Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson’s suggestion to find a 15 year-old bride is about more than just the gross-out factor.
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Tonight on my show I discussed Phil Robertson and his idea that you should marry girls who are 15 or 16 years old. In a public speech he said:
Look, you wait ’til they get to be 20 years old, the only picking that’s going to take place is your pocket. You got to marry these girls when they are about 15 or 16. They’ll pick your ducks.
Now, many people that I see who are commenting on this are discussing the “ick factor” that comes with the idea of an old redneck talking about how you should marry a 15 or 16 year old. And I am not trying to take anything away from that. It definitely is icky from a creepy old man standpoint as well as a statutory rape standpoint. However, if you are only talking about that ick factor then you are only scratching the surface of why his comments are so wrong.
The reason he suggests men should be finding young girls is that he feels that at that age they have not had enough time to form their own opinions about how they want to live their own lives. In his words, a 20 year old woman won’t “pick ducks” but a 15 or 16 year old girl will. Why? Because she perhaps hasn’t formed a strong opinion either way and as the man in the patriarchal society that Phil Robertson wants to retain, he feels that it is his job to explain to the young girl that it is her job to “pick ducks”.
But it is not just about “picking ducks”. It is about all aspects of life. He feels that if you allow women to form an opinion on their own they might actually express it. They might actually stand up for it. They might actually fight for something that they feel is right and question the authority that Phil Robertson’s desired way of life seeks to place over women. In his mind men have to get these girls while they are young before they can be strong enough to stand up to the bullshit of Phil Robertson and his apologists. This reminds me of the type of man that would tell his wife “when I want your opinion I will give it to you”. His type of marriage that he supports is one of control. I guess it says a lot about his character that he cannot handle a strong, independent minded woman. He wants someone weak and subservient. His type of personality couldn’t handle any more.
And to preemptively respond to the “what about his rights” crowd, I am not saying he doesn’t have the right to say such things. I am just saying that society should not tolerate that type of attitude towards women and it should be condemned from here to eternity. If a woman wants to “pick ducks” then that is her choice. It is not the job of a man to condition a woman to act as he pleases. Here is a novel concept. Find a woman with similar interests and build on those interests. I guess that is too much for someone like Phil Robertson to grasp.
Originally appeared at LiberalDan.com
Photo: AP/Zach Dilgard
Is he talking about a 15 year old marrying a 15 year old, or someone much older?
Phil Robertson doesn’t have a problem-
he is selling the hell out of his brand, which is his job, he’s no different than Chip Wilson of Lululemon.
To get there he transformed himself, sartorially & physically, from a preppy golfer to some kind of iconic minstrel that interested A&E.
Spot on. It’s all about control and so obvious I don’t know how so many people haven’t seen through it
Are we really going to keep picking on Phil Robertson? He’s a conservative Christian. We got it. He married his own wife very young, but it appears to have worked out great for them, has it not? If you think Phil is a misogynist, why don’t you ask his wife if she’s happy I was under impression the happiness of the married couple is a lot more important than everyone else’s opinion of their underlying psyche. My grandmother was 15 when she married my grandfather. I’m not advocating for teenagers to run out and get married, but it was a… Read more »
Try re-reading the article. I’ve met plenty of conservative Christians that are not bigots or misogynists or who advocate statutory rape. He’s not being criticized for being Christian. He’s being criticized because he is advocating for a lifestyle that takes away from the wellbeing of others, and that is wrong no matter which way you slice it. The author is not criticizing your grandparents, or saying that the marriage they had was dysfunctional. Where in the article did you get that impression that his intention was to criticize marriage? He’s stating that advocating for marrying someone while they’re young *because*… Read more »
Exactly.
sorry, this should have been part of my prior comment- my wife and I have a running joke about younger women and older men. We’ve been known to make tongue in cheek comments about it often. She’s younger by 4 days…
are you sure he wasn’t joking or making a tongue in cheek comment about his own early marriage?
::full standing ovation::
You’re right; I, like most of us I think, had only been focusing on the creepy pervy aspect of his comments, but it really does go to a deeper characterization of men and women and roles and “training” for those roles, and frankly the narrow definitions for both are embarrassing. Cheers to you for calling this out.
The problem is, it’s possible that Phil Robertson, as well as many men of Robertson’s like, chose a woman with a similar paradigm, who believes that it’s her role to be subservient to her husband. I’m speculating as to whether Robertson’s wife is such, but unfortunately many women in the evangelical South are socialized to inherit these roles of less-than, to avoid expressing their own opinions to perpetuate the status quo familial power structure of “man as head of house” in order to maintain status as “godly woman”. As men, we have the responsibility to advocate for egalitarian relationships in… Read more »
Well Phil Robertson is speaking from experience as he married his wife when she was 16. The problem is that such people tend no not chose women who believe that this is the proper role of a woman. They tend to chose girls whose opinions can be morphed to their world view.
What exactly is the “proper role for a woman” Dan?
The proper role for a woman is the role she chooses for herself.