So, anyone catch the American presidential debate last night? I did, as you would know if you followed me on Twitter like sensible people. Obama is a feminist! Romney thinks single moms cause gun violence! Romney has binders full of women! Sorry, Romney, but all the women really want to get into my binder.
In the leadup to the debate, Richard Williamson, a former ambassador and top foreign policy adviser to Romney, said that Romney would ask Obama to “man up” about the Libya attacks by taking full responsibility for them and explaining his failure to the American people.
Agh agh agh agh agh I hate the phrase “man up.” Men who do not take full responsibility for failures on their watch are still men. Women who do, in fact, take full responsibility for failures on their watch are still women. Your gender identity has nothing to do with your ethical actions. You could reasonably argue that not taking full responsibility for one’s mistakes is bad behavior, but it is bad behavior for people of every gender. Gender is completely extraneous here! Why are you even talking about it? A man who believes the buck stops over there somewhere is still a man, and there is no call to be considering him less a man than someone else.
Not to mention that there’s a certain… racially charged… angle to a white man telling a black man to man up and accept his responsibilities. I’m not saying that this was Mr. Williamson’s intent, but there is a stereotype of black men as feckless people who abandon their children and other responsibilities, and his statement plays into those racist beliefs.
Image: A red-white-and-blue elephant and donkey with US-flag-like stars for eyes and on their bodies, intended to be symbols for the Republican and Democratic parties.
Photo– DonkeyHotey/Flickr.
“Agh agh agh agh agh I hate the phrase “man up.” Men who do not take full responsibility for failures on their watch are still men. Women who do, in fact, take full responsibility for failures on their watch are still women. Your gender identity has nothing to do with your ethical actions.” Ozy, you continue to make the mistake of seeing “man up” and masculinity for that matter, only in terms of gender. It is more than that. “Man” refers to adulthood, just as much as to masculinity, and in a way that “woman” and “girl”do not. Yes –… Read more »
“Man up” is also a pretty lame political statement, because it’s so amorphous it can be used to describe just about anything. It could be turned against either candidate equally. For example:
“Your country needs the people in your bracket to carry your share of the tax burden. Quit whining about it, and take the tax increase like a man. Stop acting like a sissy little rich kid and pay your dues like a real man.”
I also think “man up” as a statement about foreign policy could, indirectly, be meant to appeal to anti-Hillary Clinton sentiments out there.
I hate the phrase ‘man up’ too. I’ve been told to ‘man up’ even though I’m a woman. What am I supposed to get from that? If you want me to stop hesitating and deal with something, why would it be more manly than womanly to do so? I am also sometimes told to ‘grow some balls’. And it’s quite telling that ‘pussy’ is an insult (also used by and to apply to any gender). Gendered insults need to go away. And people need to think about what they are saying, because these words and phrases are ingrained in our… Read more »
I actually learned recently that pu$$y as an insult comes from pusillanimous “lacking courage and resolution : marked by contemptible timidity”
That it isn’t meaning the same thing as “I want to get some…” but two words, different meanings. Though at this point in history I doubt many people know that so it’s a bit useless, the info. But still, it made me feel a bit better to know the origin wasn’t about sex, but about being “small and weak.”
And ironically enough the link you provided for pusillanimous gives the following etymology for that word: Late Latin pusillanimis, from Latin pusillus very small (diminutive of pusus boy) + animus spirit; perhaps akin to Latin puer child
In short it basically means “very small boy spirit” .
Unfortunately Wikipedia’s article on pu$$y (boy, will this comment end up in moderation) suggests that you should unlearn that tidbit as it is a false cognate unrelated to the Germanic derivations of puss and pu$$y.
(Two new English words learned today: pusillanimous and cognate)
So, anyone catch the American presidential debate last night? I did, as you would know if you followed me on Twitter like sensible people.
Ozy – sorry but…..
Anyone who believes that twitter – twatter – micro blathering is a sensible way to communicate with others – engage in debate …. well, for me they are an evolutionary backward step, and make mother nature re-evaluate the opposable thumb. P^)
If mother nature had intended the internet to be an evolutionary driver she would have given us silicon genitals that could be wified.
I don’t understand how people can be anti-Twitter or against micro-Blogging in general. The technology has proven itself to be the premiere means to transmit real-time news, opinions and well, really whatever it is you want to broadcast. The model is so simple. You broadcast your message and people have the freedom to subscribe to it and unsubscribe from it as they will. On top of that is a secondary layer of features that allow the audience to reply directly to the speaker, or re-broadcast their message to their own subscribers. If you don’t like it, that’s cool, it’s just… Read more »