In a case of spectacularly bad timing, Fox News happened to choose the day before the Zimmerman verdict was handed down to publish an op-ed proclaiming “the White American Male” to be the most oppressed creature on Planet Earth. In a piece entitled “Men — The New Second Class Citizens,” professional antifeminist Suzanne Venker declared that
From boyhood through adulthood, the White American Male must fight his way through a litany of taunts, assumptions and grievances about his very existence. His oppression is unlike anything American women have faced.
What is revealing about this quote, besides its complete disconnection from reality, is that Venker makes no other references to race in the rest of her piece, which runs through a number of tiresome and oh-so-familiar MRA talking points about the alleged oppression of men.
Venker complains about schools being biased towards girls, from grade schools that force students to sit still to colleges with their infernal Title IX. She whines about “sit coms and commercials that portray dad as an idiot.”
Quoting antifeminist psychologist Helen Smith, a friend of and sometime contributor to A Voice for Men, she suggests that women can get their boyfriends or husbands locked up on a whim just by claiming abuse.
I’m surprised she didn’t talk about the evils of “friend zoning.”
But when Venker refers to “men” in all of these complaints, she is evidently thinking only of white men — why else would she switch so seamlessly from talking about the alleged oppression of “men” to proclaiming “the White American Male” the ultimate victim?
There’s really no other word for this than, well, racist.
The day after Fox published Venker’s nonsense, we were of course reminded (as if any of us really needed to be reminded) of the very real oppression faced by “the Black American Male.”
Trayvon Martin didn’t die because he happened to see a show featuring a bumbling sitcom dad. He died because George Zimmerman saw a young black man in a hoodie walking home from the store and assumed, apparently because Martin was young and black and wearing a hoodie, that he was up to something sinister.
Trayvon Martin didn’t die because he was male; he died because he was a black male. His killer walked free not because his victim was male, but because his victim was a black male.
Suzanne Venker did us all a favor by revealing the unconscious racism underlying so many Men’s Rights complaints. The Men’s Rights movement is not only a movement that is overwhelmingly made up of white men; it’s a movement that’s almost exclusively about white men, and their largely imaginary oppressions, as well. We might as well call it the White Men’s Rights Movement.
And this isn’t Torvus. I have heard from the Great Pile of Ferrets.
“telling girls and women to be careful about what you wear, how you wear it, how you carry yourself, where you walk, when you walk there, with whom you walk, whom you trust, what you do, where you do it, with whom you do it, what you drink, how much you drink, whether you make eye contact, if you’re alone, if you’re with a stranger, if you’re in a group, if you’re in a group of strangers, if it’s dark, if the area is unfamiliar, if you’re carrying something, how you carry it, what kind of shoes you’re wearing in case you have to run, what kind of purse you carry, what jewelry you wear, what time it is, what street it is, what environment it is, how many people you sleep with, what kind of people you sleep with, who your friends are, to whom you give your number, who’s around when the delivery guy comes, to get an apartment where you can see who’s at the door before they can see you, to check before you open the door to the delivery guy, to own a dog or a dog-sound-making machine, to get a roommate, to take self-defense, to always be alert always pay attention always watch your back always be aware of your surroundings and never let your guard down for a moment lest you be sexually assaulted”
I’ve never heard a normal person talk like that. And if they did, I’d just assume that they cared enough to try and protect their loved ones from rape, no matter how misguided.
” feminists tell women that rapists are everywhere and they need to be afraid constantly.”
I don’t.
I do tell dudes not to be “that guy”.
I haven’t seen those. But hey, “Fifty Shades of Grey” didn’t become a bestseller by appealing to a male audience…
On the rare occasion women go to war, certainly.
Okay, so this is a touchy issue for me because a lot of women in my family are military veterans, starting with my grandmother who joined the WACs to prove to my grandfather that she could take care of herself, and seeing dismissive comments about their service from a pampered little twerp these women fought to protect boils my blood, and I was about to tee off on you…
But forget it. I’ll go to bed and let Pecunium mop the floor with you instead.
Dude, it’s a SUMMARY OF ATTITUDES, not something one person said single-handedly. Stop being willfully obtuse. And victim-blaming is victim-blaming, no matter how well-intentioned it is. It’s harmful bullshit and doesn’t help anyone.
That’s what used to happen with gang-rapes by sporting groups (surf clubs, football players) and the like. And it seems you’ve been living in a cave to have missed all those messages sent by the younger citizens of Steubenville – as well as all the similar rape and other bullying victimisation-by-phone social dysfunction that’s been going around.
If you want to comment on social movements and well-known anti-social behaviours, I’d suggest you check your information before you state anything too definitely. Maybe you could ask questions — but bear in mind the social context. This is a mockery site, we might not be very helpful to such enquiries unless you first establish yourself as a reasonable person. Bad luck you crashed at the very first hurdle.
@Jason
“Give men fewer responsibilities, or give women more. It’s your choice.”
