Dig these tweets from a successful writer who was sexually and emotionally abused by an unscrupulous, powerful man. It's part of a series of tweets which is well worth your time. They describe her experiences and how other men in the industry didn't stand up for her and why she couldn't do it for herself.
I felt incredibly vulnerable, unsafe, and undermined in front of industry colleagues. Just really small and embarrassed. Everyone laughed.— Carina MacKenzie (@cadlymack) October 7, 2017
Where did chivalry go, Carina? Where were those knights in shining armor ready, willing and able to do battle for a lady? Why are you facing powerful men all on your own?Women need men to stand up for us, or at least to stand behind us. BE THE GUY WHO OFFERS TO MAKE A SCENE FOR A WOMAN SO SHE DOESN’T HAVE TO.— Carina MacKenzie (@cadlymack) October 7, 2017
Because we asked for that. We approved of that. We didn't want all of the restrictions, restraints and self-denial that is required from both sexes to civilize men. We don't civilize ourselves naturally. Women and religion civilize us. Left to our own devices, we become Harvey Weinsteins or pusillanimous weasels who allow the Harveys to dominate women. It's pretty hard to find a primitive or pagan society where women were much more than property*.
If you want the freedoms of the court of Caligula, don't expect any Lancelots.
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| 'How Sir Lancelot slew the knight Sir Peris de Forest Savage that did distress ladies, damosels and gentlewoman.' from 'The Romance of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table', illustration by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939). |
Amen. I have to wonder if that lady (is that PC?) would have chastised a random male who opened a door for her? Somehow I suspect she would have.
ReplyDeleteUm. So, if biology always wins, what's the biological imperative for men to be chivalrous? The chivalrous hero is taking a significant risk, and for what?
ReplyDeleteFair Maiden: Oh help! Save me from this cad who is forcing his unwanted attentions on me!
Cad: Mwahahahaha! No one will save you, my proud beauty! Submit!
Chivalrous Hero: Never fear, fair maiden! I shall save you! Halt your fiendish liberties, cad!
Cad: Make me!
(C.H. does so)
(Cad limps away from scene, nursing his injuries and cursing softly to himself)
F.M.: My hero! Thank you for saving me!
C.H.: You're welcome. Well, er, if that's all, perhaps I should go find someone else who needs saving . . .
(Up to this point, I don't really see what the Chivalrous Hero gets out of the whole excercise. Unless (like Launcelot) he just really likes to fight. Even then, though, he also has to be good enough at it that he's not really taking a significant risk of losing and getting eliminated from the breeding pool. But then . . .)
F.M.: Oh, but won't you stay for a while? I will do anything to show my gratitude.
C.H.: Anything?
F.M. (shimmying seductively): Anything!
C.H.: Well, all right then!
(she does)
OK, so *now* biology supports chivalry, but it also tends to lead to a situation where the F.M.s are all competing for the biggest, strongest Hero to defend them. Which sounds to me like it either results in only a few of the women actually get a competent protector, or leads straight to something very close to polygamy, where one big guy defends a whole group of women. And is that really the society we want?
Tim, I don't have time for a full reply, so I'll just throw you a link.
ReplyDeleteThings were not always thus and no, it didn't depend on direct sexual favors to civilize a decent percentage of your male population.
Women assuredly DO NOT civilize men (*). Civilization is an agreement amongst men (**). This is why all successful cultures, much less civilizations, are "patriarchal".
ReplyDelete(*) Women, when they're young (and presumably fertile) and still think that *they* have the Magickal Pussy with which they can Control All Men, like to be pursued by uncivilized men. At that that stage -- unless they have already been civilized by men -- i.e. fathers ... and mothers who have *finally* matured and submitted to the civilizing expectations of men -- they encourage young men to be uncivilized savages, and reward them for it.
(**) Civilization begins with the mutual agreement amongst men to stop fighting one another for mere pussy, that is, to stop letting women control they by their dicks.