Why, oh why, do I ever venture over to the wingnut side of the blogosphere? I do it and then deeply regret it.
I did it today in order to find out what they were saying about health care, but got distracted by an antifeminist commentary over at Red State - a recommended diary. Jump over the flip to find out what these wackos are thinking on feminism and the family in August, 2009.
From the diary:
I like being different from men and don’t envy man-bits. I enjoy being able to cry and win an argument by default. I like being able to use my hormones as an excuse for acting like a shrew and a mad harpie a few days a month.
I don’t like math. Icky. Oh, so icky.
I like not having to mow the lawn. Ever. I like pretending to be so mechanically impaired that I can’t even figure out how to put gas in it, never mind pull that string thing to start it.
I like not knowing what the string thing is called.
I like not having to take out the garbage (my nails! Its dirty! Ewww!). I like being able to run screeching from the room at the first glimpse of a spider and have a man come running to save the day.
The straw-woman "feminist" looms large in this commentary. Apparently if you are a feminist, you are required to change the oil in your car by hand, kill all bugs in the house with your bare, unmanicured hands and bring home all the bacon.
Feminists forgot (or chose to ignore; y’all are big on paying lip service to "choosing") the greatest thing that sets us apart. Being a Mommy.
That's going to be news to most mothers I know (including myself). Most of us mothers are feminists who made the choice to have children, and some of us choose to (or have to) work as well.
The wingnuts seem to think if you're a feminist you have to be some caricature of a career-obsessed, childless man-hater. Where do they get these ideas? Possibly from Jerry Falwell and that crowd, who think feminists want to "leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians." Gosh, how did he ever find out our secret agenda?
From the comments:
Who might be a real, true feminist? Well, George W. Bush comes to mind. He liberated 25 million oppressed women and girls, roughly half of the 50 million Muslims he liberated by waging the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This would be about 24,999,992 more than ANY effort by "Feminists" in Western countries.
Astounding. George W. Bush? Are you serious?
I like being taken care of and I like being treated like a lady. In my home, we live as the Lord intended. My husband is the head of the household and I am his helper. I respectfully give my opinion on certain issues, but the final decision is made by my husband. Most feminists find this view of marriage warped and degrading. Well, truthfully, if your husband is a liberal pansy I can see why you would think this. Most of them either act like jerks or couldn’t make a decision if their lives depended on it. Liberal men are usually not very manly. They’re weaselly and pathetic.
What can be said about this one? This comment is verging on the edge of Stockholm Syndrome victims who have begun to identify with their captors.
Men understand intuitively that it is cosmically stupid to compete for resources with the females of our own species. If forced to do so, our hearts are not in it and we resent having to do it. This makes such competition highly unfair, which then makes things worse.
In other words, get out of the workplace, ladies; it's just not fair to the men. Back in the kitchen where you belong!
It's appalling that people still believe the way these writers do, but maybe it's not such a bad thing to be reminded of them every now and then.
(Crossposted with a few edits at MotherTalkers)