A sixteenth century illustration with a caption that misspells Sir Walter Raleigh's name! I guess
misspellings were around a long time before internet memes (not that I'm really surprised by that)!
misspellings were around a long time before internet memes (not that I'm really surprised by that)!
The other day, I read an article about "benevolent sexism." In case you're unfamiliar with the term (as I was), the opening of the article I've linked to should give you a pretty good idea of what it is. The article begins with "If a man offers to help a woman with her heavy suitcase or to parallel park her car, what should she make of the offer?
Is it an innocuous act of courtesy? Or is it a sexist insult to her strength and competence?"
Well, fellow babies, what do you think?
I don't think of myself as a sexist. Having said that, how many sexists out there do think of themselves as sexist? But I thought very seriously about this for a couple of minutes. When I take a woman to dinner, even if she's a friend and not a "date," I usually pay for both of us. When I'm with a woman and we're entering or leaving a building, I hold the door open and let her walk in or out first.
Am I guilty of benevolent sexism? Or am I being chivalrous? Or, for that matter, is what we call "chivalry" just an archaic term for sexism?
Ten years ago, on my old David'Z RantZ blog, I made some references to Sarah Palin, then running for Vice President. I made some facetiously sexist comments calling her a "babe" and added (not so facetiously) that I didn't plan to vote for her, primarily due to what I perceived as her inexperience.
A first-time commenter named "Julie" said "So you are saying that you won't vote for her because she's a woman and can't do the job?"
Well... no. I hadn't said that at all, nor even implied that. In fact, back in 1984, I had voted for Walter Mondale, who had a woman as his running mate.
Anyway, I thought about whether I am guilty of being benevolently sexist.
I mentioned holding a door for a woman and letting her go through it first. Well, in all fairness to me, if I'm going through a doorway and a man is behind me, I'll hold the door for him, at least as long as it takes for him to grab it and hold it for himself. The only real difference there seems to be that I let the woman go first, but the man can follow me and I don't care.
I don't hold a door because I think the woman (or the man) can't open that door without me.
If I see a woman struggling with some heavy packages, I tend to offer to carry them for her. I just think of that as being polite. And again, in all fairness to me, as I get older and weaker I make that offer less often. If you're a woman who's twenty, or thirty, I'm now two or three times your age. Carry your own load. In fact, could you help me carry mine?
If I see a man struggling with carrying something, or needing help of some other kind, I will usually help him. Gender has nothing to do with it.
Once again, I just see that as being polite. And if you want to interpret some of the polite things I do as sexist because, on a case-by-case basis, many of these things are done for women... well... go ahead.
I can live with that.
By the way, "Julie" (whom I suspected was actually a regular male reader of David'Z RantZ who didn't like my seldom-stated political views and was using a female alias to give me static about them) visited my blog for a few more weeks, always calling me insulting things like "sexist bastard." Finally, a few of my readers (male and female) told Julie to get lost, and she (or he) did.
Thanks for your time.
I don't think of myself as a sexist. Having said that, how many sexists out there do think of themselves as sexist? But I thought very seriously about this for a couple of minutes. When I take a woman to dinner, even if she's a friend and not a "date," I usually pay for both of us. When I'm with a woman and we're entering or leaving a building, I hold the door open and let her walk in or out first.
Am I guilty of benevolent sexism? Or am I being chivalrous? Or, for that matter, is what we call "chivalry" just an archaic term for sexism?
Ten years ago, on my old David'Z RantZ blog, I made some references to Sarah Palin, then running for Vice President. I made some facetiously sexist comments calling her a "babe" and added (not so facetiously) that I didn't plan to vote for her, primarily due to what I perceived as her inexperience.
A first-time commenter named "Julie" said "So you are saying that you won't vote for her because she's a woman and can't do the job?"
Well... no. I hadn't said that at all, nor even implied that. In fact, back in 1984, I had voted for Walter Mondale, who had a woman as his running mate.
Anyway, I thought about whether I am guilty of being benevolently sexist.
I mentioned holding a door for a woman and letting her go through it first. Well, in all fairness to me, if I'm going through a doorway and a man is behind me, I'll hold the door for him, at least as long as it takes for him to grab it and hold it for himself. The only real difference there seems to be that I let the woman go first, but the man can follow me and I don't care.
I don't hold a door because I think the woman (or the man) can't open that door without me.
If I see a woman struggling with some heavy packages, I tend to offer to carry them for her. I just think of that as being polite. And again, in all fairness to me, as I get older and weaker I make that offer less often. If you're a woman who's twenty, or thirty, I'm now two or three times your age. Carry your own load. In fact, could you help me carry mine?
If I see a man struggling with carrying something, or needing help of some other kind, I will usually help him. Gender has nothing to do with it.
Once again, I just see that as being polite. And if you want to interpret some of the polite things I do as sexist because, on a case-by-case basis, many of these things are done for women... well... go ahead.
I can live with that.
By the way, "Julie" (whom I suspected was actually a regular male reader of David'Z RantZ who didn't like my seldom-stated political views and was using a female alias to give me static about them) visited my blog for a few more weeks, always calling me insulting things like "sexist bastard." Finally, a few of my readers (male and female) told Julie to get lost, and she (or he) did.
Thanks for your time.
