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.
LIBRARIAN SMASH!
Bonus points for not only not understanding what intersectionality is but attempting to explain it to people who do.
Feminists: Wants to make sure there are no more Emmett Tills, Trayvon Martins, Amadou Diallos, or Oscar Grants.
MRAs: Rubs hands with glee and cackles at the thought of more dead black men who can be used as a club against feminism.
Jason, I hate to break it to you, but talking about something you have almost no understanding of generally isn’t a good way to build your credibility around here. Just saying!
Hint: You might want to start at understanding what intersectionality is and how racism works in this society.
@Jason:
Do we need to buy you a dictionary? Or are you just being obtuse?
Speaking of obtuse – read the racism tag on this website, or maybe just start here: http://manboobz.com/2012/11/05/election-eve-the-spearhead-endorses-reactionary-misogyny-with-a-side-order-of-racism/ . . .
Then contrast with: http://manboobz.com/2013/07/13/open-thread-zimmerman-verdict/
Which side is more accurately described as ‘racist’ here? The feminists, or the MRAs?
NEWS FLASH: Black women were not taken from their homes, deprived of names, shipped across the sea in chains, worked to death, punished brutally if they disobeyed, forced to live under a system of apartheid for a century after being freed, and of course no longer face inequality in many aspects of life.
Thanks, Jason!
@Sarah – that’s a very fair point. However, you’ll notice that the stereotypes of black women portray them as manly (overly sexual). Their womanly qualities are under-emphasized. Because we care inherently more for the pain of women than we do for the pain of men, racism tries to keep women out of the picture as much as possible – otherwise, we might start feeling sorry for the racial group in question, and seeing them as humans.
Fixed that for you.
Also, you guys, remember when Rebecca Watson compared being asked out by a complete stranger while trapped in an elevator with him with no one around to slavery?
Oh wait, I don’t remember that either. Still, what a b*tch, amirite? How dare she have boundaries!
@Cloudiah – I never said they weren’t. But that’s where “intersectionality” fails. Because you really can’t argue that it was significantly worse to be a black woman than a black man, or that a white woman didn’t have it infinitely better in just about every way than a black man did.
Shorter Suzanne Venker: White men are an endangered species. Evidence of this?
Too little recess and they can’t even play their favorite brand of sportsball anytime they want to.
MISANDRY!
Jason, can you explain why white men are able to kill black men with impunity? Is that also misandry?
(Citations available upon request.)
Hey, how about you actually learn about how misogyny affects black women? Oh wait, you won’t because you’re an obtuse asshole.
The stereotype you’re referring to has been used to demonize women who are perceived as “overly sexual.” It relates to slut-shaming, not male-shaming.
How about you stop spewing your dumbass theories about racism and sexism and actually try to understand how they work?
“that’s a very fair point. However, you’ll notice that the stereotypes of black women portray
them as manly (overly sexual). Their womanly qualities are under-emphasized. Because we care inherently more for the pain of women than we do for the pain of men, racism tries to keep women out of the picture as much as possible – otherwise, we might start feeling sorry for the racial group in question, and seeing them as humans.”
I’m sorry to disagree, but there are stereotypes about men with East Asian ancestry being feminine and sexless. This does not fit with the logic of the above statement that characterizing an “Other” group as masculine allows the “Main” group to feel no sympathy.
Anyways, none of this is the point. You can nitpick little things I’ve said, try and make me racist or whatever, but you can’t disprove my original point – that Trayvon Martin was, in part, shot because he was male, and that racism is largely misandrous – and we need to address this issue, or else more incidents like this will happen.
Jason has a rather familiar smell about him, doesn’t he?
Jason, see Aaliyah’s comment.
Might be too subtle for you.
Oh, yes we can. Given that it was a racially-motivated attack, Trayvon most likely wouldn’t have been shot if he were white.
All black people are viewed as dangerous in a white supremacist society. Including black women. And in many ways, sexism affects black women way more than black men. Just look at the rates of sexual assault for black women.
You can
nitpickdemolishlittle thingseverything I’ve said, try and make me racist or whatever, but you can’t disprove my original point – that Trayvon Martin was,in partpretty much entirely, shot because he was a black male.FTFY.
@yoyo I still remember that happening in my english class when I was in yr 7. The teacher had no control over some of the boys and the class was a total waste of time.
The ringleader of that mayhem was at my school reunion just the other week. I commented to my friends about it when I saw him because I remember it so vividly. I didn’t speak to him then, but I would put money on him either not even remembering doing that, or remembering it as a bit of fun.
Haha Fox news though. No normal person would watch it anyway
@Sarah – well, there are probably millions of different stereotypes out there. Jews eat hummus, Brits are snobby, Asians are good at math, whatever. (I’d go on but it would just give you guys more fuel to call me a racist.) Anyways, there are lots of stereotypes, and of course most aren’t sexual. Not all are even bad (except inasmuch as judging a person by the group they belong to is inherently bad). But when you really want to demonize a group, you portray it as full of dangerous, sexual males. Back in the day, there were stereotypes about crooked Chinamen luring innocent white women into their opium dens. Fortunately, no one perpetuates that one anymore, because we’re far more accepting of Asian-Americans today than we were back when they were building the Transcontinental Railroad.
@Ally – Trayvon wouldn’t have been shot if he was white. I agree. But can you honestly argue that, if he were a black female, it would have gone down the way it did? No matter how racist Zimmerman might be, he wouldn’t have gotten out of the car to chase down a black woman because she might be a criminal.
Haha. Jews eat hummus? I think you’re doing stereotypes wrong, Jason.
I call Poe.
“Anyways, none of this is the point. You can nitpick little things I’ve said, try and make me racist or whatever, but you can’t disprove my original point – that Trayvon Martin was, in part, shot because he was male, and that racism is largely misandrous – and we need to address this issue, or else more incidents like this will happen.”
I believe I just did. I am not sure if you are from the United States and familiar with our history, but we imprisoned a portion our citizens because they were of Japanese descent. That does not fit with your narrative, slick.