What am I talking about that is so pervasive that we are literally swimming in it day to day?
Attitude Towards Women
The attitude and position of not just men, but also some women that enable this attitude being that it is A OK to look down at women. That women are nothing more than sweet little things, who really should just pipe down and let the big boys talk.
And to be fair, enough though I recognize that there is a War on Women in this nation, I honestly had no idea how pervasive it was until today. Join me after for a brief description of my epiphany.
So I went to lunch at Ruth Chris today. For those that are not familiar with the chain, Ruth Chris is an upscale Steak House. I mean it's upscale in the sense that they dress the place all fancy, give you only the finest plates and platters, decorate the place upscale with aquariums and nickel plated this and that. Essentially they dress up the event, serve you meh food, and then charge you an exorbitant amount for the meal. I mean if you want to pay for an overpriced salt block on a plate be my guest, apparently there is a market for that.
Anyway I digress.
I of course didn't pay for the meal. There is no way I could afford a 80 dollar plate of food. I think my grand father would rise from the grave just to smack me in the face for doing such a silly thing. Again I'm digressing, I was there for a luncheon with a company presenting tech products, and really that's about all that matters for this discussion.
I was outside taking a break just sorta looking over the shopping area we were at and it just sorta struck me, and I started adding up just all the little things I had just seen in the last two hours.
The provocative Marylin Monroe pictures in the mens bathroom.
That the crowd was all men, I mean really were there no tech people in Northern Indiana to invite that happen to have a vagina?
When one of the servers, all women no shocker there, served a guest he replied with "thanks sweetie"
And while standing outside on break, across on the other corner was another restaurant "The Tilted Kilt"....think Hooters just dressed differently.
I couldn't really deny what I was thinking, that there really is just a pervasive attitude that lends itself towards demeaning women. A slightly there but still felt environment that a lot of people participate in it, very often without even realizing it. Cultural things here, small things there, but honestly it really does just add up to a level that breeds a specific behavior.
I think too, that this environment we have isn't even the problem though. That it is not what some would call the culprit in creating peoples behaviors and nature. No I think it is the residual slime left by the touch of people, including people in power and authority, that would sooner relegate women to the back of the bus than see them on equal ground.
I say this because in the previously mentioned Tilted Kilt, I honestly do not think a good portion of the people who go there are demeaning to women. I do not think a server who serves there is demeaning to herself or other women.....but I think one should step back and ask why does something like this exists at all. Essentially a restaurant whose gimmick to serve you bar food with scantily clad girls? Something tells me that creator Mark DiMartino perhaps may not have women, in his mind, on equal footing.
So I am sorry women, I am sorry feminists. I honestly thought that when you were screaming on high about something that maybe it was just a little overblown. Rush and his slut shaming was the thing that really work me from the slumber. The GOP and their attack on birth control got me out of bed.
But it was our general culture that has really just now opened my eyes.
Wed May 02, 2012 at 5:46 AM PT: Thank you for the spotlight community. I think the fish in water comment held below is a great metaphor for what we often find. That we are swimming in it constantly and yet always think ourselves as dry.