And The Award For Most Ridiculous Article Written In Response To Recent Shootings Goes To...
I’m sticking this under the cut because it’s full of trigger warnings. Certainly triggers relating to gun violence, as well as misogyny and racism.
This is officially called “The Decline of the Young Man”, but really should be titled “White Men: A Tale of Tragic Agony, and Survival Under Extreme Duress”.
Basically, the thesis of the article is that the women’s rights and the civil rights movements are to blame for the recent shooting sprees in America.
Why, you might reasonably ask? Because they have taken power away from white men, who are now left feeling displaced and useless in society.
Now, call me radical, but I know a lot of white men and I like them. I think they’re great guys. Yes, they don’t have the power to own slaves, didn’t have the privilege of attending segregated schools, can’t buy me from my father if they should take a fancy to me, and I have no doubt their lives are different for it. But they, heroically, manage to soldier on without picking up an assault rifle and killing anyone.
The article insists we must all band together and reach out with empathy to the displaced, armed and violent young men of America. I don’t disagree, but I think it should be for entirely different reasons.
White men are still the most privileged groups in society. (Privilege is, in itself, not a dirty word, despite the numerous reports you’ve no doubt heard to the contrary. It’s the unwillingness to recognize the existence of and the abuse of privilege that puts a bad taste in my mouth). But if attempting to live on comparatively equal terms with women and PoC is so difficult for an individual that he feels the need to commit mass murder, I would argue strongly that the problems run deeper than the fact that women and PoCs can now hold down jobs and demand respect.
Gun violence in America is an extremely complex issue - however, it is not a women’s rights or a civil rights issue. And it definitely not a ‘men’s rights’ issue.
If I were a man, I’d be absolutely offended by the implications of this article, frankly.
... I feel like my 'misogyny' tag gets way too much use.
This is officially called “The Decline of the Young Man”, but really should be titled “White Men: A Tale of Tragic Agony, and Survival Under Extreme Duress”.
Basically, the thesis of the article is that the women’s rights and the civil rights movements are to blame for the recent shooting sprees in America.
Why, you might reasonably ask? Because they have taken power away from white men, who are now left feeling displaced and useless in society.
Now, call me radical, but I know a lot of white men and I like them. I think they’re great guys. Yes, they don’t have the power to own slaves, didn’t have the privilege of attending segregated schools, can’t buy me from my father if they should take a fancy to me, and I have no doubt their lives are different for it. But they, heroically, manage to soldier on without picking up an assault rifle and killing anyone.
The article insists we must all band together and reach out with empathy to the displaced, armed and violent young men of America. I don’t disagree, but I think it should be for entirely different reasons.
White men are still the most privileged groups in society. (Privilege is, in itself, not a dirty word, despite the numerous reports you’ve no doubt heard to the contrary. It’s the unwillingness to recognize the existence of and the abuse of privilege that puts a bad taste in my mouth). But if attempting to live on comparatively equal terms with women and PoC is so difficult for an individual that he feels the need to commit mass murder, I would argue strongly that the problems run deeper than the fact that women and PoCs can now hold down jobs and demand respect.
Gun violence in America is an extremely complex issue - however, it is not a women’s rights or a civil rights issue. And it definitely not a ‘men’s rights’ issue.
If I were a man, I’d be absolutely offended by the implications of this article, frankly.
... I feel like my 'misogyny' tag gets way too much use.