Tuesday Tussle

Tuesday Tussle: Is The FOX News “War On Men” Op-Ed The Dumbest Thing Ever?

Sarah: So. The “War On Men.” By Phyllis Schlafly’s niece. Woof.
I mean, it’s beyond parody.
Laura: Haha. Seriously. I don’t even know what to say…
It’s just so insane — blaming women for the fact that guys can’t handle our progress?
Sarah: Let’s play devil’s advocate for a sec. Is there one thing in there that you agreed with? Even one tiny thing? Haha. I guess I’m in a charitable mood or something.
Laura: I will say that some aspects of the women’s lib movement alienated men. At times I think it was more anti-men than it was pro-women. That I understand. But I am not ready to blame women on the fact that fewer guys want to get married now.
Sarah: I don’t even think that’s true! That fewer men want to get married, I mean.
Laura: Maybe they are just taking their time, and so are we.
Sarah: I’d have to check the stats but i’m pretty sure the vast majority of men and women our age want to get married.
Laura: But as you and I know from attending a college with some pretty awful guys, men these days can be pretty disappointing, and it’s absurd to say women are at fault for their stupidity.
Sarah: Not to mention statistically married men live longer and do less housework. :)
Laura: Yes!
Sarah: No wonder they’re psyched about it. I mean, I think some men have always been disappointing, just like some women can be, because terrible people are a fact of life; the difference was whether women liked it or not they still needed to get hitched in order to be, like, recognized by society. It’s not that way anymore (or it’s LESS like that, at any rate) so everyone can be pickier. I think that’s awesome.
Laura: Yeah, definitely.
Sarah: ALSO I didn’t know that being a feminist and wanting to work made me unfeminine. That was an unfortunate surprise.
Laura: Yeah really…
Sarah: I feel like this woman has this attitude that I sometimes see from people who are super anti-feminist, and it’s usually because they don’t understand anything about feminism. They’re like “the feminists are so mean and hate men!” Whereas many if not most feminists love men!
Laura: I sure do!
Sarah: They’re raging against a SYSTEM that oppresses them, not, like, their husbands or boyfriends.
Laura: Yeah. And most of them have significant others. They love their lives and the people in them.
Sarah: Yeah, I think that’s just a fundamental misunderstanding of what feminism is about. Sort of like how billionaires take people being against income inequality super personally.
Laura: Yeah definitely.
Sarah: Also many of the people getting married these days are getting divorced far less frequently. So it seems like “waiting until you’re really ready to get married”/having an equal partnership is actually a winning strategy.
Laura: Oh, totally. I personally want to be ready financially.
Sarah: But why get bogged down in FACTS and FIGURES when we can just assign all the blame to OURSELVES.
Laura: Haha yeah, seriously. As you said, many guys do want to get married. They want families and all that. But when they’re ready.
Sarah: Right! Nothing wrong with that.
Also, nothing wrong with a little righteous female anger either. I don’t think that makes you unfeminine, I think that means you are paying attention.
Laura: Definitely – being aware. Not blissfully ignorant.
Sarah: AND ALSO, the patriarchy is bad for men too. They aren’t exactly painted in a flattering light in that article.
Laura: No. And also, if they’re theoretically going to let feminism bring them down and ruin their own lives, they’re losing too. That is, if you believe the author’s argument. It shows a lack of faith in men to say “Oh, they couldn’t handle women advancing so they just started giving up and becoming Homer Simpson replicas.”
Sarah: Totally!
Laura: It’s a victim mentality, which many right-wingers say they don’t agree with. You might find this amusing.
Sarah: I just think these people who are so scared of feminism are just scared of women. If you take away all the statistics and weird generalizations that’s all there is in this article.
Laura: Yeah.
Sarah: And women aren’t scary!
We’re people.
Laura: You got that right!
Sarah: Don’t make it weird, guys!
Laura: Nothing to be afraid of.
Sarah: AND it’s possible to love men and want to get married someday and be a feminist. I do it literally every day. And so do you.
Laura: YES!!!!!!!!!
Sarah: Ahhhh now we’re all fired up! Let’s go get our feminist pitchforks and knock some men off their pedestals!
Laura: Ready when you are.
I must say, it’s kind of awesome when an article like this comes out — it’s a good laugh. It reminds me of that movie The Ugly Truth.
Sarah: Ugh. The WORST.
Sarah: I mean someone will be doing this yearly…forever. Because it trolls everyone very successfully. The thing I always take the greatest comfort in, anytime there’s a lady who’s like “UGH, FEMINISM, AMIRITE,” is knowing that she herself probably doesn’t see the hilarious irony in being a highly paid columnist/pundit/author which she would NEVER BE ABLE TO DO WITHOUT FEMINISM.
Laura: RIGHT.
Sarah: So, you’re welcome, Suzanne Venker.
Laura: THANK YOUUUU. Proved us right again!

[Photo via Shutterstock]

TAGS: feminism | Fox news | Tuesday Tussle

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