Women and Cyborgs (708 hits)
Category: RomanceRating: 1.2 on 6 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Blitzen (View user info) at 2005-04-07 23:55:38 EDT
This is just a disorganized rant I wrote for my friends. Thought I would give it a shot here.
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I'm nearly finished a novel entitled He, She, and It by Marge Piercy. Look it up if you must, but let me warn you, this novel has unleashed a hatred the likes of which I have never witnessed in my 21 years. Hate may seem like an awfully strong word, but there's truly no other word that will express the deep, dark anger I feel towards the ideas put forth in this book.
What's needed first is a rundown of the plot- might give you an idea of what I'm talking about. Basically, it's a book set many years in the future, and this woman has just divorced her emotionally cold husband and is returning to her childhood home. When she arrives, she finds that some old man has created a cyborg in the form of "the perfect man". Of course, since this cyborg is "perfect" in every way, this woman falls madly in love with him and they do it countless times. Each time more beautiful than the last. I'll pause while you throw up.
The author's intent was to create the perfect man. He starts off violently protective of this woman... take out the violence and that's almost nice. Next there's comments about his performance in bed- such as his ability to stay erect long after he has "ejaculated" and his attention to pleasing her. Wow. If only real men cared nothing about themselves and focused all of their attention on us women. That's not too much to ask, it is?. Also of note is the author's mention of the cyborg's fierce loyalty. He's not attracted to anything, really, so there's no need to worry about him cheating... and since he's not attracted to anything, he can't see physical beauty and thus see only "inner beauty". Aw. Where can I get me one of these cyborgs? The fact the author forgot to mention is that since there's no notice of physical attractiveness, there's no "you look nice", which I believe is much easier to ask for than a complete ignorance of physical features.
What's really got me pissed off is that there are probably hundreds of women out there kicking their good boyfriends or husbands out the door because they're nothing like the "ideal man". Let me tell you, sweetheart, this picture of an ideal man is nothing to desire. If you're looking for the qualities programmed into our cyborg friend, you might as well be looking for a woman. It's as simple as that.
Here's where my beliefs come in. I strongly feel that there are differences between men and women (dudes and chicks) that nobody should really have to change. There are a lot of women out there complaining that we're being pushed into the kitchens and forced to stay at home to bear children. I've got news for you- every species has their own gender roles. Females give birth to children, and as such we bear a lot of responsibility for caring for those children. We're not being "forced" to stay at home, nobody can force you to do anything. I think we're just choosing to stay at home because we put nine months into carrying this thing around, and we'll be damned if we're going to leave it to someone else to take care of. I went off on a tangent there, my apologies.
Anyway, there ARE differences between men and women that I think give the world a nice balance and certainly make things a little more interesting. Men, don't get discouraged. I'm confident that most women do not in fact want this horrible "ideal man" and you're free to man it up as you please (within reason)... although this may just be me, I'm only assuming that because most women are still pursuing men that my ideas are partly true. That would suck if it were just me though, eh?
This is probably getting rather long so I think I'll cut it off there. I know anything I've left out will be covered by a certain man who will remain nameless because I know he has some rather strong and well formed opinions on this matter too. There's no end to my opinions on feminist ideas, and I may just post something else later on... we shall see though. I simple wish to offer this up to discussion.
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The "certain man" is just my boyfriend. He doesn't like feminists. Anyway, that's all I got. Plus a picture!
User Reviews
Submitted by hoojAmAphut (user info) at 2005-04-08 10:02:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Women are fucking nuts. End of story
Submitted by jack0173 (user info) at 2005-04-08 07:08:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by Blitzen (user info) at 2005-04-08 00:41:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I see your point, corn_nugget. I didn't know what else to say about him though, I needed to generalize (there's that word again) and convey that he has ideas on men and women that go against what many feminists might believe.
I also said it was a very disorganized rant... I'm not very good at sticking to one topic, I tend to go off on unrelated tangents.
So about vegetarianism...
Heh.
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2005-04-08 00:40:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
There is no such thing as "the ideal man" or "the ideal woman." I'm a woman and I find the concept of this book ridiculous. There are good matches or bad matches between men and women. Simple as that.
Submitted by williamson (user info) at 2005-04-08 00:36:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I see.
Well, whether or not women are looking for the perfect man and won't go near us is true or false:
I'm still using it as my scapegoat for never getting laid.
OH THE SHAME!
Submitted by corn_nugget (user info) at 2005-04-08 00:28:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I see your point with the book being annoying, it does sound annoying.
Mainly this is how I see it:
I am attracted to certian things in a guy... if he was a "perfect" guy, he would probably be missing some of the things that attract ME PERSONALLY to him.
The whole generalization of what constitutes a "good man" is highly problematic. Since no two women are exactly alike, there is no way to create a man that would be perfect for all of us.
I think that's a totally seperate issue than feminism.
Feminism is stupid because it's even MORE generalzations (holy fuck I can't figure out how to spell that for some reason!?)... Same with Anti-Feminism...
oh who cares.
This line in particular bothered me:
"The "certain man" is just my boyfriend. He doesn't like feminists".