There's weird and there's weird. Ms. Lauren at Feministe turned me on to this bit of weirdness, courtesy of weirdo Kim du Toit.
The Pussification of the Western MaleNow, little boys in grade school are suspended for playing cowboys and Indians, cops and crooks, and all the other familiar variations of "good guy vs. bad guy" that helped them learn, at an early age, what it was like to have decent men hunt you down, because you were a lawbreaker.
Now, men are taught that violence is bad — that when a thief breaks into your house, or threatens you in the street, that the proper way to deal with this is to "give him what he wants", instead of taking a horsewhip to the rascal or shooting him dead where he stands.
Now, men's fashion includes not a man dressed in a three-piece suit, but a tight sweater worn by a man with breasts.
Now, warning labels are indelibly etched into gun barrels, as though men have somehow forgotten that guns are dangerous things.
Now, men are given Ritalin as little boys, so that their natural aggressiveness, curiosity and restlessness can be controlled, instead of nurtured and directed.
And finally, our President, who happens to have been a qualified fighter pilot, lands on an aircraft carrier wearing a flight suit, and is immediately dismissed with words like "swaggering", "macho" and the favorite epithet of Euro girly-men, "cowboy". Of course he was bound to get that reaction — and most especially from the press in Europe, because the process of male pussification over there is almost complete.
How did we get to this?
The idea is not as new as he likely thinks it is. Far Right pundits, including gun research fraud John Lott, have been making the argument that troublesome women (along with uppity Negroes, of course) have been the ruination of America for quite a while.
You can read the rest of du Toit's Ode to Retrograde Masculinity here.
Note: This entry is an excerpt from Silver Rights.
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Article comments
1 - Alex
du Toit has been taking a lot of heat for this - mainly for the insinuation that "macho" is the only true path to being a man. Reading the piece, it's not exactly an unfair criticism. However, the main point of it seems to be that society has, for a long time now, been telling men (and especially boys) that they are bad for liking what they naturally like. To me, this seems hard to argue with.
The excerpt you chose to illustrate du Toit as a "weirdo" is confusing to me. I think what you chose is the strongest part of the piece. Do you think the eradication of "Good Guy vs. Bad Guy" games and the proliferation of Ritalin is a great thing for children? Noting that warning labels on everything is silly and wanting to defend yourself against a home intruder makes you a "weirdo"? There seemed to be a lot more fertile pull quotes for that (musing as to what percentage of women would sleep with macho Donald Rumsfeld, calling all of the non Vijay PGA "girls" for not refusing to play with Anna).
2 - Rodney Welch
George W. Bush is a fake, and he's du Toit's type of fake. Is there a better word than "swagger" to describe the communication skills of the Pussy-in-Chief, whose idea of integrity is so superficial, so shallow, so hot-headed?
3 - Mac Diva
Alex, I agree with you that there are more annoying passages in du Toit's very long piece. I urge people to read the whole thing, if they can bear it. My entry is a short excerpt because it is part of a multi-part column.
What du Toit thinks is natural to little boys has more to do with stereotype than biology. For example, considering that most little boys in most of the world for most of history never even saw a gun (or grew up to invent one) their supposed natural attraction to them is ludicrous. No, I am not in favor of medicating children unless absolutely necessary, but that claim is exaggerated. One must also consider that boys have a higher rate of attention deficit and autism syndrome disorders. I believe 'good guy vs. bad guy' reasoning is usually simplistic and self-serving. Teaching people to think like that can result in poor reasoning. Consider the invasion of Iraq, for example. Saddam has been appointed Arch Bad Guy, but had nothing to do with Sept. 11. The U.S. has a pattern of doing that. There is always an official external enemy, whether it makes sense or not.
Agreed, Rodney. I sometimes wonder if they have Shrub watch John Wayne movies to perfect his silly macho image.
4 - Natalie Davis
If I'm going to have a man, only pacifists need apply. Macho is for the birds.
The mass use of Ritalin, however, is a sin being committed unto boys.
DuToit makes me puke.
