Not tryna be political over here, but...
Sep. 25th, 2024 08:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickI was reading a clickbait Salon.com article (this one) and I literally could not get past the first, I guess, line of the article. Like, the sub-headline thing.
Here it is: MAGA candidates can't hide their irritation that women are allowed to think for themselves
Let me zoom in on the problematic part for you. (It's not MAGA, we're not talking about that here.)
women are allowed to think for themselves.
Still can't see it? Let's zoom some more.
allowed
By whom? BY WHOM? ALLOWED BY WHOM?
It's men. It's always men.
Look, idiot author Amanda Marcotte, ain't nobody ALLOW me to think for myself. I just do it, will they, nil they. Been doing it this whole damn time. Hit the ground running and been running ever since. I think for myself and it doesn't MATTER what anyone else "allows" or doesn't allow. I'll steamroll right overtop of them fuckers.
Freedom of thought, freedom to make one's own decisions, freedom to be an independent thinking being is not something that is "allowed", it is inherent in the very cells of your body. It isn't something "allowed" at all. It's one of them thar certain unalienable rights that war not enumerated in the Declaration of Independence but yet still exists.
Note that the DoI says "they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" -- that is pretty clearly a non-inclusive list.
It says "among these"... and so not a huge leap there to expect that there are other "certain unalienable rights", yeah? Yeah. And I feel pretty strongly that one of them not-explicitly-listed unalienable rights is that all ya'll all have yer own thoughts and nobody can ever take the having of yer own thoughts away from ya, thoughtcrimes in the novel 1984 notwithstanding.
Further, reading along in the same document, we can see "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government." Basically in non-politician/lawyer speech, "Iffn the ruling class been tryna take away yer unalienable rights over and over and over, to where it's getting very fucking annoying, you have a right and a duty to throw 'em out and start fresh."
Hunh. How 'bout that. "Don't put up with that shit, you're worth more than that, you deserve happiness." Thanks, Declaration of Independence. I appreciate the endorsement of what I was fixin' to do anyways.
And, slowly, slowly, to the impotent (lol) rage of the Christian Right Wing Men, women are... Y'know, I don't think I need to put up with your shit. and also Damn. Keeping a house and raising kids would be easier if I didn't have to deal with your whiny, needy, controlling bullshit on top of it all. If it is easier, more peaceful, and more efficient for a woman to run her life WITHOUT YOU, she can now do it. And she is. She doesn't NEED you. You, in point of fact, need her more than she needs you. (Married men are way happier than single men: A major survey of 127,545 American adults found that married men are healthier than men who were never married or whose marriages ended in divorce or widowhood. Men who have marital partners also live longer than men without spouses; men who marry after age 25 get more protection than those who tie the knot at a younger age, and the longer a man stays married, the greater his survival advantage over his unmarried peers. Source )And don't that throw sand in your gears.
You know who don't need to be married to be happy? Women. You know whose life outcomes are worse if they're married? women. Do you know who is fucking happiest of all? Childless cat ladies. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, JD.
Once she's got a choice, a legit choice that doesn't also include instant poverty, once she can still take care of the kids and provide for them without you in the picture... you have to bring something to the table besides a paycheck. She can earn a paycheck of her own. She can get court-ordered child support from you. So... what else ya got?
Can you be a real partner, actually helping to share the load of parenting and keeping a household? Can you? It's a lot of drudgery. I mean, yeah, rewarding and fulfilling to care for your loved ones, but also it's a lot of repetitive and boring work. Bathroom needs cleaned weekly. Laundry keeps needing to be done. (I just did the laundry last week and now I have to do it again. What bullshit is this?) Meals need to be shopped for and cooked and served and cleaned up after, multiple times a day, every single day. None of this stuff is hard. None of it requires a vagina or ovaries or tits or a feminine gender identity. A pair of hands, a working brain, and a certain amount of tolerance for drudgery is all you really need to get on with it.
Is it boring? Fuck yeah. You are a grown-ass adult and you know damn well that some adult tasks are boring AF. Step to the plate and do what needs done, perhaps with a podcast or some tunes to help you get through it. #adulting. And also you should model this out loud for the benefit of any kiddos nearby... "Wow, laundry day again. I don't love the folding, so I've saved my geology podcast to listen to while I do it, as a little reward to help me get through it. Oooh, it's about lava flows of the pacific northwest this week, that sounds really interesting. All set. Let's fold!" This way, you will be arming the next generation to handle the boring drudgery parts of adulting. Look at you multitasking n shit. :)
Men can do this stuff, if they choose to do it, and they can do it well. Or they can choose to do it poorly. Fun fact: women see when men choose weaponized incompetence--basically, doin' it wrong, so she won't ask again. We see them when they do that. And we know what they're doing and sometimes we let it work because teaching them to do it right and then checking that they did it right is more fucking work than just doing it ourselves. It's a short term "win" for the man, but a long term black spot on the "Do I really need this man in my life?" report card.
So. Men. Can you step to the plate and do what needs done, competently? Or would you prefer to scream in your impotent rage and fling shit at the walls like a frustrated chimpanzee?
Impotent rage and shit-flinging.
I see. Is that your final answer?
(dodges shit)
Right.
Okay, then, you do you. Have fun with that.
I'll be over here by myself, in my house, with my cats and my thoughts that nobody "allowed" me to have and that nobody can take away from me, living my (literally) best life. (sips tea like a Kermit the frog meme)
Here it is: MAGA candidates can't hide their irritation that women are allowed to think for themselves
Let me zoom in on the problematic part for you. (It's not MAGA, we're not talking about that here.)
women are allowed to think for themselves.