My post still stands. This isn’t a matter of choosing to draft women because that is not going to happen until the scenario I detail below happens. Capisce?
There is no draft at the moment. You are referring to the selective service. However, until women are allowed into full combat AND there is a draft enacted, there can be no injured party to take a lawsuit to court to challenge said inequity and therefore Feminists cannot challenge the DOD’s decision to keep women from being drafted.
What did I see with Steubenville? A couple of news anchors dared to have some sympathy for two minor children who did something horrible and were now being severely punished for it. And the entire internet exploded with fury. We were about ready to re-enact “Big Boy Leaves Home” with those two rapists. That’s not rape culture. That’s feminist lynch mob culture. Sorry if it didn’t gather as quickly as you wanted. Sorry if someone had more sympathy for the perpetrator, when the victim was undoubtedly more deserving. But that’s not a big problem. I think the problem is with you guys.
It’s always funny when the trolls try to argue military stuff with pecunium. I can’t be bothered to engage with this particular dumbass, but if anyone is close-bye I’d be happy to feed them some just-made curry udon to keep them going.
Well, someday the draft might go to court. In the meantime, let’s try and help make men and women equal in other ways, shall we?
That’s great for Julia Ward Howe. We need more like her. But it’s not something I see in feminism much these days, women caring about men’s issues…
Because a couple of feminists did this (bad) thing, means all feminists think that (bad) thing.
Because one feminist did a good thing, NAWALT.
I’ve never heard a normal person talk like that.
Not like that cop in Toronto?
Or these found on Facebook
PS want to see some demonising of women?
Note the bestial look, and the dark skin., one might think it was a bit racist.
Well that was a royal pain in the backside. The closest I can find to comparable data is that veterans commit suicide at twice the national average.
“The overall rate was 11.3 suicide deaths per 100,000 people.”
“An estimated 11 attempted suicides occur per every suicide death.”
Works out to 124.3 attempts per 100,000 — national average — and thus 248.6 attempts military average. Turning that ratio into percents…
0.1243% and 0.2486% — per year.
Now, 13% of rape victims attempt suicide, lifetime rate. Call it a 60 year lifespan and we get 0.22%
Considering the amount of math fudging required, I’m going to call that a wash. As in, rape victims attempt suicide at approximately the same rate as veterans.
So knock it the fuck off.
It wasn’t just a couple of news anchors. There has been a widespread grief for the perpetrators, as if they deserve sympathy for being convicted and sent to jail.
Greetings, all –
::sniff sniff::
What is that godawful smell?
Gakk, manky old socks again!
Knock what off? I was comparing the two groups, not contrasting them.
@Jason
“Feminists have pushed for more rights for women, but they haven’t pushed so hard for more responsibilities. Why aren’t you pushing hard for women to be drafted? If you care so much about women in the army.”
I agree.
Oh wait. That was YOUR quote.
Excuse me folks, I was saying I agree with THIS statement: “Well, someday the draft might go to court. In the meantime, let’s try and help make men and women equal in other ways, shall we?”
Well, then, if we agree, why argue?
Well, someday the draft might go to court. In the meantime, let’s try and help make men and women equal in other ways, shall we?
Like equal pay for equal work? Like similarity in rates of hire and rates of promotion? Like that? Good to see you are for it, just like feminists.
Jason: When you learn someone is a rapist, your first instinct is to high five them and get a group cheer going.
Unless they are the football team, or have a “club” in Orange County (it’s not too far from you, though temporally removed).
What did I see with Steubenville? A couple of news anchors dared to have some sympathy for two minor children who did something horrible and were now being severely punished for it.
What did you refuse to see: A town rallying behind those “kids”. A football coach who covered it up, and still has his job. Little things like that.
Oh my, I am late to the game. I’ll just do one, for now…
I think the fact that quite recently a group of boys dragged a passed out girl from house to house while they raped her (who were also taking pictures and sending out tweets basically saying “haha we’re raping girl”) got all the sympathy in the world for being convicted is a rather weird thing to happen then, isn’t it? It’s also weird that there isn’t a situation, besides being a child maybe, where a woman gets raped where she can’t get blamed for it (if she’s to be believed at all). It’s strange too that if a female rapes a boy, he’s supposed to be thankful for it.
I don’t see anyone bragging about killing babies, saying babies are lucky to be killed, or saying it’s a baby’s own fault for getting killed. Do you see a difference here?
I don’t think you’re a bad guy Jason, but you are ignorant as all fucking hell, and if you actually give a shit about men’s rights and don’t hate women, then you need to realize feminism and the ideas it has are not your goddamn enemy.
Women get equal pay for equal work. Women just don’t work as hard in the workplace. Sorry if you don’t like that.
That whole list you’ve never heard? Clearly you’ve never listened to what girls and women are told to do to prevent rape. Because that’s wtf you’re citing.
And the skunk is out, great.
“Women get equal pay for equal work. Women just don’t work as hard in the workplace. Sorry if you don’t like that.”
Yeah, go fuck yourself.