5 - Alex
Guns may be a modern western invention, but agressive play for boys is not. I've heard of some places outlawing "tag" as an overly aggressive game. I also think linking "Cops vs. Robbers" to Saddam Hussein is quite a stretch. Sure the over simplification of complex issues is a danger, but so is torturing every issue to make sure you sure you account for every shade of gray. You risk ending up analyzing the wounded national pride of the Germans while Hitler is rolling into Poland & Czechoslovakia (I know, I know - I've broken Whotsis Usenet Law of Whatever).
I still think there is a valid point, which has been obscured by du Toit's profanity and posturing. At an early age, boys are being taught that they are bad, simply because they like things boys generally like. I think one of the biggest weaknesses of modern feminism is that they seem unwilling to admit boys and girls are simply different. You can't scold and medicate the aggressivness out of boys. Have you seen the symptom list of ADD? It's suspiciously close to symptom list of being a 8 year old boy.
6 - Dan
I loved it when Bush landed on that carrier. I also loved the crew members reaction to it. But the thing I love the most is liberals obsession and hatred of this triumphant moment.
My favorite Reagan moment was just after he took a bullet. The camera panned unevenly on him as he briskly but calmly climbed the stairs, unassisted, and with one hand over the wound, to check himself into the hospital. A real John Waynish moment.
7 - Natalie Davis
The Duke makes me puke too.
8 - Mac Diva
Natalie said it for me.
9 - Mac Diva
Let me expand a little. There's imagery and there's reality. The reality of Shrub's military experience is he went AWOL from his cushy spot in the National Guard. But for family clout and connections he would never have been in the NG. Then, to top it off, he behaved liked the spoiled brat he is. Meanwhile, poor and working class kids were dying in Vietnam while his precious tush was safe. What the imagery adds up to is manipulation of the truth, if not outright lying.
10 - Bigbenr
Buddy Hinton I love YOU
11 - Bigbenr
Adding to the pile of idiots, Newt Gingrich has blamed the VT killings on "liberalism," giving the NRA branch of the Reich Wing a brand new bumper sticker: "Guns don't kill people. Liberalism kills people." And before 24 hours had elapsed, Rush Limbaugh, expert on everthing from painkillers to Parkinson's Disease, implied that fewer kids would have been killed if they just weren't so slow getting out of the way.
As for those NRA types and National Review "chickenhawks" who were so quick to criticize the men(and women presumably) students at VT who didn't rush the attacker or who criticize the gun ban on campuses across the Commonwealth, it is worth remembering former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark in his magisterial "Crime In America" (Simon and Schuster, 1970)-" a society where each person carries a weapon to defend himself is one bordering on anarchy-not democracy. The fastest gun survives- not necessarily the law abiding person but the psychotic or the criminal" Thi is the same sort of nonsensical argument that said if the passengers on the 9/11 flights had guns to confront their hijackers, they might have saved the day( that's all we need- shootouts at 30,000 feet!)
When will common sense prevail and America join the ranks of democracies(Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and France) that tightly limit gun ownership???
Yes, folks, this is why it's called "compassionate conservatism."
12 - Clavos
When will common sense prevail and America join the ranks of democracies(Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and France) that tightly limit gun ownership???
Probably not in your lifetime.
13 - gunkid fans
John Melvin Davis, 53, will remain in Federal custody while he awaits trial; Oklahoma Nov 27, 2006 (AP)â€" A man charged with mailing more than a dozen threatening letters containing a white powder to celebrities, politicians and other high-profile figures has been arrested while in federal custody on unrelated charges. John Melvin Davis, 53, will remain in Federal custody while he awaits trial on charges of sending threats and hoaxes by mail.
He is accused of sending the letters to comedians Jon Stewart and David Letterman; Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California; Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York; MSNBC host Keith Olbermann; and Viacom Inc. chairman Sumner Redstone.
Some letters included phrases like "Death to Demagogues" and pictures of victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami, authorities said.
The powder in the letters turned out to be harmless but it raised fears of another anthrax attack similar to the anthrax-laced letters that killed five people just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The count of sending threats by mail is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Sending false information or hoaxes by mail carries up to five years in prison.
