# New Book about Men - It's blank **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 26, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036 "2002-12-26T21:45:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/21 "2002-12-27T01:46:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pizzabrat \* > \*\*Okay, now I’m confused. Too many contradictions from the oppressed white male camp. First I thought all the minorities were supposed to just grow thicker skins and stop whining about the zillions of offensive things they hear everyday coming from the nation’s majority. Then I hear OWM whining themselves when people make fun of them! So which is it? Universal calousness or universal sensitivity? Or is it yet again special treatment for whites? \*\* I don’t think I’m oppressed… I’d just appreciate a little respect, I suppose, and a little less generalization. For what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s pervasive, but I think there is a sense in American society that it’s OK to make negative generalizations about men, while doing the same about women is automatically sexist. A little more fairness, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/22 "2002-12-27T01:47:47Z")
This is a very old joke. I saw the wholly blank _Everything Men Know About Women_ book at least ten years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/23 "2002-12-27T01:55:38Z")
Sounds like the book isn’t very funny. It’s sort of like a one joke affair that doesn’t have enough zing to be funny for ninety six pages. Nevertheless, until the author jabs me in the eye with her thumb, I’ll shrug it off. If she should so far forget herself as to attempt jabbing me with her thumb, I’ll knock her ass to the ground with a right jab. ::yawn:: ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/24 "2002-12-27T01:59:58Z")
‘About men’ - \> Blank? Very buddhist. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/25 "2002-12-27T02:26:52Z")
I’m late to this party, but another chick chiming in with the tune ‘This book sounds like a sexist piece of shit!’ It’s gotten to the point where making fun of men is not only OK, it’s expected. Sorry bucko. BACK DA TRUCK UP. This chick ain’t buyin none of that male bashing. I’ve been known to joke on the topic with people who knew they could joke with ME about CHICKS, but this is just freaking ridiculous. However, I almost wanna buy this book. Because if I ever run out of toilet paper, **at least I’d have something to wipe my ass with.** ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/26 "2002-12-27T02:38:32Z")
**catsiz** No, Use an empty book to write in. Use a _book with words in it_ that you dislike, as toilet paper. Which has given me an idea for a IMHO thead - **Books you’d use as toilet paper** (if anyone else would like to create that thread - I wouldn’t object. That way it would not have my synonymous-with-annoying-witless-behaviour name on it) ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/27 "2002-12-27T02:40:40Z")
But **Lobsang** , all that ink stains my cute liittle ass. Hence I need to use the blank book. ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/28 "2002-12-27T02:51:55Z")
Dumb, unfunny, done to death. My (very Irish) grandma’s got a book like that called **The Wisdom of the Irish.** :smack: I’m not sure how that one ever got published, as it strikes me as a lot more potentially offensive than “lol men are lazy lol.” And as **Mighty\_Girl** said, the unfair generalizations apply to both sexes as well. What, so the wheedling, anal-retentive shrews that women are have to spend their days picking up after the lazy slobs that all men are? I wonder if we’re taking this whole thing too seriously, though. Yes, it’s dumb, unfunny and done to death, but that might just be the point. Besides, you’d have to wonder about the person who shells out whatever this book retails for a one-time joke that stopped being funny and started being overdone about 30 years ago. I’m waiting for one of the board’s few published authors to come in here and yell “ACKPHTLQXMFGTT!!! I had to crawl on my belly and suck the slime off people’s boots to get my novel published, but these two dingbats managed to publish a book that has NO CONTENT WHATSOEVER?!?!” ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/29 "2002-12-27T02:54:29Z")
{mmmm cute little ass) ! Did I say that out loud? ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/30 "2002-12-27T03:00:25Z")
Oh, waaaaait. > [@](#): > > 100 percent of the book’s profits will go to the Mid-Valley Women’s Crisis Service in Salem, which provides assistance to women and children who survive domestic violence. Well, that’s a noble cause, but it’s a bit inappropriate for a light joke… > [@](#): > > “We’re making fun of men, but the reality is, there’s a serious problem,” said Lindy Schweiger, 20. :eek: Yep, that’s pretty sexist all right. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/31 "2002-12-27T03:00:40Z")
Yes, the book is sexist and neither funny nor original. The same joke’s been around at least for thirty years, and I’m sure much longer. It’s certainly understandable that fair-minded people everywhere would be offended by it; however as member of the group that is the butt of the joke I would discourage that reaction. There is too much of that going on already. People seem to seek out being offended with a perverse glee. Raising people’s consciousnesses is a good thing, but you can do that without acting offended or insulted. I just think the world would be a better place if we all lightened up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/32 "2002-12-27T03:04:13Z")
Yeah - let women have their laugh. I don’t care. They make up for it by looking hot. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/33 "2002-12-27T03:06:42Z")
> [@](#): > > 100 percent of the book’s profits will go to the Mid-Valley Women’s Crisis Service in Salem, which provides assistance to women and children who survive domestic violence. Wow! This really does cross the unclear-of-the-concept threshold. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/34 "2002-12-27T03:17:04Z")
Lindy and Jordan dropped out of school to write a book that is completely blank… I think I know which way the punchline went… ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/35 "2002-12-27T03:20:32Z")
Ok, ya got me **Lobsang**. My ass ain’t little. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/36 "2002-12-27T03:36:09Z")
Ah, the “Idiot Man-Child” stereotype raises its ugly head again. I get so damned tired of watching commercials and movies make out that all men are helplessly stupid without all-knowing, super-competent women and children around to point out how helpless and stupid they are. My man is not stupid or helpless; he’s a complex, creative, intelligent human being, just like I am. Hello, media world? Think you can quit beating this stereotype into the ground yet? ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/37 "2002-12-27T03:36:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobsang \* > Yeah - let women have their laugh. I don’t care. They make up for it by looking hot. Unless: 1. They ain’t. 2. You’re not attracted to women. But other than that…😉 ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/38 "2002-12-27T04:15:04Z")
I used to get offended by stuff like this (actually, I think I may have been offended by this exact thing, like ten years ago, because this is some old shit), but now I just shrug it off. It can be useful, though. It gives you a clue about the inner workings of some people’s minds. If I knew someone who sincerely thought this was the funniest thing they’d ever seen, I’d be able to say “Okay, now I know where I stand with you” and I could take that into account when dealing with that person in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/39 "2002-12-27T04:56:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*This is a very old joke. I saw the wholly blank _Everything Men Know About Women_ book at least ten years ago. \*\* Yeah, I gave that to my step-mother as a Christmas present one year. Really, though, what bothers me is that the whole thing’s become a tired cliche and folks just won’t let it go. It was funny the first thousand times, now it’s starting to get old. Especially since I’m living in a trailer, hoping to goddess that I can scrape up the money to pay my bills. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036/40 "2002-12-27T07:01:23Z")
I dunno - as a bloke it looks pretty accurate to me. After all, ever seen a man try to cook? What a joke! Everyone knows a kitchen is **A WOMAN’S PLACE** , and any man who tries to enter the kitchen for any other reason than asking when dinner’s ready is a gender traitor. Same goes for those male goons who try to look after their children, change nappies, or do any of the other things that advertisements and comic strips have shown us again and again are the domain of women and _women only_. I don’t think that’s sexist at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-book-about-men-its-blank/145036.md?page=3)