Fox News host Jessie Watters: seemed to be channeling Warren Farrell with some particularly obtuse remarks he made recently on the Fox show “Outnumbered” on the “single ladies” vote.
Hillary Clinton needs the single ladies vote. I call them ‘The Beyoncé Voters’ — the single ladies. Obama won single ladies by 76% last time, and made up about a quarter of the electorate. They depend on government because they’re not depending on their husbands. They need contraception, health care, and they love to talk about equal pay.
If we ignore the implicit racism of his castigating “Beyonce voters” for being welfare “takers,” Watters is more or less rehashing an old, bad argument that Farrell made in The Myth of Male Power. In a section of the book called “Government as Substitute Husband,” Farrell wrote that “when divorces left women without husband-as-savior, many women looked for substitute saviors … .”
While New Age women turned to gurus and traditional women turned to God the Father or his alleged earthly representatives, Farrell wrote, feminist women either opted
to save themselves or to turn to the biggest savior of all – government as substitute husband. … Divorces led bodies of men (called legislatures) protecting women collectively as other men (called husbands) failed to protest women individually. This meant raising taxes mostly on other men to provide money mostly for women. When divorces deprive women of husbands to protect them, then, our collective unconscious still wants to protect women.
Farrell attempted to hand-wave away the inconvenient fact that the overwhelming majority of those running the government are men by suggesting that
a legislator is to the voter what a chauffeur is to the employer – both look like they’re in charge but both can be fired if they don’t go where they’re told.
So apparently the “chauffeurs” in government are completely at the mercy of women voters, since women make up a small majority of voters.
Given how laughably simplistic – and just plain wrong — this argument is, it’s kind of astounding to think that Farrell has a degree in Political Science.
Farrell’s “Big Daddy” government theory was also popular with one of this blog’s most prolific trolls, a fellow calling himself NWOSlave. Some sample comments (each paragraph is from a different comment of his; click on them for links).
There’s plenty more where that came from, but you get the idea. He went on and on and on about this. Then again, he went on and on and on about everything.
NOTE: Quotes from Farrell taken from pages 237-238 of the original hardback edition of The Myth of Male Power.
I’m a man who’s dependent on things like disability. I also pay taxes on the income I make as well.
I HAVE BROKEN THE BIG DADDY SYSTEM! ZOMG!
“I call them ‘The Beyoncé Voters’ — the single ladies.”
Wow, totally not antiblackness at all. /s
(Wait, sorry, that would count as misogynoir not just antiblackness.)
Fuuuuuuck those fucking fuckers.
Srsly.
I hate that my dad watches that shit and absorbs it.
Uh everyone needs health care and yes they are talking about equal pay BECAUSE YOU SHOULD BE PAID THE SAME AMOUNT FOR THE SAME WORK (and also contraception does actually fall under health care isn’t that why that Supreme Court thing happened?)
Like oh noes those women want basic rights and Obama was willing to give them it! How dare they/he!
Because the women who’re working never, never pay taxes, of course. Noooooo, somehow or another it’s only dudes who do that. And men don’t need stuff like healthcare or decent working conditions or any of the other things that only a government can mandate and pay for (assuming it has the will and the numbers to do so, not always a given).
How is it these dudes’ heads don’t collapse, sucked in by the black hole where their brains should be?
Oh hey congrats on your mod hat kittehs! (you should get a picture with a mod hat)
Thanks, wewereemergencies!
Hmmm, I could use a behatted pic of Mr K, but mostly he wears fedoras … the point might be lost! 😀
Wow. That term just perfectly sums up that racist strain of misogyny (which might be the most common kind of misogyny).
You know, with the ACA covering some forms of birth control, I think the deal’s pretty good for the American government. Government benefits for impoverished single mothers are a lot more expensive than shelling out for generic medications. You’d think they’d support it from at least a fiscal standpoint, but nooo…that means that women are having sex on the taxpayer’s dollar! BLACK women, even! The horror!
