(Untitled)

[esorlehcar]

Today's moment of feminist rage is courtesy of Cracked: Six Dream Jobs That Actually Suck.

#3 is on the list is "Stay-at-home dad," and the article goes on and on about what difficult, unfulfilling work it is as if these descriptors don't apply when women are doing the work, then links an incredibly sexist Daily Mail article that uses a few

Comments

[lamis_p]

I mean, men never leave their wives after they have been at home with the children for years. That never happens. WHAT.

[esorlehcar]

That whole Daily Mail article was AMAZING like that. All the anecdotes about men who have worked hard taking care of the house all day and then their wives get home from work and just want to watch TV, as if it's brand new problem that women who work at home have never faced (and been accused of being whiny and ungrateful for not realizing how easy they have it).

[troubleinchina]

I love how something never becomes newsworthy until it affects men.

I read an article last year about how difficult it is to be the male partner of a woman who's doing grad studies. REALLY? REALLY? Gosh - and now the G&M decides to cover it, but not when women were supporting their partners who were doing grad studies. *sigh*

[butterfly]

I remember when cracked did a 'feminist movie heroines who aren't' list and I just laughed and laughed because their track record on feminism sucks so hard and I just couldn't take a single word their website had to say on the subject even the slightest bit seriously.

Also, Elizabeth Swann-Turner (Pirate King) kicks ass.

But, yes. Their articles are not only geared toward men, they are often explicitly exclusionary of women. I still read them sometimes because they can be funny on certain mostly unrelated stuff (they are funny in the good way when they talk about science), but they definitely have a massive sexist streak.

[esorlehcar]

I don't read there very often... I forget it exists until I see a specific article linked somewhere and then I poke around, and I'm usually sorry I did. The "all people are men" assumption gets old really quickly.

[butterfly]

That's pretty much how I always end up there, too -- there are a couple people on my flist who link fairly frequently and I always check the link in case it's one of the better ones.

But they definitely have that assumption and it's very annoying (girls? are apparently never geeks. trufax).

[gobsmacked]

Cracked is aimed at those with the same sense of humour as teenage boys. Much of it is written by those with the mentality of bitter 15-year olds who cannot get the time of day from girls.

[vito_excalibur]

Yeah, I think they still believe humor is a "guy thing".

[esorlehcar]

One of the things I've always appreciate about fandom is that the general person is not blindly assumed to be male. There's still plenty of privileging of male thoughts and experiences, and plenty of kneejerk antifeminism, but at least women are assumed to exist.

[marinarusalka]

This is the same sort of mindset that thinks men deserve to be praised to the skies every time they perform the simplest domestic task while women who spend their lives doing housework get taken for granted, isn't it?

[esorlehcar]

Pretty much, yes. Men are "helping," going above and beyond the call of duty, when they do housework or take care of the kids in any way. You get that problem even when the men in the relationship themselves are great -- I know couples where the men do their damnedest to do an equal amount around the house and with a kids, and they still have to deal with family/friends/coworkers/etc. praising the man for being so wonderful and sometimes even castigating the woman for "taking advantage."

[kestrelsan]

LOL. I love the total lack of irony--like, what a sucky job! That millions of women do every day. And the ones who don't get to experience the social guilt of expectation. But phew, glad they're warning all the guys so they don't get caught in that trap.

[esorlehcar]

The lack of irony is pretty special. And any kudos they might get for realizing it's a hard, thankless job that can significantly impact your chances of ever getting back into the workforce get when they bend over backwards to establish that it's totally different for women. Gender roles exist for a reason, you know!