I don’t know how I missed this bizarre “Manist” propaganda campaign when it happened last summer. Or maybe I did but couldn’t quite believe it was for real? Well, it was. Is.
If, like me, you missed it the first time, #DontMANcriminate was the brainchild of Indian lifestyle/fashion site Maggcom, and it demonstrates that “Manists” in India can be as ridiculously histrionic and oblivious to reality as their counterparts here in the west.
The site launched the campaign on Facebook with an inadvertently hilarious mini MANifesto:
Manism. This is to remind us of the forgotten gender, who, regardless of the situation, are expected to be such gentlemen.
Men: The FORGOTTEN GENDER.
When women talk about being put on the same pedestal as men, simultaneously there is an unsaid expectation of chivalry out of them. It is time we realize that they deserve a break from being all heroic and they too suffer a different level of harassment.
I’m going to bust out crying.
Did I mention that none of the guys whose faces were used in this campaign actually agreed to appear in it?
That first poster above takes on the horrible injustice of dudes not being able to get FREE DRINKS from creepy guys with ulterior motives. This second one takes on the equally serious injustice of men sometimes feeling vaguely obligated to HOLD DOORS OPEN.
And then there is the terrible terrible oppression of women-only cars on trains and buses, which is a thing in India not so much because “hey let’s be mean to men and give women this totally random privilege h ha ha screw those dudes” but because “gosh we really can’t figure out how to stop dudes from groping and harassing women on trains and buses so I dunno maybe just put them in different cars or something?”
And then there’s all that terrible anti-male discrimination in the job market.
And that’s not even counting the terrible prejudice against hostile woman-hating MGTOWs!
But this last one?
Guys, guys! You want to wear heels? You want to wear makeup? JUST GO AHEAD AND DO IT!
Seriously. dudes. You don’t even need to wear underwear!
Actually fellas, maybe you should wear underwear after all. Not everyone can pull off assless pants quite as tastefully as the dear departed Prince.
I never sit on the C-train because I’m able bodied and have anxiety. I’d rather stand for the whole run of the line than have to deal with the awkwardness of standing up for someone who needs the seat more than I.
I hold the door for anyone within six steps of me. More than that, it gets weird. I also offer help to anyone who looks like they are having issues carrying things because it’s the right thing to do. Then I say something awkward when I’m done helping and go away 🙂
@Pandapool
I got the same call today! Mr. Drumpf left a way-too-long message on our answering machine. My boyfriend couldn’t hear who was leaving the message and asked me who was calling. “Donald Trump!” I said. It was maybe my funniest line ever–it got a big guffaw.
Why did Drumpf call? If I understand the Interwebz correctly, California has (and has had for about five years now) open primaries. I had completely forgotten that.
@Chiomara Fair enough, I just use a decent amount of shaving cream/conditioner to make sure I’m not getting razor burn. But hey if they work better for you, they work, it’s just unfortunate that they come at a premium.
I haven’t gone to many bars or clubs in my life, so I haven’t gotten in free to those venues.
But I have to admit that I once went to a movie on Ladies’ Day. That was of course a long time ago. So yeah, MRM guys, I got a dollar knocked off my ticket. Send me your address and I’ll send you that dollar.
*****
I hate, hate, hate the condescension involved when men ostentatiously open the door for me!
I avoid it if I can. I’ll even turn around and walk the other way if I see a lone man headed for an exit ahead of me.
If it can’t be avoided, I’m polite.
Something you MRM guys behind this stupid, stupid campaign might try.
If that’s too much to consider, I suggest that you avoid catcalling, groping, assaulting, beating, raping, or murdering women.
Generally dudes who buy women drinks do it with the expectations of lowering their inhibitions so they can take advantage. I read an interesting post somewhere by a lady who would accept guy’s offers to buy her something, but would request food or a non-alcoholic beverage. Apparently most of these dudes were absolutely incensed about this, despite the food or nonalcoholic beverage she asked for actually being cheaper than a boozy drink would be.
Because it’s not about doing something nice for a woman. It’s about getting intoxicants into her.
You know what my first thought was on seeing these pictures?The famous ad for ‘The Room’, showing Tommy Wiseau’s mush.
Whoever made these posters knew, generally, what a good poster looks like, but had no idea how to make it happen, I weep for those trim lines.
This is kind of ironic to me because these don’t actually clean themselves. Unlike vaginas.
Most men just use soap, although I’m sure something better for sensitive bits could exist and make quite a few customers happy. It would be hard to market it for several reasons.
I’m troubled by the inconsistency in who is speaking over the translucent duct tape. Sometimes it’s Heroic Meme Creator, sometimes it’s Straw Feeemale, and on that first one, it’s both at once. Pick a narrative, and stick to it.
Then there’s the additional irony of complaining that men have had their voice taken away…and meanwhile taking images of male movie stars without their permission, gagging them, and literally putting words in their mouths. It’s creepy and confusing. Who’s the one doing the silencing, again?
I have the same problem. I can never remember the name of that gender that makes up 83% of Congress, 88% of movie leads, 95% of Fortune 500 CEOs, and 100% of presidents. They just don’t get noticed very often, and history has erased their contributions.
