So over on The Spearhead, the fellas are discussing journalist Daniel Bergner’s sexy new sex book What Do Women Want?: Adventures in the Science of Female Desire. It’s a book that challenges many conventional wisdoms, both scientific and popular, about sexuality and, as Salon puts it, portrays female sexuality as essentially “base, animalistic and ravenous.”
I haven’t read the book, but it’s worth pointing out that this is not exactly a new idea. Indeed, for long stretches of human history this was the conventional wisdom about female sexuality, a fact I can only presume that Bergner addresses in some form.
Of course, none of the fellows on The Spearhead have actually read the book either, including W.F. Price, so essentially they just use the occasion of its publication as an excuse to spout their own, er, theories about evil sex-desiring ladies.
Price, extremely old school himself, agrees that “women’s sexuality is a powerful and often disruptive force” that “can be terrible in its power.” But he also thinks that the good fellows in the “androsphere” — his preferred term for what others call the “manosphere” — have these sneaky sexy ladies all figured out, and that this “knowledge disarms much of that [evil sexy lady] power.”
So, he concludes, Bergner may actually be doing the dudes of the world a solid:
The Red Pill, in short, is simply the truth about female sexuality. All Bergner has done is repackage the red pill and make it look sexy, and even empowering to women. So I suppose we should give the guy credit for doing us a favor, because although it is being sold with some misleading advertising, at least his book will contribute to general knowledge about the ancient truths of the world.
Or so he assumes, anyway, not having read the book. (I wish I could get a job reviewing books without reading them.)
Naturally, the Spearhead commentariat has many, erm, intriguing thoughts on the matter. So let’s look at some highlights — by which, as always, I mean lowlights. (And it goes without saying that all these comments got numerous upvotes from Spearhead readers.)
DCM offers some thoughts on female brains, and why the ladies need to be held in check and, I guess, never told that they’re pretty (even if you want to bone them):
Females’ minds are slightly but noticeably more primitive than men’s. Few of them will achieve mental and emotional maturity till they are old and infertile.
There’s little hope of getting most females to be rational, however smart they may be; they can only be somewhat repressed via ethics enforced by other females and the law, or men can be educated from childhood to see them as they are and not give in to the semi-instinctive idealization of females that’s part of the mating urge.
The latter is probably simpler and better.
Joeb offers a long and admittedly baffling manifesto, filled with parables and mixed metaphors and words used in, well, let’s just call them idiosyncratic ways. I’m trimmed out some of the really confusing bits, so what is left should be merely confusing.
Human sexuality is a red herring for the female to divert the real issue
Men cringe and cower to the mere mention of sex . Females use this red herring the same way the Government uses feminism .
As a shield .
If ,we all stop thinking with the most basic human drive and start thinking with are Mind’s , We need to put away anything remotely attributed to the visualization of sex during the other 23 hours a day . and push the real issue’s that stem from these basic drives in overdrive …
As long as females can divert the argument to sex they win . …
The red pill gives us a release from this Bondage .
I like to call Blue pill males ” Males still tied to the mask . We are all on a ship with rules and a limited space . As soon as you wake to the horror of your enslavement to the mask , Doesn’t mean you are not still enslaved . Shanghaiing refers to the practice of conscripting men as sailors by coercive techniques such as trickery, intimidation, or violence.
Does this sound familiar . …
Continue Taking the regiment of the red pill and you will start seeing Life boats , Islands and other men on the boat .
Its not a one time Pill its a regiment .
Being deprogrammed from Bondage is a painstaking task . All that’s needed to derail this process is The Captain to throw a few galley wags to the sailor and he calms down and works hard .
Don’t get sidetracked by sexual issue’s they have nothing , I say nothing to do with Men’s rights . The Government is the privateer and we are the conscripted Male .
Conscription have been used for Thousands of years , Hitler , pirates , the Chinese , Mongols , The British , To build army’s of slaves .
We still fall for that one every time And it never ends well .
Keyster is a tad more coherent, if equally backward:
The Red Pill is understanding female sexual power.
If you’re an unattractive woman or lesbian you might be a feminist because you have such limited sexual power – over men.
Women wanted “rights” and “liberation”, but insisted on keeping their sexual power, much to the dismay of strident feminists. The male needs to understand female sexual power. Most are entranced by it while not even knowing it. There are untold fables and metaphor for this, from The Fall to Odysseus to Cleopatra and Mark Anthony.
It’s a “backlash” against women wanting feminism AND sexual power. Their sexual power is diminishing every day. The more they behave like men, the less sexual power they have…the less power they have at all.
I confess I don’t really understand sven thomas’ deal at all. Oh, his argument I get. It’s his, well, vocabulary that puzzles me.
Ummmm
The Author is late to the party.
5,000 years ago we witnessed Eve being tempted by the serpents as she lusted after da lostasts cockasz.
About 2800 years ago we witnessed Helen deserting her family/husband and running off with a PUA and causing a war, whence tens of thousands perished.
The important thing for MEN to see here is why the Neoconsosnz banned the GREAT BOOKS FOR MEN–because they teach of the TRUE NATURE of women.
Women are only Virgins and nice and good when they are raised by STRICT, HEROIC MEN who reign over their fallen sexuality via their manly honor, as exalted in THE GREAT BOOKS FOR MEN.
zlozozozozzo
And a zlozozozozzo to you too, sven, whatever that is!
OMG CassandraSays, my liver will be working for weeks to rid my body of the cuteness overdose in that video!
Or: Maybe Lesbians do exist, but still want sexual power over men, to enslave them and stuff.
