How do our rigid notions of what makes a “real man” contribute to unspeakable acts of violence? Could it be that we’re socially conditioned to feel like we need to defend our manhood, with violence if necessary? Could it be that mass murder is the unfortunate and rare offshoot of that same masculine defensiveness taken to its extreme end?
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Marriage Equality Avatar Efficacy
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Mail Bag Wednesday – “Cheerleader”
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What Every Man Should Know
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Mail Bag Sick Day + Bonus Puppy Footage
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The “Gray Area” of Rape Culture
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The R-Word
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Misogyny’s Impact On Health
Posts Tagged “gender”
Last week’s video on Steubenville generated a lot of interesting conversations! A lot of people were uneasy with how some of their favorite things like sports and money were implicated as factors that contribute to rape culture in mainstream society, so today I’m explaining things a little deeper.
Pinterest has grown quickly to become the 3rd largest social network on the web, and has a user base that’s over 80% women. So what does this mean for men, and for that matter, for women?
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Is Transethnicity a real thing, a case of whiny white people seeking out status as an “oppressed other”, or a cruel joke at the expense of transgendered people?
To begin, meet Prince Koyangi, a 16 year old white person who identifies as Korean, among other things.
i’m jun/june, a 16 year old autistic pangender asexual demiromantic trans-asian cat otherkin … i knew that i wasn’t meant to be white — but i did not know exactly whichethnicity i was meant to be until i was exposed to Korean beings, and Korean culture (albeit a single aspect of it) for the first time. (the area in which i live is racially homogeneous and for the preceding 14 years of my life i had come into contact with very few BOC, and no Koreans). anyhow, upon seeing the Korean singers and observing their culture, i finally understood my true ethnicity. their appearance corresponded exactly to my idealized conception of myself (my proprioceptive perceptions and my mental image of my own body); their language, their gestures, their comportment, all seemed absolutely natural to me. it was like an adopted child meeting their birth family for the first time. and it was wonderful.
Recently our own Curt Rancor wrote an article trollishly extolling the virtues of Fox News’ new lifestyle magazine, Fox News M. “With a layout inspired by Pinterest,” he wrote, “her delicate mind won’t have any trouble navigating features like Brooklyn Decker’s Beach Secrets, 8 Steps to Really Clean Windows, How to Keep Mealybugs out of your Flour, and other articles relevant to her unique lifestyle as a housekeeper and a wife.”
In short, Fox News M is great for tiny ladybrains negatively affected by things like “news” or “thinking.” You know what happens when ladybrains try to think –as opposed to shop–through their problems! They might mean well, but before you know it they’ll be splattering period blood all over your man cave. What a hassle, amirite fellas?
Having lots of sex with as many women as possible is the best, most desirable thing that any man can aspire to, right?
That’s usually the message presented by most male characters in popular media today. Male promiscuity is almost always portrayed as something admirable. But rarely, if ever, do we see a character who realizes that this behavior is self-destructive. So when Jason Stackhouse came to this introspective realization on last night’s True Blood, I was blown away.
Today BuzzFeed posted “39 Ways Men Use Pinterest,” consisting of pages that contain phrases like “things my wife should cook” and “things my wife should wear.” Of course, commenters are angry about how “men” supposedly act.
When you begin with a site that’s geared toward object fetishes, and then search it for “my wife should” it’s easy to find plenty of guys who give guys a bad name, especially when framing it as a generality. Replace “wife” with “husband” and you get exactly the same kind of biased, stereotype-reinforcing results.
The method may be cherry-picking, but Pinterest seems to have its own gender issues. In other words, this list doesn’t represent the problem with all women, just the problems with women who use Pinterest for making “my husband should” lists.
A war on women? War on women! Women’s war. The ol’ womanly war. Le Waré. What is this “War on Women”? Is it a new mud wrestling tournament? Or a new action movie starring Gina Carano? Because everyone is talking about it and no one is explaining sides or mechanics or anything. And AskJeeves has no answers. What’s a concerned dude to do?
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Pigtails and a Guy Named Balls
On this Mailbag Wednesday, I’m answering your questions about the Boyfriend’s Guides to Pinterest and Downton Abbey and a whole lot more!
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