# Dear Woman video - pretty amazing **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 8, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620 "2011-04-08T02:34:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/361 "2011-04-11T18:06:23Z")
> [@Le\_Jacquelope](#): > > CHA? That’s that? > > BTW you have done something wrong by claiming you’ve done nothing wrong. All men have done something wrong. Even when all alone in the forest, we’re wrong. 😃 Given your history on the board, I am going to assume you aren’t really joking here. In which case- read this thread. There have been _multiple_ women, an \*overwhelming \*majority, both declared feminists and not, who agree with the poster you quoted, and do not, in fact, believe men are always, or inherently, wrong. What an incredibly ignorant statement, especially given all the preceding comments. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/362 "2011-04-11T18:09:40Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Given your history on the board, I am going to assume you aren’t really joking here. In which case- read this thread. There have been _multiple_ women, an \*overwhelming \*majority, both declared feminists and not, who agree with the poster you quoted, and do not, in fact, believe men are always, or inherently, wrong. What an incredibly ignorant statement, especially given all the preceding comments. Did any women other than the OP like the video? I know a couple of men did. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Jacquelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Le\_Jacquelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Jacquelope)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/363 "2011-04-11T18:10:05Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > This is not a discussion of FGM. This is an example given of women who used their agency in an undeniably oppressive culture to stop their mistreatment; something **Stoid** seemed to imply was impossible. Impossible? Naw, you sure that wasn’t a misinterpretation of what he said? Nobody could look back at the 19th Amendment and its history and say women couldn’t beat oppression in a stand-up political fight. > [@](#): > > In other words: when will YOU start opposing the genital mutilation of boys? Actually I donate to men’s rights groups that oppose this. But while I am aware of progress being made in America, I’m not aware of any such movement in Africa. Okay so my question was off-topic; at what point do we stop going on about female agency vs male agency and get past chauvenism vs feminism and move toward _humanism_? Back to your regularly scheduled programming! ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Jacquelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Le\_Jacquelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Jacquelope)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/364 "2011-04-11T18:11:07Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Given your history on the board, I am going to assume you aren’t really joking here. The 😃 was my way of saying it was intended as _humor._ And that’s “my history as you interpret it”. It is, going by the conclusion you came to, a poor, poor predictor of what I will do in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/365 "2011-04-11T18:26:14Z")
> [@Le\_Jacquelope](#): > > CHA? That’s that? [From Wiki:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairface_Chippendale) > [@](#): > > Chairface Chippendale is a tuxedo-clad, suave supervillain from the Tick Universe who has a small wooden chair for a head . . . . Chairface attempts to write his name onto the surface of the moon with a powerful laser. He only manages to write the letters “CHA” from “CHAIR” . . . . ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/366 "2011-04-11T18:27:15Z")
> [@Le\_Jacquelope](#): > > The 😃 was my way of saying it was intended as _humor._ And that’s “my history as you interpret it”. It is, going by the conclusion you came to, a poor, poor predictor of what I will do in the future. Then, you know what? It was a very, very stupid joke. Humor is funny because it’s _true_. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/367 "2011-04-11T18:33:39Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Humor is funny because it’s _true_. That’s not funny. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/368 "2011-04-11T18:33:48Z")
> [@Le\_Jacquelope](#): > > Impossible? Naw, you sure that wasn’t a misinterpretation of what he said? Nobody could look back at the 19th Amendment and its history and say women couldn’t beat oppression in a stand-up political fight. It was the interpretation I, and others, made of her statement. She refused to clarify what she meant, so there is nothing more I can say to that. > [@](#): > > Actually I donate to men’s rights groups that oppose this. But while I am aware of progress being made in America, I’m not aware of any such movement in Africa. > > Okay so my question was off-topic; at what point do we stop going on about female agency vs male agency and get past chauvenism vs feminism and move toward _humanism_? > > Back to your regularly scheduled programming! If you read THIS VERY THREAD people are discussing this subject, at length. In fact, I, myself said: > [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > Feminism should be a doorway to a greater understanding of social justice, not a stopping ground where you lick your wounds forever and cultivate a victim mentality. Nearly every human being who has ever lived on this planet has been disenfranchised in one way or another. There are NO winners, only losers, and we are all victimizers as well as victims. If you would like to join this discussion with more than lame, inaccurate jokes, feel free. You might want to read the thread a little better first. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/369 "2011-04-11T18:36:29Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Did any women other than the OP like the video? I know a couple of men did. Honestly, I rarely keep track of a poster’s gender, so I wasn’t sure, but that was my impression also. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/370 "2011-04-11T18:40:33Z")
That is funny. Somewhere there’s a big sack of testicles that used to belong to these men. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/371 "2011-04-11T18:45:39Z")
> [@Le\_Jacquelope](#): > > BTW you have done something wrong by claiming you’ve done nothing wrong. All men have done something wrong. Even when all alone in the forest, we’re wrong. 😃 I got a giggle out of that. Reminds me of the typical episode endings of the Canadian comedy Red Green Show set in forested cottage country, which usually went something like this: “(Red Green): Bow your heads for the man’s prayer. (Possum Lodge members): I’m a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess.” ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Jacquelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Le\_Jacquelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Jacquelope)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/372 "2011-04-11T18:50:48Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I got a giggle out of that. Reminds me of the typical episode endings of the Canadian comedy Red Green Show set in forested cottage country, which usually went something like this: > > “(Red Green): Bow your heads for the man’s prayer. > (Possum Lodge members): I’m a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess.” There’s gotta be a Youtube’d record of that. Hmmm, come to think of it, [there is](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I3pSZGCuHA). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/373 "2011-04-11T19:20:13Z")
