We all know men are generally idiots. We know that men have a seemingly instinctive belief that it's their privilege and right to harass, hit on, and paw at women. Male privilege lets men believe women's only reason for existing is to fawn over them and spread their legs at the flash of a smile.
This of course, is not new. Every woman knows this.
Online it's worse. At least in real life, most men realize they have to try to at least appear to be civilized and respectful in public, and save their gropey gropey mindset for private situations in offices or at drunken nightclub outings.
But on the good old interwebs, that "Someone might see me being a douche" safety net goes bye bye. Every day over on MySpace I get around 5 messages a day from single assholes who can't be bothered to read the big uppercase "NO MEN" in my profile and message me proposing marriage or asking for sex outright, and the messages are ALWAYS worded in a way that says they have no doubt in their minds that I'll jump at the chance. And of course, if I rightfully get grumpy at their ignorant come ons, they never apologize for their presumptions, they cuss at me and call me a stuck-up tightass bitch for not wanting them.
Male privilege. It lets them believe that any woman offended by them being rude, pushy, obnoxious, etcetera, is the one who has the problem. After all, we're the women, we exist for their needs, how dare we even consider refusing their charms?
Worse are the ones who DO read the "NO MEN" disclaimer and decide it's not serious. You know, the guy who thinks a lesbian is just a woman who has not yet experienced HIS magical cock, and if she'd just fuck him she'd never munch carpet again. Which is a terribly odd contradiction to how much men WANT to watch women lick pussy. But hey, Men's thinking has never made much sense.
As on example, one such asshat messaged me on Smutvibes some time ago, doing exactly that. He seemed utterly convinced that I only put "NO MEN"in my profile to encourage real men to pursue me and overcome my "defense mechanism".
This is the "About Me" of his profile. I've been kind enough to not include his username or his publicly offered msn address.
"I am real. I like women. I don't like men. I especially don't like men who dress as women, or men who pretend they are women. If I was going to pretend to be anything (and dress up for it) I would pick astronaut, or maybe jet-pilot... a flight suit has GOT to be more awesome than a thong. If you are a "lesbian" who complains in their headline that "men can't read" and "don't add me..." well, I did it because you are probably fake, and it's fun to annoy you. If you are a real woman, and ladies you have to prove it, we can chat and see where it goes. I am funny, smart, sexy, and... did I say funny?"
Okay, let's dissect this stunning example of how damn near every male mind on the internet thinks.
He thinks he's being funny and cute with his quasi-homophobic sexism. His about me shows three clear examples of the male privilege assumptions most men use to justify objectifying and harassing us.
1) "If you are a "lesbian" who complains in their headline that "men can't read" and "don't add me..." well, I did it because you are probably fake,"
- The male assumption that any woman who claims to be a lesbian is probably lying, faking, or hasn't had the right man fuck her yet. Men just can't accept that lesbians really exist. Men remain firmly convinced that there IS no such thing as a woman who is completely and utterly uninterested in them, because they are after all, men, and we as women only exist to meet their needs anyway right?
2) "If you are a real woman, and ladies you have to prove it, we can chat and see where it goes."
- Again, the male presumption is that all the responsibility is on the woman. He absolves himself of responsibility for his harassing behavior messaging women rudely by putting the onus on the woman to prove she's real, ignoring the fact she likely had no interest in him to begin with and thus no obligation to prove anything to him. He also again ignores the lesbian idea, assuming that once these women prove to his satisfaction that they are in fact women, that they will naturally want to hook up with him for being diligent enough to make them prove their validity to him. It's a reverse method of dehumanizing the woman. By demanding that the woman is obligated to prove her identity, he's essentially suggesting she doesn't really have one, and dismissing her identity as invalid.
3) "I am funny, smart, sexy, and... did I say funny?"
- And the icing on the rancid cake, the male shrugs off his behavior thus far by insisting he's rife with attractive charming qualities that the rest of his profile has already proven he sorely lacks. He thinks that his dehumanizing of women, his dismissal of their identity and sexuality, his positioning women to have to be the ones doing all the work to be deemed worthy of his attention, is all just part of his charm and sex appeal. In his mind, none of his bad behavior is wrong, women deserve to be treated as he treats them, and dammit, they should be attracted to and aroused by his misogyny. He also thinks his sexist rhetoric is funny, which exemplifies the male tendency to find amusement in the demeaning of women.
I wish I fully understood what keeps men believing this crap is okay, why they think there's nothing wrong with it, why they think it's their god-given right to do so. I KNOW it's possible for men to be better than that. The (very) small circle of men I fuck are enlightened, intelligent, and respectful, and have never presumed anything with me. That's why I'm so goddamn picky about men. There are so few good ones. But there ARE good ones.
Of course the good ones will often be chastised by all the assholes as not being real men, or not manly enough, etc etc. Apparently all the things about men we despise as women are what men generally believe makes them "real" men.
Pity they're all so wrong. The world's male population is 1% real men, and 99% obnoxious little boys in mens bodies.
They believe that our bodies are theirs.
ReplyDeleteThis attitude is largely the source of most of it. Just like how a lot of cis women believe that trans women's bodies are theirs. They often end up acting very similarly in how they treat us and disrespect us.
Sweetheart, you know I love you to bits, but this post is so far out there that it makes me wonder where your head is. I'm thoroughly insulted by the horrendously sexist assumptions you're making. I love you, but I want an apology and I want you to retract this hate-filled garbage post haste so you can at least belatedly reclaim some dignity.
ReplyDeleteThey're not assumptions, nor sexist. They are OBSERVATIONS OF MALE BEHAVIOR I WITNESS IN MY FUCKING INBOX MORE THAN 50 TIMES A GODDAMN DAY.
ReplyDeleteBreathe, my love. I know that you're entitled to your rage, every single bit of it. But as justified as your anger is, there are LEGIONS of humans that were born exclusively male that don't deserve to be tarnished with your words. You've allowed your justified anger to become unjustifiable hatred. I know you and I know your heart - you're better than this.
ReplyDeleteAnd I fucking pointed that out. I MADE it a point to say yes not all men are assholes. BUT MOST ARE. I get evidence of that EVERY DAY. It isn't "Unjustifiable hatred". It's not hatred at all, it's frustration that nothing EVER FUCKING CHANGES. And YOU, "my love", were HORRIFICALLY out of line saying my deserved and justified opinion based on the SHITLOADS of evidence men happily hand me every day meant I'd thrown away my dignity, just because YOU disagree.
ReplyDeleteGood Dasy Jez. Don't talk to me for awhile.
Even though 5 blokes a day send you that message, 3 and a half billion don't. I have never spoken to a woman with anything other than respect - I've never spoken to anybody (except telemarketers, LOL) with anything but respect. Chin up.
ReplyDelete