Regarding that last ask, that idea that car repair is “Men’s Work” stems from the idea that women are too weak, feeble and simple-minded to wrap their heads around the inside of an engine. Which, by the way, is the same reason boys get chemistry and geology sets from their grandparents at Christmas, while girls get dolls and toy ironing boards.
~Ben
nowwhohasit asked: So things that say "Women don't fix cars" or "Women don't run companies" is also not sexist. Because those are things that men are for.
I’m sorry, I don’t fully understand your message.
Saying “Women don’t fix cars” is sexist. There is nothing men and women are “for”.
- kaitlyn
ms-sagan-deactivated20121027 asked: I think the last anon means a link where people can just read the submissions people have made. If you've tagged them as submission then they can just go to /tagged/submission
Ah yes. They’re usually auto-tagged as such. I’ll try to remember to add a link to the sidebar tomorrow.
~Ben
Anonymous asked: Hey, it'd be cool if you had a link for just submissions. Because I like the meaty content, and hate mail can get exhausting. (thisiswhiteprivilege sets it up nicely)
That’s odd, I thought we did. It’s not particularly well-marked, but it’s there.
~Ben
Anonymous asked: Maybe the anons are getting confused by what sexism actually is. Because sexism is institutional, and because the world we live in is patriarchal, sexism affects women because they are the ones degraded by the patriarchal system, not men. Although men can suffer from other types of discrimination and negative stereotyping, they don't suffer from sexism because discrimination and stereotypes are not institutional in the same way.
This neatly sums it up. Thanks, Anonymous. Thanonymous.
~Ben
Anonymous asked: So you don't believe men can be victims of sexism?
That depends on how you wish to define victims. They are not the targets of sexism. When someone makes a “men can’t do housework” joke, it’s not a sexist joke about men but rather a reinforcement of the patriarchal (and, obviously, sexist) idea that men don’t do housework because that’s what women are for.
Anonymous asked: Isn't saying sexism only applies to woman sexist?
HA HA no
~Ben
whentrueloveskiss asked: Did you see the commercial for that Liquid-Plumr declogger shit? That double impact one, where two buff guys knock and say "I'm here to snake your drain" and the other says "I'm here to flush your pipes"... ?
I didn’t, but I’ll have a look when I get home from work!
~Ben
nowwhohasit asked: How is it not considered sexist if men are put down for doing "women's work" in the home? What about those commercials where the wife tells her husband he sucks at folding laundry? Or the olympic commercials that supported "Olympian Mom's," what about the fathers? Since when do fathers not have love and support for their children? Since when do fathers not want to take care of their own children? I truly believe men suffer sexist remarks and behaviors in domestic situations.
These remarks and advertisements are based on the patriarchal notion that women are ideal for these roles, not men. You don’t see Tide commercials with men competently doing the laundry or Fairy Liquid ads where the boyfriend isn’t doing a half-arsed job of washing the dishes because, again, society deems those jobs to be “women’s work” - a man would never need to be good at those jobs, because they’re not for him.
Men, like women, are victims of the patriarchy, but they are not on the receiving end of sexism.
~Ben
Anonymous asked: Do you think men deal with sexism?
I can’t speak for Kaitlyn’s perspective on the matter (she writes the lion’s share of posts these days) but my feeling - I’m Ben, by the way - is that sexism against women has a knock-on effect on men as well.
Women are the ones who society views as more capable of cooking, cleaning, looking after children, homemaking, that sort of thing. Men who are mocked for doing these things are victims of the patriarchy but they are not victims of sexism against men.
I saw this advert on the tube this morning and I thought it was really stupid.
I mean, when are they going to stop the “Real Stuff for Real Men” ads ?! And does it mean that when you’re not a man -or just not a masculine man- you don’t deserve “real” products, just shitty stuff ?
I may be pushing the reflexion to the extreme, but I’m fed up with these “Grrrr, we’re so tough and so extreme” ads for men products…
-___-‘
Anonymous asked: does it bother you that woman's razors come with a ridiculous amount of blades and a bar of soap around it so that they don't cut themselves, but men's razors are a simple three blades. Like it's almost saying that women are too stupid to shave, they will cut themselves, but not men.
I always thought of it as useful because women usually have more skin to shave and I find it a pain in the ass to lather up my legs, so the soap makes it easier.
-Kaitlyn