We had it coming, apparently...
This comment, from new visitor Linda, exemplifies the kind of thinking that too many Americans believe pass for “ethics.” In response to my post about a Christiane Amanpour-led panel on her Sunday morning public issues show that celebrated male-bashing and gender bias, Linda’s response is essentially…
1. You “men” have done worse to us.
2. We have the right to get even.
3. You can dish it out but you can’t take it.
4. We have the right to be bigots too.
Indeed women do have the right to be bigots, but journalists like Amanpour abuse their own First Amendment rights when they use the freedom of the press to advance naked bigotry, and women like her panelists disgrace their own principles when they move from seeking fair and equal treatment for themselves to asserting superiority and advocating gender bias.
This is the epitome of another popular Golden Rule distortion: “Do Unto Others As They Have Done Unto You.” People like Linda…and apparently Christiane Amanpour…think that’s “ethics.” They also think that it is fair and appropriate to insult and denigrate all men because some men have denigrated them. That’s not ethical either. Vengeful, hypocritical, acceptable to political correctness bullies, perhaps, but not ethical. Someone else’s bad conduct doesn’t confer license to behave wrongly, and it won’t magically make unethical conduct right. But this principle doesn’t register with the Lindas of the world, many of whom are our elected leaders, whose favored rationalizations are “it’s our turn, ” and “you had it coming.”
Her kind of thinking, and acting, makes our communities, our nation and our lives infinitely less productive and pleasant. And that’s why this is a very instructive Comment of the Day.
“Thanks for sharing. Gosh, we apologize if you felt offended. The centuries of anti-male bigotry you’ve had to live with have done so much harm to your gender’s self esteem. I guess that’s men somehow are lured into inappropriate sexual behavior….outrage at your lack of power in our world?
“For decades I’ve watched all white male panels pontificate fatuously on all manner of topics. I’ve long said that we’ll never know we are equal until we elect and hire as many incompetent women as we do men. Until then, get over it and deal with the question of why your gender seems to be on the commission end of so much noxious sexual behavior.”
Ethics Alarms 
While Linda is off feeling proud of her female superiority, here are some links for her perusal.
http://www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm
http://www.newuniversity.org/2007/10/news/women_more_abusive_than45/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotionally_abusive
I might also suggest a reading of the roles of Empress Theodora, Queen Boudica of the Iceni, Valeria Messalina, Agrippina the Younger, Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth I, and Queen Victoria, Hillary Clinton during the White Water scandal, followed by an analysis of how much ‘better’ and how ‘different’ their leadership and actions were than those of contemporary men.
Naked bigotry rarely holds up to close scrutiny. Also, in real life, things are rarely as clear cut as extremists would have us believe.
Thanks, Michael—saved me the effort of writing the same comment. Long time no see!
I was born in 1983. I didn’t get to enjoy any of that time where I got to dominate and belittle women for my own amusement and entitlement. It’s a real shame, growing up feeling I had to respect women, and knowing that they could be smarter or stronger or faster than me. I guess I still drink mightily from the horn of avarice established by my forebears, no matter how little I seem to have in my life.
So, if I’m on the hook for this shit, I’m gonna get something out of it. I’m gonna have a clean kitchen, finally. A properly prepared roast. Someone to rub my bunions without having to convince someone it’ll squeak when they squeeze it. Kisses from January Jones (I’ve seen Mad Men!). Something!
(Unrelated: I just say X-Men: First Class. January Jones is exquisitely beautiful, but I hope there will soon be a director who can get a better performance out of her. I almost want to omit the second half of that second just to infuriate Linda, but I actually want to see if Jones is better than she seems.)
I can relate. I grew up with a sister who could always do anything I could, at least as well, and often better, and it puzzled me no end that she always had it twice as hard as I did. It never occurred to me to treat girls and then women like they were less than equals, since I knew so many who were smart, bold and tough. Yes, I think it cost me some dates, since the jerks seemed to the ones who appealed to even the smartest women—but that wasn’t my fault. Now that the rest of the world has mostly caught up with the values I was raised with, I’m supposed to put up with some kind of retribution for the bad behavior of the guys who got all the dates. Well, I won’t.
Aw, I went away for a few days and missed all the fun.
I don’t get women who think like this; my mom’s the type of feminist that taught me that one of the worst ways to fight against inequality was to make these types of meaningless stands. She always says that instead of hiring X number of women or making X number of women highly visible, just give the frickin job to the person who performs the best and have the brightest ideas and things will even out on their own.
Forgive me, but this Amanpour roundtable, and your commentator of the day, just strike me as extremely bitchy. Not to mention counterproductive.
Especially counter-productive.
Please give my regards to your mother.
And you don’t get to go away next time.
I go where I want to go Jack. Geez, don’t be such a man. ;-P
“1. You “men” have done worse to us.
2. We have the right to get even.”
These are feminist’s two most brain-dead arguments. ‘Men have oppressed women for thousands of years, so take that!’ Huh? How oppressed have these women been, in America of all places, and have men in living memory oppressed them? Oh, just mythical boogeymen who supposedly kept women chained to the stove? They don’t count.