Variety Editor should enroll in Women’s Studies

Dear Editor,

In response to Mr. Sandow’s column (“In defense of the common male”) in the Variety section last week, not only should this cost him his romantic life for the rest of this year, but he should be also required by any future significant other to take a Women’s Studies course here at GCSU in order to examine your gender ideologies!

Not to mention that his arguments are stale and outdated. We have all heard them before. I contemplated not responding to his editorial because it was just too clich?, but then I realized that I have heard these same arguments over and over, so someone must put a stop to them.

I have just a few responses.

I realize that he is correct in some of his own responses to past Litter Box selections, such as women as well as men like to talk about themselves. His problem comes when he says that women “bore men to tears,” but men “suck it up” because they “know you can’t help it. It’s in your nature.”

I would like to have someone explain to me (he would be the obvious choice, since he is the one who stepped up to say that it is, in fact, our nature) exactly what is a “woman’s nature,” or even a “man’s nature,” and how he came about this (seemingly) scientific information. Sandow concedes that “Yes, [men] like to talk a little about [them]selves.” Well, then, is it not a man’s nature to talk about himself too? He talks about human instincts a little later in his editorial; is it not just human nature to talk about oneself, and to relate the world to one’s own experience?

Humans are like all other animals and have instincts, for sure. However, of all the animals in the world, humans are the only ones endowed with the psychological construct of a conscience and have codes of conduct and courtesy. So when he says that men are just following their instincts when they only want sex from a woman, he may be right. However, humans (unfortunately males are included in the human species category) do have the ability to discern right from wrong. Therefore, his animal instincts argument just isn’t going to cut it with us “common females.”

Your final argument about how “to expect anything different from us is foolish” was the clincher for me. So we women are just supposed to sit back and let scummy men just keep on being scummy. How does any change ever come about then? Contrary to his opinion, to expect something different is not foolish; it is our only option if we wish to change ridiculous gender ideologies like his.

His “defense” just won’t continue to stand up to the scrutiny that today’s women are putting it through. So men are going to have to grow up and realize that it takes listening to “all that jabber” about friends, pets and hobbies in order to get to know someone. Being a good man and treating a woman right no longer entails opening doors and protecting the honor of thy woman, but it does entail having respect and appreciation for women.

Sincerely,

Jessica Williamson
Junior
English

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 21 2006. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry