Most of the coverage of the Costa Concordia disaster at the moment seems to be focusing on the Italian cruise ship’s captain and his douchey behavior, which involved not only running the ship aground but also abandoning ship prestissimo while passengers remained trapped on board.
MRAs, by contrast, are using the tragedy as an excuse to rail against the notion of “women and children first” and, of course, to make jokes about women drowning.
Now, the Titanic aside, “women and children first” isn’t now, and hasn’t ever really been, the standard way to evacuate those on a sinking ship, though many in the public — including some of those who were on board the Costa Concordia – seem to believe that it is. (See here for more details on how evacuations are typically handled these days; generally only those with mobility problems are given special treatment.)
In the case of this particular evacuation, some on board apparently tried to enforce an informal “women and children” policy, but many men weren’t willing to wait.
What’s got some MRAs in a snit is that some people, in the media and online, are calling these dudes cowards. In The Daily Mail, a right-wing British tabloid, A N Wilson wrote:
[I]n our day, with the advent of feminism and the professional woman, chivalry and manners are considered stuffy and old-fashioned.
As the father of three daughters, I do not, with a single fibre of my being, wish to go back to a time when women could not have the vote or get a university degree. Nor do I, surrounded by extremely strong-charactered and intelligent women in my family and among my friends, feel tempted to regard women as the frail sex.
But the fact remains that there is a longing among most men to protect women and children, and chivalry is simply a manifestation of that longing.
And whatever transpires about the reason for the Costa Concordia disaster, the disappearance of a chivalric code is a sorry reflection on society today.
This is not what you’d call a feminist argument; it’s a traditionalist argument, published in a tabloid rag that’s generally quite hostile to feminism.
Nonetheless, some MRAs are using the Costa Concordia disaster as an opportunity to deliver a big “told you so!” to the … imaginary feminists who live in their head.
Over on The Spearhead, where one familiar commenter actually described Wilson’s Daily Mail article as “feminist,” guest poster Lyn87 wrote:
The MRM is getting more vocal, and a lot of guys are now saying, “You wanted equality. This is what it looks like.” And they are saying it aloud and in public. Even a few women chimed in, saying that men have no obligation to die for women if women want equality. (Somehow I suspect there wasn’t much, “I am woman, hear me roar, watch me drown” on the Costa Concordia itself, but hey, it’s a start.)
MRAs: Always up-to-the-minute with their pop culture references!
This post was helpfully illustrated with a stock photo of a woman drowning.
Commenters got in their digs as well.
Keyster riffed on Lyn87’s incredibly au courant Helen Reddy reference:
I am woman hear me…blurp….rah…gurgle…raha…ffftt…orr…roar…gurgle…help me…somebody…fffft…please…blurp…help…help me please!
Aharon told both ladies and fish what’s what:
I eat fish. Fish don’t eat me. My life is too precious to sacrifice it so some spoiled bitch can have a pussy pass into the life boats.
Anti Idiocy got all hypothetical-cruise-ship tough guy on us:
Anyone who attempts to keep me on a sinking ship because of the genitals with which I was born is attempting to murder me. I have the right to respond accordingly.
And Thomas Tell-truth kicked chivalry – not to mention basic human decency — to the ocean floor:
Equality means that when the ship is going down and you are a woman, you had better get out of my way or you are going to drown with my footprints on your back.
Apparently Thomas Tell-truth is actually George Costanza:
Jeb, meanwhile, offered a more scientific rationalization for being a complete douchenozzle:
As far as I’ve heard, the one and only sport in which women naturally out-do men is endurance swimming. Women are also more bouyant, and as survivalists will explain, women float easiest on their backs (making it easy to breathe while expending minimal energy) whereas men float easiest in “the dead man’s float” (ie. face down, head in the water) and must expend more energy to stay alive. Furthermore, women have more body-fat than men which insulates them better against aquatic dangers such as hypothermia.
Given all these factors it is quite rational for men to pick women up by the seat of their pants and toss them overboard to make way for men and children to safely be rowed ashore on the lifeboats.
It’s all about doing the right thing and saving lives, after all.
MRA humor is very sophisticated indeed.
EDITED TO ADD: The Spearhead has put up a followup post, once again taking aim at imaginary “lifeboat feminists,” though the only person the post cites lamenting the end of “women and children” is Rich Lowry from the National Review (not a feminist publication).
I said that by not being emotional and suppressing emotion it can be beneficial (boot camp and military argument).
Are there times it isn’t beneficial? o:
“I said that by not being emotional and suppressing emotion it can be beneficial (boot camp and military argument).”
Like a robot!
I said a sensitive spot in their emotional carapace 😀
For some reason, all I can think of is a Zerg Ultralisk with a soft spot for Barry Manilow songs.
