So over on the Men’s Rights subreddit, one mangry MRA is outraged to discover the existence of a handyman company in his area called “Hire a Hubby,” which apparently oppresses him as a man because, well, I’m not sure why it oppresses him exactly. Anyway, he asks the classic MRA question WHAT IF THE GENDERS WERE REVERSED!!???
Huh. What would happen if there were a catering or cleaning company called Hire a Wife?
Well, brace yourself because whatever would happen already did happen, because there are a bunch of companies called that. One in the Detroit area. One in Calgary. One in Kirkland, Washington. One in Tasmania.
And then there’s Wife for Hire in North Carolina.
I for one am outraged. At least by the web design of that last page. Hey, 1997 called and wanted its scrolling marquee back!
What’s it called when someone desperately tries to imagine what’s already happened?
Do MRA’s just yell “WHAT IF THE GENDERS WHERE REVERSED” without even bothering to think about the question they are asking?
Oh wait. I know the answer to that one already.
Athorist, do we have a word for that in our language? Because if we don’t we need one.
Well, I do think Hire a Hubby is a pretty dumb name for a handyman company, and Hire a Wife is a pretty dumb name for a housecleaning/baking/grocery shopping whatever company. As a single woman I would not be inclined to “hire a hubby” if I needed something repaired.
OH NO! WHAT IF WOMEN WERE TREATED LIKE THINGS TO BE BOUGHT AND SOLD? Oh wait, that’s
Note how the “Hire a Hubby” company is about handymen, while the “Hire a Wife” ones are about maid service, cleaning and elder care. Isn’t that an example of the kind of double standard MRAs like?
But then again, they’re addicted to outrage, and will always find something to complain about.
Jeepers, there’s also a bunch of husband for hires, too. It’s all rather silly. I spent way too much time trying to find a renthire a wifehusband for one that wasn’t a cleaningcatering for the wife, and home repaircontractor for the husband. No luck. There is a “rent a spouse” service that offers both, though.
Also, I found a USAtoday story about the owner of a hire a husband company who was indicted for fraud.
That’s a half hour of my life I’ll never get back.
Lemme guess: This dude is all butthurt because he’s got no wife (hired or otherwise) to hand him a “Honey-Do” list?
I remember seeing something similar to this on the side of a truck running around this area about five years ago. I wish I could remember the exact name of it. It wasn’t “hire a hubby” but it was similar, and the same idea. Haven’t seen it in a long time, and I assumed it went out of business.
There’s nothing weird or hard to understand about this: it’s a catchy little name for a business, similar to Two Guys and a Truck. You see it, it’s cutesy, and you remember it (neutrally if not favorably), and that’s what advertising is about.
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/327/043/a42.jpg
The butthurt is strong with them.
I don’t know if there’s an actual word, but I just lump all that in under “Teh Stoopid”.
There’s a comment on that post that I really enjoyed:
Feminist reversing the genders: “Can you imagine the backlash if heterosexual men were unable to walk down the street without being subjected to constant catcalls and sexual threats? Men would care about it, then! This is why we need to care about street harassment of women. Because if the genders were reversed, people would, in fact, care.”
MRA reversing the genders: “Can you imagine the backlash if there were a ‘hire a wife’ business? Feminists would be ridiculously upset! This is why everyone needs to stfu about misogyny. Because if the genders were reversed, people would, in fact, care.”
One of these positions has a problem in its reasoning.
Am I the only one who thinks “Hire a (Spouse)” could just as easily be some kind of long-term escort service as anything else?
Also, they do understand that feminists aren’t the people who come up with stuff like “Hire a Husband”, right? We’re the people who think that women are perfectly capable of fixing their own stuff (or, if they can’t or don’t want to do so, of hiring a professional and not pretending zie is their spouse).
You can also hire plants. PLANTS!
WHAT ABOUT MIS-PLANT-RY??
#HeAndSheForPlants
Yes. So much this. This is why I find the “Hire a Hubby” company name mildly offensive to me as a woman. Like, poor me, I don’t have a regular husband . . . but at least I can rent one!
But I will save my actual outrage for other matters.
MRAs do this a lot, attribute to feminists stuff that most likely came from people who’re actively opposed to feminism.
Apparently some of these companies provide non-sexual escorting on one-night gigs. We have such service here in Finland too, or at least had several years ago when it started and made news. Sex work wouldn’t be advertised so openly, I suppose.
When my dad needed help moving he called the student employment office and asked for a couple pairs of strong arms. Two young women showed up. They got him all moved plus the furniture arranged and the radio tuned in an hour and a half. But “Hire a Competent Student” isn’t a catchy business name.
Why are the MRAs so perennially upset? I worry that they’ll all stroke out or die of heart disease the way they’re constantly gobbling with outrage.
I keep starting to write a comment, then deleting it. So often one just doesn’t know where to begin. Like a lot of posts here the response boils down to: ‘do they just not think? Do they deliberately chose not to think, even a little bit?’
*gobbling with outrage* is an amazing phrase. Thank you for bringing it to my life
When I needed help moving the Mormons came to my rescue. They preached to me six hours each way and still pester me regularly about the good news. I should have just hired a husband.
I’m pretty sure there is a hire a husband here in Austin, as well. No mangry protests reported though.
Good God, they didn’t even check to see if there was a cleaning company called Hire a Wife? This is almost as pathetic as Christina Hoff Summers thinking that television shows, movies, books, and magazines aimed at women never get criticized, especially not by MRAs. You’d think that she’d have at least noticed that Dr. WTF was using romance novel titles and content as “proof” that women enjoy being raped.
Ah, but they did manage to find a catchy way to put it!