on equal footing in that regard. He really WANTS to play the Oppression Olympics. He probably even thinks he'll win! He thinks its POSSIBLE to win the Oppression Olympics. Sorry idiot loser, nobody wins and everyone loses when people get into a pissing match about who has it worse. And that's what makes the MRA movement so completely utterly deluded: it amounts to a massive attempt to win the Oppression Olympics. "Don't compare! All suffering is intolerable." –Elie Wiesel
>The MRAs keep coming like a moth to a light.
>Only way they get attention from women—-it's not like their shitty perception skills would make women like them. They really think that insulting women is okay, and that as a result they deserve…..something. "You rabid frothing bitch!" "Oh, my God, I see the light! How wrong I was to value independence, autonomy, and self respect!" Do they think they're offering incentive? It's like watching the KKK complain about how mean black people are to them.
>@ GinmarYeah, that response cracks me up. I see some guys do it too when they try to hit on someone and she rejects them. "Hey baby, how about it?""No thanks, not interested.""You bitch!""Well gosh, I wasn't interested before, but now that you've insulted me, I just might change my mind!"I think they really think that this is how people work. Probably got a lot of negative reinforcement as children.
>If they would calm down and speak rationally, they might have greater success. To wit:MAN: Yo babe, what do you say to some sexual intercourse?WOMAN: No thank you.MAN: You appear to have forgotten that, as a man, my sexual desires take precedence over yours. Frankly, you don't really have a right to reject me. In fact if I were less rational I might get angry and call you a bitch or something.WOMAN: That's a very good point. I apologize for forgetting my place. Let us now engage in sexual intercourse.Works every time.
>I just hand the guy a jar of warm oiled rags and go about my day.
>@triplanetaryWOMAN: That, my good sir, is illogical. To instruct you further on the matter, I have a can of mace I call 'Mr. Spock.'
>DAvid, you and the other guys here might find this shit amusing but keep in mind, us women have to deal with shit crap every day. By letting these assholes run roughshod over the women, you're crossing a line from observing to enabling. It may be entertaining to you…..but you don't get it every day.(ginmar)Well it doesnt get any clearer than this……..
>"- women are better than men at most physical, athletic tasks, and the only reason they don't compete against men is because the men don't want to, because they would feel inferior"Most female atheletes would kick my arse. The 100 m sprint in women is 10.49 without wind. That's a full 5 seconds plus faster than what I can run. Even if I train I am not going to beat that. Most men aren't. "- butt-kicking action girls are totally fine because it's just a movie and it's not supposed to be realistic anyway, oh but a woman could totally kick guys' asses if she wanted to"Quite a few do. And again sporting prowess and ass kicking prowess is hardly an indicator of our success as a human being. Infact they are now the opposite of our success as a human being. "- ginmar is a very angry person with psychological issues"Don't say that! She will hunt you down and make hats out of you. HATS!"- this whole blog seems to be dedicated to reading MRA boards, taking random quotes, and smugly criticizing them."Yes. Your point being? There is a lot of silly things said by them that need to be called out.
>Even in areas where women outnumber men, the men are often held in higher regard.(Amnesia)I have been a Registered Massage Therapist for 18yrs, in my industry women outnumber men, guess what, they are USUALLY held in higher regard.
>@Tit for TatIt never seems to affect us this perceived feminist plot. And in any case why would feminist/azis want our inferior male support? If they were as nutso as you claim then they would prefer it if we were not part of any movement of theirs. Most feminists like men. It's the fact that nearly 95% of the world is straight and by extension 95% of women you classify as feminists are probably in favour of men. Just they are in favour of "genuinely nice men" rather than "nice guys". (Hint, a genuinely nice man is not using his actions to get into bed.)