> [@Le\_Jacquelope](#): > > There’s gotta be a Youtube’d record of that. > > Hmmm, come to think of it, [there is](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I3pSZGCuHA). 😃 That the routine! I’d forgotten that it often started with a Latin motto that meant “When everything fails, play dead.” That prayer session was a terrific parody of the sort of nonsense now more recently promoted in Stoid’s video. Steve Smith (Red Green) and Morag Smith (they’ve been married since the dawn of time) previously had a comedy show called Smith and Smith in which they traded banter in addition to performing comedy sketches. Back at the very end of the 70s, they stood out as being truly equal couple, which was quite different from TV families from a decade and a half to two decades earlier, such as The Nelsons or Ozzie and Harriet or Lucille Ball, or the even earlier Honemooners, in which the male spouse would dominate (or try to dominate), and in which the woman would hold a homemaker role. Steve and Morag really grokked gender inequity, and addressed it openly but also with gentle humour. That same insight and sensitivity continued on with their Red Green show. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/374 "2011-04-11T19:28:27Z")
> [@These are my own pants](#): > > That is funny. Somewhere there’s a big sack of testicles that used to belong to these men. I wonder if that’s where the [Truck Nutz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck_nuts) folks get their supplies? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/375 "2011-04-11T19:32:27Z")
> [@These are my own pants](#): > > That is funny. Somewhere there’s a big sack of testicles that used to belong to these men. FWIW, that sort of joke annoys me, too. Being a man no more makes you a macho douchebag than it prevents you from being a smarmy douchebag. Being a man means you have male genitalia and/or identify as a man, full stop. Making it into more than that historically leads to more trouble than it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/376 "2011-04-11T19:38:23Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Did any women other than the OP like the video? I know a couple of men did. The only reason women didn’t like this video is because they’re influenced by men. Disliking this video is a horrifying practice driven by males. Women are just victims, they can’t perpetuate negative acts like disagreeing with things all by themselves! ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/377 "2011-04-11T19:38:42Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > FWIW, that sort of joke annoys me, too. Being a man no more makes you a macho douchebag than it prevents you from being a smarmy douchebag. Being a man means you have male genitalia and/or identify as a man, full stop. Making it into more than that historically leads to more trouble than it’s worth. FWIW, I semi-disagree with that. Being a man means the same thing as being a woman, that you’re expected to ideally be a mature adult, willing to take responsibility for your own actions and stand with dignity even in the face of adversity. I’d say that the dynamic of the guys in the video is not so much “wimps vs. men” but “simpering children vs. autonomous adults.” We do happen to have gendered-language though, so instead of telling a guy “act with mature dignity” or “have some backbone” or “grow up”, we say “man up” or “have some balls”, or whatever. To be honest, I don’t really see that as being a significant problem. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/378 "2011-04-11T19:42:26Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > FWIW, that sort of joke annoys me, too. Being a man no more makes you a macho douchebag than it prevents you from being a smarmy douchebag. Being a man means you have male genitalia and/or identify as a man, full stop. Making it into more than that historically leads to more trouble than it’s worth. Are you saying men who have lost their testicles through illness or like these unfortunate chaps have simply misplaced them are less than men? FWIW I’ll take responsibilty for all the evil nasty stuff I’ve done, but I won’t take responsibitly for all the evil nasty stuff that others have done over whioch I had no control. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Jacquelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Le\_Jacquelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Jacquelope)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/379 "2011-04-11T19:42:41Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > That the routine! I’d forgotten that it often started with a Latin motto that meant “When everything fails, play dead.” > > That prayer session was a terrific parody of the sort of nonsense now more recently promoted in Stoid’s video. > > Steve Smith (Red Green) and Morag Smith (they’ve been married since the dawn of time) previously had a comedy show called Smith and Smith in which they traded banter in addition to performing comedy sketches. Back at the very end of the 70s, they stood out as being truly equal couple, which was quite different from TV families from a decade and a half to two decades earlier, such as The Nelsons or Ozzie and Harriet or Lucille Ball, or the even earlier Honemooners, in which the male spouse would dominate (or try to dominate), and in which the woman would hold a homemaker role. Steve and Morag really grokked gender inequity, and addressed it openly but also with gentle humour. That same insight and sensitivity continued on with their Red Green show. I think I missed a lot by not seeing more of Steve & Morag Smith’s stuff. It’s also nice to see that they’ve been married for so long. I could not find any way to make myself laugh at “Pow! To the moon!” considering how many women got and get hit like that. If we go back to that era again I’ll just boycott TV and anyone who advertises on it. Go back to reading books only, or something. It’s hard to be humorous when garbage like that is polluting the airwaves… unopposed. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620/380 "2011-04-11T19:54:17Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Name some of the wrongs done by women that you think are comparable in some respect to the sorts of wrongs being apologized for in this manifesto, and I’ll answer you. Why do they have to be comparable, if you are willing to admit the wrongs? This seems a pretty straightforward case of but but you did it too that seems to float around the SDMB in regards to Republican/Democrat wrong doing… But your sides was so much worse than my sides…:rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-woman-video-pretty-amazing/577620.md?page=20)