Then there are some straight men who think all women are bi, whether they admit it or not. That’s what leads to these kinds of conversations for a hetero couple.
Man: Can we do a threesome?
Woman: With another man?
Man: NO WAY, with another woman!
Woman: I’m not attracted to women.
Man: Are you sure? Not even deep down inside?
Woman: Nope.
Man: How would you know if you don’t try?
Woman: I just know, so drop it. Damn.
*Man pouts. Woman rolls her eyes and thinks about breaking up with jerk.*
Random part 2! This poor Akita’s owner doesn’t respect it’s dignity at all…
@bionicmommy:
The strangest part of this script is that if you flip it around he immediately sees the flaw in the logic.
It’s like… prescriptive male-centered heteronormativity!
(d’oh!)
PS: got linked to this tumblr post. (not totally worksafe? Dunno)
It gave me a funny feeling that might be happiness.
Just on the first page of comments – re Helen of Troy: there’s an Egyptian variation of the story in which she and Paris somehow end up in Egypt on the way to Troy, and Helen tells someone (Pharoah, iirc) that she doesn’t want to go. Paris comes out of it as a sulky kid, not a romantic hero. Anyway Pharoah has someone do some magic that separates part of Helen’s soul (Ba, Ka and the third one) from her, and it’s what goes to Troy and spends all those years there. The real Helen, or the rest of her, stays in Egypt and becomes a priestess, and is happily reunited with Menelaus when he lands there after the war.
A strange but interesting take on the story, I thought.
Wait, if women can’t be rational, then how can we be expected to repress each other and keep each other ethical?
Assuming of course that rational = ethical and assuming that, you know, this guy isn’t full of shit.
Well, since he says wimmenz can’t be rational, then obviously you’re going to have to trust him about what’s rational or not. He’ll tell you what rules you’ll need to beat other women up with.
Same as the patriarchy has always worked.
…they are so fucking STRAIGHTFORWARD about what they want, aren’t they? “STOP THINKING, JUST MAKE ALL WOMEN DO WHAT I SAY!!”
I have made some beautiful art about Eve lusting after da lostasts cockasz.
http://i.imgur.com/KP03tBu.jpg
More from Dr Strangelove which is a very phallic film (and a bit MRaish)
General “Buck” Turgidson: Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn’t that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?
Dr. Strangelove: Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious… service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature.
Ambassador de Sadesky: I must confess, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor.
Sam said
What men want? LOL, nothing in our society caters to straight men’s desires at all! I look at magazines, movies, video games, advertising, and I wonder “Why doesn’t anyone try to appeal to straight men’s boners?”
I hope Sam can teach me more about what life is like in Opposite Land. It sounds very interesting.
Oral Cummings gave this gem
Oh, I see. Women force men to live in civilizations with complicated laws, even though men are happier living in the rugged wilderness. Women like civilization, because we are weak and need clean water and pizza delivery, unlike men who can survive anywhere using their manly strength. But men built us water sanitation facilities and Pizza Hut anyway, even though according to Oral Cummings, women actually hate that stuff. It all makes perfect sense.
Nor is it like the vast majority of our media assumes that you’re a man (and thus presumably know what you want) and that women are a mysterious, incomprehensible species unto themselves.
@cassandrasays
*squee* That little black kitty…he just can’t get out of the bucket. I can help you, little furry one…
(pees pants)
I will have to share a video of my kitteh doing somesaults with fellow boobz kitteh enthusiasts soon.
What, men’s genes don’t predate civilization?
Coming soon to an MRA-approved theater near you: Indianazks Jlozozoznz an da Losasts Cockasz
It’s gotta be better than Crystal Skull, right?
Only subscribing to an evo psych view when it denigrates women and, by implication, makes men look good? Hmmmm….
I always wonder if they realize how bitter and pathetic it makes them look to spend so much time complaining about the fact that women aren’t attracted to them.
Some of our genes (esp. those involved in basic processes like generating ATP and making proteins) predate multicellularity and even the plant/animal split. The genes involved in making ribosomes probably come from the same ancestors as those in bacteria.
Just so you know.
@CassandraSays
Akitas and kitties <3
One time I was in a parking lot and I saw a BIG WHITE FLUFFY AKITA next to her owner. She had the cutest blue eyes ever, and when I petted her head it felt like she was a fluffy marshmallow.
They're just so majestic and adorable.
@wordsp1nner That’s really cool! I didn’t know that.
But if women’s genes predate civilization and men’s genes (which really, all I can think of is the sex-determining region of the Y chromosome that they might be considering as men’s genes while also ignoring trans* people) don’t, doesn’t that mean that women are responsible for civilization? But of course then that means that civilization is a bad thing, if women did it. But when MRAs say men did it, then all the women owe them?
Cassandrasays: Now you’ve done it. The Furrinati are usually NOT happy with those who would expose their ancient initiation rites, especially the arduous Trial of the Bucket. The filmmaker has probably already been… dealt with.
polydactyl:
These genes aren’t exactly alike, but they are very similar across very diverse species. The genes that control body plan in animals (HOX genes) are the same in humans and fruit flies, though we copied our several times and have four copies of the set instead of one. But they are clearly the same genes with the same functions (you can swap out the gene that codes for “make eyes here” between mice and fruit flies and get the proper eyes for the recipient species.
Fluffy white Akita requested? Coming right up!
wordsp1nner: Oh yes HOX genes. I know about those. I should actually be studying for a eukaryotic genetics final right now. So I’m going to go do that now. I’ll be back later!