Self-Made Idiot
Norah Vincent, sensationalist ding-dong du jour and anti-choice lesbian “log cabin Libertarian" (my coin, thank you very much) journalist, dressed as a man for eighteen months, and yo, she’s all up on the down low, y’all. ‘Cause, uh, she pasted some prickly bits to her face and walked really, really butch, dude. Oh, and she/he joined a “blue-collar” bowling league, went to strip clubs, and dated over thirty women whom she duped via the Internet, then wrote a book about it..I don’t plan on reading “Self-Made Man,” for two reasons:
1) I hate hypocrites
2) I really hate hypocrites
On dating these straight women, she remarks that she became, "a momentary misogynist," because they, and I’m paraphrasing here, “talk too much.” Men have it hard, she states, because they aren’t allowed to express emotions. Men have it tough, you understand, because they get rejected sometimes, and golly, that hurts!
To paraphrase yet again (because I like to twist things to my advantage), Vincent believes straight womenfolk are nothing but a bunch of whiny, calculating incessant talkers who complain way too much about those poor, misunderstood men who knocked them up, slapped ’em around, slept with their best friend, then headed for the hills. And how dare those jabber jawed, cat-clawed, bully bitches demand reproductive rights? How dare they show emotions, put up a bit of defense around a strange man, and act so goshdurned standoffish when meeting other women? Why, those silly, competitive cows ought to take a lesson from the guys and shake hands like they mean it, give Betty a warm, hearty pump and a big ol’ slap on the back, dagnabbit! Sheesh, would it crimp a lady’s style too much to let loose a little? Go watch naked people swing on poles? Bowl a couple of games with the broads without complaining about their broken nails? Also, they really ought to stop turning down Dudley when he shambles on over and asks them to dance, okay? That’s so damn cold. Have a heart for once -- a pity fuck here and there wouldn’t kill them, would it?
So, as you can see, Norah/Ned is the Desmond Morris of anthropology, the Sigmund Freud of psychology, the Tookie to Dustin Hoffman‘s Tootsie, and in my opinion, the epitome of hypocrisy.
She, like so many of her counterparts, e.g., gay folks who inexplicably rally round the right, exhibits her hypocrisy by lying with dogs and blaming the flea bites on the left wing media that gave her a voice in the first place. Don’t believe me? Read some of her op-ed pieces and interviews, many of which are available on the 'Net. I spent the better part of this morning doing just that, and my stomach hurts from ingesting such tripe, so much so, I'm too ill to linky link. If you’re so inclined, and don’t mind a tummy ache, go ahead and search her name.
Vincent’s associations remind me a little of that syndrome where the hostage begins to identify with the hostage-taker -- what’s that called? Stockholm Syndrome, that’s it. Methinks the lady has gone down on her knees in the name of self-preservation.
But seriously, is Vincent’s anti-women’s rights and anti-transgender thinking due to her years of being subjected to society’s male-dominated ideology, wherein she, the “oppressed” has, for purpose of survival, identified with the oppressor, or is she merely a big confused rat who finds it difficult to navigate through her maze of sexual-identity issues, thus making herself feel as if she’s gotten somewhere -- scored the cheese -- by siding with this country’s weirdly misogynistic and homophobic status quo? Maybe it’s just because she’s been spending too much time at the bowling alley knocking back brewskies and making fun of rape victims with Camille Paglia? Cripes, whatever the reason for her apparent man-worship, the woman doth flatulate too much.
People are people, gay, straight, men, women, transgender, eunuchs -- all of us have it rough in some ways. We all hurt, we all have issues that are unresolved, and we all come into this world without asking for an invite. We all do the best we can with what we are given. A penis, sorry to say, affords a person more advantages -- well, only if that penis goes where it’s supposed to, if you get my drift -- and you’d have to be either an asshole or blind, deaf, dumb and lobotomized to not realize that stark, sad fact. I’d give Vincent the benefit of the doubt and say that perhaps she is blind, deaf and dumb, and has been lobotomized, but I saw her on Good Morning America this morning, and she appears healthy and whole, so I must then conclude that she’s merely an asshole.
posted by Ms. Lori @ 11:00 AM
7 Comments:
JESUS MISS LORI YOU DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT BROADS ARE DUMB. JUST GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK LADY SKULL THAT NO ONE WITHOUT A PENIS IS REALLY ACTUALLY HUMAN AND
okay, i can't keep that up. it was going to be funny but then I just started feeling icky.
Eewww. Thanks for the warning. I can't look.
Actually, Anonymous, "lady skull" made me chortle. COME BACK, O MANLY-SKULLED BASTARD! COME BAAAAACK!
Justice, and her writing skills, from what I've read, are sorely lacking in the imaginative flair department.
I haven't read this book either, but like you I'm not going to let that stop me from commenting on it.
Since you haven't read the book, I'm not sure where you are getting your information about it, but from what I've read in reviews at the NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/books/review/22kamp.html) and Salon (http://www.salon.com/books/review/2006/01/20/vincent/) and other places, her comments about dating wasn't that women "talk too much" on dates, but that the women she dated seemed to her to come into the dates with a chip on their shoulders regarding all men (that "he" had to prove "himself" before "he" could be trusted), while the men that she met trusted and accepted until given a reason not to.
I really think that her point in the book is that women have very little idea of what it is like to live as a man in American society. You could likewise make the same argument that men like me have very little understanding of what it is like to be a woman.
I thought that her example of what she noticed when walking down the street as a man was a great illustration of this. I never really thought about how women feel as "an object of desire or at least semiprurient interest to the men who waited there, even if you weren't pretty".
Needless to say, I am looking forward to reading this book with an open mind for what I can learn from it.
Brn, thank you for your comments.
I won’t be reading this book based on Vincent’s apparent hypocrisy as well as the ridiculous statements uttered or written by her. The “talking incessantly” bit I paraphrased was taken from her GMA interview (I’m about 90% sure on that -- having done a lot of research yesterday, it all becomes a big blur); I tried to find a transcript online, but no luck. I’m not a paid blogger, nor is this blog held to any standard by way of newsy importance, so I feel no obligation to always link to sources, though I usually do provide links when warranted.
Regarding the good reviews for “Self-Made Man,” I did read a couple of glowing reviews for her book, but the majority are iffy, so-so at best. In fact, some even appear to smirk even as they attempt to be cordial.
I can see why this book would appeal to some men -- Vincent panders to the white, straight male population so blatantly, were I a member of this group, I might like the book, too! In my opinion, she’s nothing more than a lackey pimp for the hetero male “cause.” I find that laughable.
Here’s but one quote out of many that exemplifies this woman’s odd thinking regarding her own gender:
“I saw my own sex from the other side, and I disliked women irrationally for a while because of it. I disliked their superiority, their accusatory smiles, their entitlement to choose or dash me with a fingertip, an execution so lay, so effortless, it made the defeats and even the successes unbearably humiliating."
http://www.suntimes.com/output/books/cst-books-vincent01.html
My thoughts are this: She became a “momentary misogynist” during her cross-dressing experience because, quite frankly, she *is* one. Ned was just the vehicle that allowed her to admit it to herself.
***blushes***
Why, Mister Jas, you do know how to charm a lady.
***lifts petticoats***
And for that, kind sir, you get a peek at my bloomers!
***bends over***
Jeepers, do you have any lessons on how to combat dickweeds who spam blog comments despite word verification? That'd be awesome!
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