Banal Pet Peeve #1

Few things in life are more annoying to me than women stereotyping men.

I mean, it really, really sets my teeth grinding, and we're talking at least of half-centimeter of lost enamel here.

When I listen to a group of women complaining about men by using blanket stereotypes, I suddenly become very defensive. It seems to smack of hypocrisy to expect the male sex to cater to every feminist notion, but to then turn around and spout the same sort of close-minded bigotry that they extolled against in the first place.

Let me clarify.

I am not saying that I'm against the typical exasperated female rant. Things such as "Gawd, I'll never understand why Scott insists on doing (fill in the blank here)." or "John has this ridiculous habit where he (fill in the blank here as well), and I hate it with a passion akin to having lava poured into my eyesockets."

I mean, let's face it. There are certain tendencies that can be attributed to both the male and female sexes. It is the stuff of endless banter, rants, and one-sided bonding material. This is nothing new. It is, in fact, somewhat banal.

What pisses me off is when the talk starts becoming condescending, judgemental, and downright mean-spirited. You know, the real male-bashing stuff. We're talking dialogue like:

"I don't understand why Mark does this!"

"It's because he's a man, and men are stupid."

Or:"Why are men such babies?"

"Because men are mentally and physically weak, and they all want their mommies."

"Yeah, all men are the same. Bunch of walking fuck-machines."

"And all the good ones are gay."

I can't stand this shit. Now that I think about it, I have actually moved past being pissed off to simply feeling pity. Granted, we all have days when the other sex ticks us off, and we're all prone to making statements like this without thinking it through. Hell, it makes us feel better for awhile, and then we forget about it.

But for those women that really feel this way, that automatically treat a male with certain level of disrespect because of what's hanging between his legs, then hey...

...I feel sorry for you.

The source of all this irrational exuberance stems from my belief that you should treat every person with at least a modicum of respect, regardless of what they look like, etc, etc. I believe you have to give respect before you can get any back. I believe that judgemental thinking is the sign of a lazy mind. And regardless of how naive it may sound, when I meet a person for the first time, they start with a clean slate. They are A-OK in my book until proven otherwise.

Listen, I like making jokes, and girls are a good source of material. You will hear me joke about female tendencies - hell, you'll even hear me join in the male-bashing if it's all in good fun. There's no use in being a tightwad about the eternal differences between men and women.

But you will never hear me spout some backwater, asinine vitriol about the female gender. I have the common decency to treat each women with respect, and my personal opinion of said females has, and always will be, based on their individual character. Not because of their lack of external genitalia. I would just like to be treated with that same level of respect. If you're going to judge me, judge me as Wilson Lin. Not Wilson Lin the Nice Guy, or Wilson Lin the Asian Dude, or any o' that stuff. Please.

So if you really believe in that stuff, girl, get off your soapbox and let the bitterness go. Because we're all hypocritical at some level, but come on, don't make it so damned obvious. Have some diginity, for Christ's sake.

It just ain't a healthy way to live.

That is all.


Tootles,

Willer