This is for all those women who think that they are entitled to pass judgment on men. So you think that because you bleed for three days and live you now have some kind of authoritative right to dismiss men as the lesser half of the evolutionary elite? I think not, because while women have a unique set of difficulties to overcome which men cannot truly relate to, we have our own demons to face. Some may try to embrace it as a part of themselves that they cannot change, others may not wish to change, and others still just don't have a clue as to the damage they cause.
The fact of the matter is, ladies, that men have a whole 'nother monster on the inside. I've heard a rather vulgar description of this as being that who misbehave are, "thinking with their penis." The truth is far from it, but to say that they are thinking with membranous length of tissue that stiffens when filled with blood is just oversimplifying the issue. The male sex drive can bring out a whole different side of men, as if they were a completely different person; someone more base and animalistic. Here's the clincher: that animal-like man comes out every time they are aroused and that could be as many as 60 times in a single day. It's not just something we can choose to turn on and off at will like a light switch, but believe me I wish it were that way at times.
This is no excuse for misconduct on the part of men. I am not writing this to justify or vindicate the savage behavior that some men indulge themselves in, but to truly understand you have to think in terms of it being like two men inside one body. One is Dr. Jekyll while the other is Mr. Hyde. Every man has a choice as to which one they want to be, but they can't completely squash out the other because without Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll would be dead. Mr. Hyde is the side of us that is passionate, decisive, impulsive, defensive, protective, and needs to procreate. Without those however, we'd be a weak and apathetic little pieces of helpless trash that wouldn't be worth anyone's time.
Every honest and decent man still has Mr. Hyde lurking in the shadows, and portions of that personality come out at the appropriate times to offer characteristics which the Dr. Jekyll side needs to be a strong leader. It's degrading and dehumanizing to hear women talk as if the Mr. Hyde part of us is simply the result our rigid members, because that is only a symptom of a larger problem. A man who treats a woman in an objectifying way is making a choice to be more like Mr. Hyde than is necessary for him to be a strong man. Instead of doing things because they are right, he does things because it is gratifying, the kind of mindset of the Mr. Hyde that resides within every man.
So ladies, please consider my words the next time you feel like making an off-hand comment about your male counterparts.
Until next time,
De Facto
Adding to this (and I believe I am) would be based on something that would have started with your comments on "Twilight". There is some truth to your comments that Edward's struggle with wanting to suck Bella's blood could be equated to the male hormonal impulse as described above. His desire to protect Bella is one of the major characteristics that makes him attractive to so many females. The issue with this is that though he does protect her from other things the major thing he protects her from is this blood sucking drive that almost takes over at times.
ReplyDeleteI have not read much of the books but from what I understand Edward avoided intimate contact at first because of this making it even more equatable to the circumstance.
So basically any female that respects and admires Edward's willingness and ability to control this desire for blood should respect a man who, though he has these urges, to control it.
I intentionally shied away from using any analogies to vampires, Twilight, and such because I think that vampire lore glorifies the Mr. Hyde in every man.
ReplyDeleteEdward, for many reasons, is a poor example of a respectful man. While he did not give in to his blood-sucking nature; he was controlling, obsessive, and manipulating. We can't look at Edward's ability to maintain his "vegetarian" diet around the woman who appeals to him without looking at the way he stalked her relentlessly and tried to scare away any and all competition.