I think John Oliver sums it up pretty well in this weeks Last Week Tonight. Hopefully it’ll mark it at 3:38, which is where he states the relevant point.
http://youtu.be/zSQCH1qyIDo?t=3m38s
@cloudiah
I don’t know if it’s the most common kind of misogyny, but it certainly is deeply entrenched in our society. And it’s also greatly misunderstood. (Most people think that black women merely face antiblackness plus misogyny, even though misogynoir is a more complex form of patriarchal oppression than that.)
Well you see, kittehs, men make more money for the same work, so men pay more taxes, therefore men earned healthcare and decent working conditions (but only up to a point – we can’t have them feel feminized by being TOO safe) and since they’re paying more taxes they therefore deserve to make more money than women.
It makes perfect sense. LOGIC’d
</sarcasm> in case it was necessary 😛
Legislators have power over voters, not the other way around. Even in a representative democracy, the power to change laws lies in their hands, not those of voters.
And in any case, a chauffeur definitely does not look like they’re “in charge.” That doesn’t make any fucking sense, given that they are literally told what to do and where to go. Even at a glance Farrell’s assertion has no basis in reality.
deniseeliza – ::smacks forehead:: Of course! My poor ladybrain couldn’t work out the manly man logicks of it all. 😛
Farrell is shooting himself in the foot by tacitly accepting the premise that women, without husbands controlling them, are instead more extensively controlled by male-dominated institutions. In other words, he is saying that the patriarchy exists as a system. It’s just that he cloaks his nonsense in terms of “protection” in order to make women feel guilty for standing up against the patriarchy.
He is so gross. And so bad at analyzing social phenomena, too.
It”‘s Watters, not Walters… unless you wish to deride him by associating him with Barbara W.
Ha ha, the “Beyoncé Vote” is so clever and by clever I mean racist.
Both here in the old USA and abroad it’s well known that Obama won the single women vote and, even more overwhelmingly, the black vote. Fox News LURVES those particular statistics because it shows how Obumma won the no-good moocher vote, amirite!
Here’s a little peek into a voting block they don’t openly trumpet, but instead aggressively pander to. I’m posting Exit Poll race and gender breakdowns, so you can see how white people, particularly in the south and why Republicans love the white guys. You can see education, income and age breakdowns with the links, if you’re curious.
From 2012 Presidential exit polling (graphs unfortunately, so I had to type it out):
http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/state/MS/president
Here’s Mississippi voting by
Gender: Men are 45% total [Obama 40% | Romney 58%] (Other 2%)
Women are 55% total [Obama 46% | Romney 53%] (Other 1%)
Race: Whites are 59% total [Obama 10% | Romney 98% ] (Other 1%)
Blacks are total [Obama 96% | Romney 4%] (Other xx)
Gender and Race: White Men are total 28% [9% Obama | 88% Romney ]
White Women are total 31% [11% Obama | 89% Romney ]
Black Men are total 15% [95% Obama | 5% Romney ]
Black Women are total 21% [96% Obama | 3% Romney ]
http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/state/VA/president
Here’s Virginia voting by
Gender: Men are total 47% [47% Obama | 51% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
Women are total 53% [54% Obama | 45% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Race: Whites are 70% total [37% Obama | 61% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
Blacks are 20%total [93% Obama | 6% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Latinos are 5% total [64% Obama | 33% Romney ] (Other: 3%)
Asians are 3% total [66% Obama | 32% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
(Other: 2%)
Gender and Race: White Men are total 34% [34% Obama | 64% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
White Women are total 37% [40% Obama | 59% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Black Men are total 8%. [91% Obama | 9% Romney ]
Black Women are total 11% [95% Obama | 4% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Latino Men are total 2% [xx | xx ]
Latino Women are total 2%. [xx | xx ]