Does anyone know any good mnemonics so this won’t keep happening?
People can choose whichever razor they like, the problem is with the fact that one item is substantially more expensive because it’s marketed for women. I like a 3-4 bladed men’s razor with only one directional flex/pivot because if there’s more than one I end up looking like my legs got too close to an electric carving knife gone wild. Someone else may want a razor with the built in extra moisturizer like some of the women’s razors have and if they happen to be male they should buy what they want – but it shouldn’t cost them more than it would to buy a comparable men’s razor any more than it should for a woman.
I don’t go to bars often and I cannot remember ever going on ladies nights. However, any of the femdom events/play parties/etc I’ve attended do have a lower entrance fee for us femdoms. Part of that is to get as many of us to attend as possible because there seem to be a lot fewer femdoms overall (vs the total number of doms) and a lot of subs. And part of charging more for sub’s entry fee is to keep out the riffraff time wasters, additionally the cost differential puts some subs on the road to their desired headspace even when findom isn’t their kink.
The external bits that women have are cleaned effectively with soap and water too – but not that long ago Lysol was being sold to clean lady parts inside and out.
To preserve their ‘daintiness’.
Damnit – @David Futrelle I messed up on the login part so a comment went to moderation.
Heellllppp I’m stuck using my phone and/or iPad and this stupid hotel wifi and I keep messing crap up when not bogged down by lag or spontaneous reloaded pages
They also missed #discriMANation as an option for their whiny hashtag.
[Edit: Oh, but wait, that doesn’t put men first, so it’s no good.]
Dudes, if you don’t like that a bar has “ladies’ night”, vote with your feet and wallet. Don’t go to that bar. There are plenty others that don’t do that. If ladies’ nights become unprofitable, bars will stop having them. Easy peasy, no antifeminism required.
A few things that others have already pointed.
In New Zealand and I suspect many other parts of the developed world, men aren’t expected to give up seats on public transport unless it’s for the elderly or pregnant. I’ve never been asked, nor have I witnessed any man being asked to give their seat for an able-bodied woman.
Holding the door for someone right behind you is usually a matter of courtesy not tied to gender. There’s nothing condescending about not letting a door slam in someone’s face. It’s standard etiquette.
Split bills is the norm.
People generally buy their own or someone buys a round. Accepting a drink at the price of then having to listen to some tool hit on them is not the kind of ‘freebie’ most women want.
I usually give up my seat for anyone older than me, for children, or for anyone who looks like they’re having a difficult time. That’s… not a gendered thing in the Midwest. That’s normal. Women open doors for people too, regardless of genders.
“Forgotten gender”
I totally hate it when people focus on my humanity at the expense of my gender.
Kivutar: Cool nym, are you Finnish?
Being “man”criminated against is…having to buy your own alcohol?
…
I’m weeping oceans, oceans I tells ya.
Donald Trump doesn’t wear make-up????? John Boehner doesn’t wear make-up?? There’s large numbers of men’s cosmetics.
And who does the complaining when women don’t wear make-up?
Now I come to think of it … never. I wonder why that should be …
Disclaimer: I don’t know if it’s because there is somewhat less advertising here in Blighty for this kind of tosh aimed at women or if it’s just because I’ve unconsciously tuned it out and don’t notice it, but I’ve only occasionally been peripherally aware of ads for women-targeted “intimate cleansing” or whatever. It’s definitely around, yes, but just doesn’t loom large. But what struck me when I read that line was that I’d never until today stopped to think that an equivalent product for men simply doesn’t exist. The whole concept of this particular kind of body-shaming for profit doesn’t exist. The nearest I can think of would be arsehole skin lightener, something I know exists but have never knowingly encountered and which is I think marketed as something of a niche product (innuendo not intended until I noticed it just now).
Sure men do get specific kinds of body-shaming-for-profit aimed at them, but none I think that rest on inculcating the notion that their bodies, when healthy and functioning in an ordinary way, are inherently unclean! unclean! (in more than the literal soap-and-water-after-work sense).
Arctic Ape: Nope, but I’m a big fan of the Kalevala… does that count?
@chiomara
I only use the Orange and White single blade Bics, they are eight for a quid in Poundland. I never get razor burn from them. Maybe because there’s only the one blade. If you make sure to wash the hair out and let them dry between uses they last a long time as well.
You’ve got to laugh at how awkward MANcriminate is both too read and to say aloud. Couldn’t these dufuses have put together a little more creative juice and gone with the almost blisteringly obvious discriMANate?
It’s like these guys can’t think at all. Sad.
Heh, I almost wrote the question about your nym spcifically, rather than you personally. It’s not really my business. (I’m Finnish, and also something of a fan of Kalevala poetry.)
Buttercup,
I think the forgotten gender you speak of is called “myn.” If you take “womyn” and subtract the “wo” which represents the womb, I think, you are left with myn. I’m not entirely sure though. I never encounter these creatures in the wild. Not since Katie took over and ushered in the glorious gynocracy. Usually when I visit the breeding stock for a little spermjacking and child support extraction, I don’t really look at them or talk to them.