A friend – not prone, as far as I know, to exaggeration – told me that one of the most popular male sexual fantasies involves incest. More specifically, she said that father-daughter roleplay is “one of the most popular requests for phone sex hotlines in our society.” From this I may reach one of three conclusions: either my friend has serious delusions about male perversity, she is deliberately trying to trick me, or men are pigs.
Let’s eliminate the 2nd conclusion before we go any further since, one, I don’t believe she’d do that, and, two, it’s far less interesting than the other two.
Conclusion number one is very probable. It isn’t like I haven’t heard other female friends and colleagues spew forth ridiculous “facts” about the male sex. For example, I was told by a very level headed young woman that, in a survey conducted some years ago in a sociology course, over 70% of the males polled said they would commit rape if they had the chance. Now, even barring statistical error or the possibilty that the class was simply full of delinquents, these are shocking results. She blamed the high percentage on the prevalence of violent pornography. Of course, this is a vicious cycle. One might rightfully ask which came first, the rape fantasy (or to take it one step further – the rapist) or the violent porn? I’d argue that the former preceded the latter. This is getting a bit off-topic though. (There’s no doubt in my mind that the media breeds misogyny in us only as much as our existing predjudices allow. Perhaps it taps into a well-hidden corner of the male psyche which is, I believe, why – when polled – Americans believe we are slightly but not by a statistically insignificant margin more ready for an African American President than a female President. This misogynist germ exists in each and every one of us, even females to a certain extent; that is, a sense that we are somehow fundamentally different exists between the sexes if not from the day we are born, then from the day we begin to mature, while racism is not what you’d call innate in the least. Systematic maybe but certainly not innate. I won’t get into a nature nurture or political debate here; so, let’s just end this deviation at that.) I’d take issue with the validity of the statistics since, when researched, I found the test administrator’s definition of rape needlessly broad (you may try to find this study yourself and decide whether or not my assessment aligns with your own; I cannot locate it at the moment). Accordingly, I may take the aforemetnioned hearsay with a heaping spoonful of sodium chloride.
The last conclusion is, nevertheless, the most probable for obvious reasons. I am apt to accept any terrible thing said about men, all men, singularly or as a species, great and small.
Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, men are pigs, misogyny, women