Still can't see it? Let's zoom some more.
allowed
By whom? BY WHOM? ALLOWED BY WHOM?
It's men. It's always men.
Look, idiot author Amanda Marcotte, ain't nobody ALLOW me to think for myself. I just do it, will they, nil they. Been doing it this whole damn time. Hit the ground running and been running ever since. I think for myself and it doesn't MATTER what anyone else "allows" or doesn't allow. I'll steamroll right overtop of them fuckers.
Freedom of thought, freedom to make one's own decisions, freedom to be an independent thinking being is not something that is "allowed", it is inherent in the very cells of your body. It isn't something "allowed" at all. It's one of them thar certain unalienable rights that war not enumerated in the Declaration of Independence but yet still exists.
Note that the DoI says "they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" -- that is pretty clearly a non-inclusive list.
It says "among these"... and so not a huge leap there to expect that there are other "certain unalienable rights", yeah? Yeah. And I feel pretty strongly that one of them not-explicitly-listed unalienable rights is that all ya'll all have yer own thoughts and nobody can ever take the having of yer own thoughts away from ya, thoughtcrimes in the novel 1984 notwithstanding.
Further, reading along in the same document, we can see "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government." Basically in non-politician/lawyer speech, "Iffn the ruling class been tryna take away yer unalienable rights over and over and over, to where it's getting very fucking annoying, you have a right and a duty to throw 'em out and start fresh."
Hunh. How 'bout that. "Don't put up with that shit, you're worth more than that, you deserve happiness." Thanks, Declaration of Independence. I appreciate the endorsement of what I was fixin' to do anyways.
And, slowly, slowly, to the impotent (lol) rage of the Christian Right Wing Men, women are... Y'know, I don't think I need to put up with your shit. and also Damn. Keeping a house and raising kids would be easier if I didn't have to deal with your whiny, needy, controlling bullshit on top of it all. If it is easier, more peaceful, and more efficient for a woman to run her life WITHOUT YOU, she can now do it. And she is. She doesn't NEED you. You, in point of fact, need her more than she needs you. (Married men are way happier than single men: A major survey of 127,545 American adults found that married men are healthier than men who were never married or whose marriages ended in divorce or widowhood. Men who have marital partners also live longer than men without spouses; men who marry after age 25 get more protection than those who tie the knot at a younger age, and the longer a man stays married, the greater his survival advantage over his unmarried peers. Source )And don't that throw sand in your gears.
You know who don't need to be married to be happy? Women. You know whose life outcomes are worse if they're married? women. Do you know who is fucking happiest of all? Childless cat ladies. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, JD.
Once she's got a choice, a legit choice that doesn't also include instant poverty, once she can still take care of the kids and provide for them without you in the picture... you have to bring something to the table besides a paycheck. She can earn a paycheck of her own. She can get court-ordered child support from you. So... what else ya got?
Can you be a real partner, actually helping to share the load of parenting and keeping a household? Can you? It's a lot of drudgery. I mean, yeah, rewarding and fulfilling to care for your loved ones, but also it's a lot of repetitive and boring work. Bathroom needs cleaned weekly. Laundry keeps needing to be done. (I just did the laundry last week and now I have to do it again. What bullshit is this?) Meals need to be shopped for and cooked and served and cleaned up after, multiple times a day, every single day. None of this stuff is hard. None of it requires a vagina or ovaries or tits or a feminine gender identity. A pair of hands, a working brain, and a certain amount of tolerance for drudgery is all you really need to get on with it.
Is it boring? Fuck yeah. You are a grown-ass adult and you know damn well that some adult tasks are boring AF. Step to the plate and do what needs done, perhaps with a podcast or some tunes to help you get through it. #adulting. And also you should model this out loud for the benefit of any kiddos nearby... "Wow, laundry day again. I don't love the folding, so I've saved my geology podcast to listen to while I do it, as a little reward to help me get through it. Oooh, it's about lava flows of the pacific northwest this week, that sounds really interesting. All set. Let's fold!" This way, you will be arming the next generation to handle the boring drudgery parts of adulting. Look at you multitasking n shit. :)
Men can do this stuff, if they choose to do it, and they can do it well. Or they can choose to do it poorly. Fun fact: women see when men choose weaponized incompetence--basically, doin' it wrong, so she won't ask again. We see them when they do that. And we know what they're doing and sometimes we let it work because teaching them to do it right and then checking that they did it right is more fucking work than just doing it ourselves. It's a short term "win" for the man, but a long term black spot on the "Do I really need this man in my life?" report card.
So. Men. Can you step to the plate and do what needs done, competently? Or would you prefer to scream in your impotent rage and fling shit at the walls like a frustrated chimpanzee?
Impotent rage and shit-flinging.
I see. Is that your final answer?
(dodges shit)
Right.
Okay, then, you do you. Have fun with that.
I'll be over here by myself, in my house, with my cats and my thoughts that nobody "allowed" me to have and that nobody can take away from me, living my (literally) best life. (sips tea like a Kermit the frog meme)
no subject
Date: 2024-09-27 03:18 am (UTC)(And oh, weaponized incompetence. I had a roommate in college who filled the dishwasher with liquid dish soap, so the entire kitchen flooded with suds, and then did the fake apology of "oops, I was just trying to help... I guess I better leave that one to you girls...")