A Man Makes Fun Of Things That Are Stupid

[snurri]

You really ought to read this essay by Esquire columnist Tom Chiarella about men. Not because it's good or I agree with it or endorse it or anything of the sort. Because it is jaw-droppingly stupid. An excerpt:

A man carries cash. A man looks out for those around him--woman, friend, stranger. A man can cook eggs. A man can always find something good to watch on television. A man makes things--a rock wall, a table, the tuition money. Or he rebuilds--engines, watches, fortunes. He passes along expertise, one man to the next. Know-how survives him. A man fantasizes that kung fu lives deep inside him somewhere. A man is good at his job. Not his work, not his avocation, not his hobby. Not his career. His job. It doesn't matter what his job is, because if a man doesn't like his job, he gets a new one.

Somehow every time I look at that it turns into this:

A moron writes words. A moron flails about for telling details--declarations, clichés, sentence fragments. A moron owns a frying pan. A moron has an extensive collection of pornography. A moron makes assumptions--about gender roles, about sexuality, about class. Or he fantasizes--about sports cars, Rolexes, cash. He prefers the company of men, but not in a gay way, REALLY. Irony escapes him. A moron pretends that women have no interest in the martial arts because the thought that they might hit him is scary. A moron is not good with words. Not words, not ideas, not talking about men. He is paid by the word. Two-fifty. It doesn't matter what words he puts down, because those who do not agree with what he says are not men.

I could go on--there is much more--but it parodies itself.

Comments

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

That kung fu line reminds me of the bit in Snow Crash about how every man thinks that with just the right circumstances he could become an ass kicking vigilante and how Hiro Protagonist realized that it was never going to happen for him. Or the Seinfeld routine.

Amazing how some can do these gender stereotypes and not sound like complete morons. I suppose it's only amazing because the whole concept is pretty moronic.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Interesting you bring up Stephenson, 'cause I'm reading Cryptonomicon at the moment and while I think it's good, he gets tripped up by the gender stuff a lot too.

[marlowe1.livejournal.com]

Mostly at the beginning with Waterhouse's original girlfriend. But mostly he's using her to slam on the excesses of academia. Amy Shaftoe is pretty cool. And I love that part where Lawrence Waterhouse is trying to figure out the mathematical formulae for fucking Mary and using "I'm going to church" as code for "I'm planning on fucking your sister until the bed gives out" and thinking that it's a code that only he can decipher.

Although Mary doesn't get much verbiage; which is strange since she's important to both Waterhouses. I don't even know if that's her name.

Oh well. I just finished the book and you're right. It's a cool book and I loved the way he could incorporate coding and math in such a way that it was still entertaining. But he really puts the women on the shelf for most of the story.