Other are total 5%. [63% Obama | 36% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/state/FL/president
Here’s Florida voting by
Gender: Men are total 45% [46% Obama | 52% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
Women are total 55% [53% Obama | 46% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Race: Whites are 67% total [37% Obama | 61% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
Blacks are 13% total [95% Obama | 4% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Latinos are 17% total [60% Obama | 39% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Asians are 2% total [xx| xx ]
Other are total 2% [59% Obama | 39% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
Gender and Race: White Men are 30% total [33% Obama | 65% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
White Women are 37% total [41% Obama | 58% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Black Men are 6% total [94% Obama | 5% Romney ](Other: 1%)
Black Women are 8% total [96% Obama | 4% Romney ]
Latino Men are 7% total [58% Obama | 40% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
Latino Women are 9% total. [61% Obama | 38% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Others are total 3% [70% Obama | 29%Romney ] (Other: 1%)
http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/state/NY/president
Here’s New York voting
Gender: Men are total 45% [56% Obama | 42% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
Women are total 55% [68% Obama | 31% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Race: Whites are 67% total [49% Obama | 49% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
Blacks are 16% total [94% Obama | 5% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Latinos are 13% total [89% Obama | 11% Romney ]
Asians are 2% total [xx | xx ]
Other are 1% total [xx | xx ]
Gender and Race: White Men are 31% total [43% Obama | 55% Romney ] (Other: 2%)
White Women are 36% total [55% Obama | 44% Romney ] (Other: 1%)
Black Men are 7% total [xx | xx]
Black Women are 9% total [93% Obama | 6% Romney ]
Latino Men are 5% total [xx|xx ]
Latino Women are 8% total [96% Obama | 4% Romney]
Others are 3% total [xx |xx ]
**whoops, I screwed up Mississippi because I can’t have nice things.**
http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/state/MS/president
Here’s Mississippi voting by
Gender: Men are 45% total [Obama 40% | Romney 58%] (Other 2%)
Women are 55% total [Obama 46% | Romney 53%] (Other 1%)
Race: Whites are 59% total [Obama 10% | Romney 98% ] (Other 1%)
Blacks are 36% total [Obama 96% | Romney 4%] (Other xx)
Latinos are 3% total [xx |xx ]
Other are 1% total [xx |xx ]
Gender and Race: White Men are total 28% [9% Obama | 88% Romney ]
White Women are total 31% [11% Obama | 89% Romney ]
Black Men are total 15% [95% Obama | 5% Romney ]
Black Women are total 21% [96% Obama | 3% Romney ]
Your give this guy to much credit. He is not smart enough to offended two groups at once.
Brooked: I’m confused by what I presume is a typo…
Race: Whites are 59% total [Obama 10% | Romney 98% ] (Other 1%)
@pecunium Thanks! The correct race breakdowns are still stunning.
Damn you Mississippi! (And my errors.) ::sigh::
http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/state/MS/president
Here’s Mississippi voting by
Gender: Men are 45% total [Obama 40% | Romney 58%] (Other 2%)
Women are 55% total [Obama 46% | Romney 53%] (Other 1%)
Race: Whites are 59% total [Obama 10% | Romney 89% ] (Other 1%)
Blacks are 36% total [Obama 96% | Romney 4%] (Other xx)
Latinos are 3% total [xx |xx ]
Other are 1% total [xx |xx ]
Gender and Race: White Men are total 28% [9% Obama | 88% Romney ] (Other 3%)
White Women are total 31% [11% Obama | 89% Romney ]
Black Men are total 15% [95% Obama | 5% Romney ]
Black Women are total 21% [96% Obama | 3% Romney ] (Other 1%)
Oh my goodness, it is still in the upper 80s after 10 PM, and me with no air conditioning. ughghghghhhhh I can’t take this heat!
So instead of sleeping I give you new kitten pics: Kitten navigates Tumblr and Kitten improvises a bed.
If you’re wondering why Mississippi Gender & Race adds up to 95%, I accidentally left off Latino and Other but they didn’t have the voting breakdown for those anyway.
Latino men is 1% total [xx|xx]
Latino women is 3% total [xx|xx]
Others is 1% total [xx|xx]