Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Confessions of a former female chauvinist

I used to be one of those women who laughed at jokes about men and how stupid, dirty, and lazy they are. You know, like the Mr. New Dad T-shirts that show a man diapering the dog and allowing the baby to eat dog food while dad is trying to catch the game out of the corner of his eye? Or jokes like these, which pretty much sum up my point.

Jokes like that used to make me chuckle. I would agree with other women that men, as a rule, just can't focus on more than one task at once. The point of the jokes, when told by women, is to make ourselves feel better. To make ourselves feel like the smarter, harder-working, better gender.

But now, every time I hear a joke like that, I think about someone saying it ABOUT MY SON. And I don't want anyone to ever, even jokingly, tell him that he is lazy or stupid or helpless just because he has a penis. Nor do I want someone implying that he should act these ways just because he's a boy.

Being a mom has made me such a stick in the mud. Oh well.

4 Comments:

Anonymous said...

You're not a stick in the mud. Having sons changes your perspective on men in general. Having a good man for your husband does the same thing.

Chilihead2 said...

My husband and I say the same thing when we see those "jokes". He is a great dad and husband. He's quite capable. And you know what? My son is going to be quite capable too because he has a great dad co-parenting. :D

Anonymous said...

Amen to that Sister!! It is so prevelent that it is often hard not to laugh, even when you don't agree.

I don't find degrading men a good thing. T.V. shows portray men this way all the time. I'm glad we don't get reception any more.

Good men do exist (I'm married to one!!) and I pray my boys will all be such men. I also pray my daughters all marry one of these great guys too!!

Blonde jokes, men jokes... none of it is productive or beneficial. Thanks for fessing up and holding us all a bit more accountable to our reponses as well.

Daring Young Dad said...

Helping create people gives a whole new perspective on things, doesn't it.