Dinosaurs of Misogyny

Yesterday morning I heard a commercial on the radio for a "news" show on "Women in the Military." I actually meant to blog it yesterday, but sometimes ideas leak out of my brain and get all over the floormats in the car.

The gist of it was: Is it really okay for women to be in combat? Cuz, y'know, weak and girly and they get their stinky perfumes all over their guns. Or something. The thing is they used all these clips of soldiers saying how women are great, and professional, and in every way as good as men, and then the Ominous Voiceover comes on and asks Ominous Questions: Are women really tough enough? Should they be there at all? Do they menstruate all over their military equipment? Do they have cooties?

(I made some of that up.)

All I could think was, "Why aren't we done with this yet?" I mean, This is a done deal, it should be old news. Fuck, women in the military is old news, and questions about their fitness doesn't exactly "support the troops," does it? I mean, how far back do we want to question? I half expect the Ominous Voiceover to come on and say "Women and the Vote: Is Suffrage Really a Good Idea?"

I am reminded of one of Isaac's favorite sayings; that dinosaurs make a lot of noise and tear down a lot of trees as they die. Because they know they're dying out.

So then last night I see this post on Pandagon, talking about how scientific studies that bash women's freedoms get media attention (like the so-called "dangers" of daycare) but studies demonstrating the opposite are never reported on. (She's riffing on a piece Echidne wrote.)

It's all of a piece. The "culture wars" are dying dinosaurs thrashing about trying to stop the changes that will make them extinct. Unfortunately, dinosaurs still have a lot of power to hurt us; to reduce reproductive freedom, to diminish opportunities, to lay some mighty fucking guilt trips. But it does help, from time to time, to remember that they're dinosaurs.


(Evil, man-hating, cross-post bitch)