Sunday, March 23, 2014

Feminism, Anti-Feminism, and Straight-Up Douchebaggery

If you haven’t had the, ah, pleasure, of watching this video clip or reading this article about the oh so charming Gavin McInnes and his rant against women go ahead and go do that. Once you’re done seething go ahead and come back here. This is my response to Gavin, and his utter ignorance. If you’ve been following me for long you know that I don’t consider myself to be a feminist. You can read all about my reasons why here.

Right off the bat I almost agreed with what this guy was saying in the video. Successful women in business often exhibit behavior that is more masculine in nature. Where he lost me is when he claims that women behave that way because society is telling us we have to, and we are actually miserable because of it. Women apparently don’t really want to do anything other than be mothers and stay at home raising our kids (which is an infinitely important role and I in know way discredit women who absolutely love doing it). I am currently staying home with my 3 kids. I am constantly surrounded by other stay at home moms and I almost feel pressured to continue staying home because they think it’s what’s best. But when the kids are tucked into bed and the dishes are done and the house is quiet I fantasize about going back to work. I frantically search job listings daily to try and find something else. I apply to everything I’m interested in and pray to God someone calls me. It isn’t because someone is telling me I have to work or that I should work or that raising kids and being domestic is a bad thing. It is because I WANT to work. I want a career, I want to be successful, and I want to contribute financially to my family. You want to know what misery is, Gavin? Having three kids throwing temper tantrums at the same time because they are sick and didn’t get enough sleep and knowing that you get to repeat the whole process again tomorrow, and the next day, with little or no help or relief. THAT is miserable. And it is laughable that this guy just pulls a number out of his ass; his instinct is that only 7% of women are happy in this working role. What? Your instinct is that women are so meek and stupid that the majority of us are miserable working? We make up half the work force but only 7% of us actually want to be there and we just can’t quit because society tells us we have to work? We are so concerned with what other people tell us we need to be that we are afraid to be ourselves? I think you need to expand the number of women in your life if you think that’s an accurate representation. I’ve been accused of being a lot of things, but meek are stupid are not among them. In fact, I can be downright mean when I want to be, and trust me, I WANT to be. I choose to be the way I am; nobody else controls that.

Gavin’s treatment of the female panelist just shows how he really sees women. The woman was very well-spoken and composed, and kept her cool while he threw insults at her because she proved her point. Men like this are threatened by women because they know they can be easily pushed aside for an intelligent and powerful woman. Men like Gavin are afraid that their jobs and their roles in life are at risk because women are capable of doing them, and possibly doing them better. His idea that men who stay home with their kids "look ridiculous" is just plain not true. Men who are great dads and who support their wives’ career goals are sexy. Period.

While the video was maddening, there were a few points that he made that weren’t totally off. It was the follow-up call meant to defend his words that really makes Mr. McInnes an off-the-charts d-bag. He claims that women fight to get to the top and then expect to see their male counterparts "drinking brandy and going to strip clubs" and are disappointed that they have to actually work still. Because, again, women are apparently morons who only want to get to the top so they can relax and collect a big paycheck without working for it. But none of that compares to this little piece of brilliance he shares: "…men are becoming beta males because feminists have told them to, but you’ll notice feminists don’t fuck those guys". Ha! You keep talking about natural behaviors and how men are naturally more aggressive. IF that is true, then why the hell are men allowing anyone to tell them how they should behave? They are choosing to behave how they want. Oh, and I think it goes without saying that you consider yourself an alpha male, right? Well Gav, that may be true, but even still, women don’t want to fuck you. You’re full of yourself, you can’t have decent conversations with people who disagree with you, and quite frankly, you’re ugly. Being a "real man" is a very unattractive trait on you. Women still love masculinity. We still love the cowboy. Cowboys know how to treat a lady; calling her a "fucking idiot" isn’t it.

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