Captain Bathrobe | January 31, 2012 at 5:50 pm
10) Ami is awesome 😀
I’m glad that feminists and MRAs are able to find common ground on this important issue.
XD
I’m eventually going to bring about world peace 😀
For some reason, all I can think of is a Zerg Ultralisk with a soft spot for Barry Manilow songs.
That would be adorable 😀 I love Ultralisks! XD
I’m eventually going to bring about world peace 😀
Or, failing that, whirled peas?
http://zeelandia.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/plushultralisk.jpg
Like that 😀
AWWWW 😀
Whirled Peas is good too 😀
You know men who bottle up their emotions tend to commit suicide right? That doesn’t seem very survivalist.
I missed you guys 🙁 I’m sry I’ve been gone so long xD
*hugs CB*
Joanna | January 31, 2012 at 5:56 pm
You know men who bottle up their emotions tend to commit suicide right? That doesn’t seem very survivalist.
I said this a page ago and he ignored it xD
Hopefully he’ll acknowledge it this time :3
Awww…thanks, I needed that, Ami.
Life is hard sometimes, isn’t it?
He said that “sucking it up” is good for survivability… but depression and suicide would seem to be bad for survivability.
(also sucking up physical injuries is a bad idea… the current issue with concussions in hockey and people hiding concussions and getting successive concussions and getting serious brain issues in their older age for example)
@ Holly Pervocracy
“Okay, what do you believe?
I believe in an orderly, gender-neutral evacuation that puts disabled people and children first and crew last.
What do you believe in?”
I believe in having gender based evacuation (with children and disabled people) due my personal beliefs which are reflected for survival.
HOWEVER, I’m full able to ascribe to the idea that women not being giving that in order to appease some egalitarian spirit without double standards that I find Feminist cherry picking over.
There are several ways.
Past inequities: Women in the past (who didn’t protest such sexism) were allowed to leave on boats with children thus given preferential treatment.
Equal opportunity: Both men and women equally compete to get on to the life boat. While it can be seen as fighting it can also be whoever gets there fist gets the seat since all lives are equal.
Equal results: An equal amount of men and women are allowed onto the both.
Captain Bathrobe | January 31, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Awww…thanks, I needed that, Ami.
Life is hard sometimes, isn’t it?
Yeah 🙁 But that’s why God invented friends… and hugs 🙂
“I believe in having gender based evacuation (with children and disabled people) due my personal beliefs which are reflected for survival. ”
Was it the tragically gender neutral education system we have today that was responsible for your terrible grammar? If so I guess I can see why you’re a little pissed.
@ Ami Angelwings
“You know men who bottle up their emotions tend to commit suicide right? That doesn’t seem very survivalist.
I said this a page ago and he ignored it xD
Hopefully he’ll acknowledge it this time :3”
I didn’t ignore it. I didn’t read it because I was responding to someone else.
Yes who do bottle up tend to commit suicide. But expressing emotions doesn’t necessarily help because it doesn’t solve any problem in and of itself.
In fact people who are very emotional tend to commit suicide as well as they let themselves become vulnerable.
If I’m hungry I can talk about how hungry I am. But talking about it doesn’t mean shit. I need to go to the store and buy something to eat.
Equal results: An equal amount of men and women are allowed onto the both.
This is fine with you right? 🙂
Regarding men and suicide: I think this is something that bears repeating. Emotions will not be denied. Sooner or later, they will need to be dealt with, or they will come back to bite you in the ass. Even police departments are starting to recognize the importance of proving mental health services to cops who use deadly force. Obviously, a police officer can’t be wearing zir heart on zir sleeve while on duty, but failing to deal with emotions that arise as a result of their work will usually not end well.
There’s an awesome book on male depression by Terrance Real, aptly titled I Don’t Want to Talk About It. Well worth a read.
Our evacuation plan has able bods go first, cause that gets a lot of bodies out quickly.
@ CassandraSays
Was it the tragically gender neutral education system we have today that was responsible for your terrible grammar? If so I guess I can see why you’re a little pissed.
No, I’m not focusing on grammar so I can reply to others. School isn’t gender neutral. So you can be pissed.
What’s a “both”?
Captain Bathrobe | January 31, 2012 at 5:50 pm
“10) Ami is awesome
I’m glad that feminists and MRAs are able to find common ground on this important issue.
XD
I’m eventually going to bring about world peace ”
I’m not MRA.
In fact people who are very emotional tend to commit suicide as well as they let themselves become vulnerable.
Um…no. That’s not quite how it works.
“But expressing emotions doesn’t necessarily help because it doesn’t solve any problem in and of itself.”
Yes it does. There are professionals for that very purpose.