14 - Bigbenr
We need diversity, for the public good, it takes a village,a global village if america is teh survive for the greater good and feminize our society.When did genocide become acceptable to you gun nuts?Can we all steer toward the human dignity that is Socialism ? Today’s Conservatives â€" especially today’s Republican Party are very good at talking the talk but they are incredibly bad at walking the walk. While they extol the greatness of Ronald Reagan they repeatedly violate Reagan’s Rule not to air party problems in public so that the opposition can benefit from that knowledge.
So too are they delinquent in actually practicing what they preach.
How many of you have taken pen to paper and written a soldier serving in Iraq?
How many have sent a care package to afford one of them a little piece of home?
How many of you have actually written to your elected officials expressing your dismay or congratulating them on a job well done?
How many of you have advanced financial support â€" be it $1 or $1,000 â€" to the new media outlets that you patronize and who have without fail carried the water to the elephant while the mainstream media has served its big money special interest donors in the defeat of America?
How many of you have given of yourselves to promote the fact-based education of those around you so that our country would be a more educated and thus a better place to live?
What have you done to make sure there is an American Heritage to pass on to your children and your children’s children?
SOCIALISM IS NOW! AND FOR ALL! We Democrats should chalk up victory after victory, inching further and further toward controlling not only the House and Senate but the White House and Supreme Court as well.Socialism brothers is within our grasp!
15 - Bigbenr
So, in summise, for those who have been wondering (you know who you are), I spent the weekends in glorious San Francisco! I’ve stayed in Anaheim for the Gay Days another weekend.And the whole chorus spent the weekend terrifying the Bible study groups.A handful of our group mired in Big Gay Dramas, rehearse some more ... and before the weekend is over, there will no doubt be a Scandalous Sexual Encounter that will keep the chorus gossip circles abuzz for months.
After a mighty struggle to extract myself from the almost unearthly comforts of my glorious hotel bed Sunday morning, I donned my gay apparel running gear, chugged a ton of prev julian gallo and headed out the door for a fabulous run through the Park. No wonder the Republicans are in officeâ€"us gays are too busy emulating alienating outsnobbing each other. (I must say we look good doing it, though.)
16 - STM
Clav wrote: "Probably not in your lifetime."
Lol. How'd we get from the "pussification of the western male" to gun ownership here?
Not owning guns doesn't mean we've all turned into a pack of sheilas ... as long as there is beer, the V8, and the barbecue, men will remain unreconstructed, pig shootin' or no pig shootin' - Down Under, at least.
Can't speak for the French, though. They went by the board about 200 years ago, didn't they - or was it around the time they invented quiche?
As for the socialist pep talk Ben, my tip is: go to the pub, get on the piss and talk about the footy. And if it's Friday night, try not to get into a punch-up with more than three other blokes at the same time. That's the best way to discover your inner male.
17 - Bigbenr
I just want to say having gone to a gun show in Texas a few years ago, I found myself in a room full of the most disgusting people in my experience. It was the closest I had come face to face with the Klan, the Aryan Nations, and most ubiquitous of all, unreconstructed Neo-Confederates. There were so many nitwits in their camo outfits, bandoleers, shaved heads, creepy tattoos and lack of front teeth that it was obvious to me they should have gun shows with dental conventions in the same building at the same time.
The friend who dragged me there was after a Streetsweeper. So off we went through the crowd, many of whom carried assault weapons over their shoulders and handguns in hand with price tags dangling from them, selling to anyone with cash no questions asked. The crowd at the Streetsweeper booth was large, after all, what could be more gunfun than a semi automatic shotgun that fires a dozen 12 gauge shells through a big rolling drum as fast as you can pull the trigger? Big-Big-gun-gun fun-fun!
My pal, a wannabe bounty hunter who looked the part, had no trouble finding full automatic switch kits, and even someone selling silencers. There was also more hate Clinton, Schumer, Brady and Liberals bumper stickers than at a GOP convention. More than anything, these shows are meeting places for the most violent contingent of the extreme Right-wing and gang culture in this country.
To be fair, I must say that most of the big busy booths were run by sporting goods manufacturers and their local distributors. They make enough money day to day selling their guns and ammo that they could easily stop pandering to these Right-wing extremists and pull out of gun shows all together.
18 - GunKid
If you saw full auto or silencers being sold, you are guilty of a felony, called Misprison of a felony, if you didn't report such crimes to the Feds.