Saturday, October 29, 2011

Conservatism, and the Battle of the Sexes

Bill Bennett, former Secretary of Education and current self-appointed Determiner of What is Good and Proper in American Society, has turned his eye on men in America.  Put simply, he's demanding that American men "man up".  Put down the Xbox, pass up the Fantasy Football draft and, well, be men.  To be honest, I'm sort of drawn to Bennett's arguments, as I do sorta look with circumspection upon dudes who don't seem to want to grow up. 

Into the fray jumps a blog entry that takes apart some of Bennett's arguments...and more truth be told....some of the counters are pretty sensible too.  There's some flat-out misogyny in the post, but also some wisdom.   

H/T--Instapundit

3 comments:

Sally said...

There is definitely some wisdom in there. But that aside, I have to take issue with your comment that fantasy football is somehow a juvenile activity. It's a hobby, another way to enjoy football. Why is that unmanly?

The Conservative Wahoo said...

Good question Sally, because good guys that I know, who aren't slackers, do Fantasy Football. I suppose it has a lot to do with two things--the name (Fantasy? Doesn't that automatically bespeak a lack of seriousness?) and the very fact that it is escapism from escapism. We watch football as a form of entertainment and escape, from the drudgery of our everyday life. Does a serious man REALLY need a sublevel of escape from escape? I think not.

Stephen Monteith said...

You may infer a lack of seriousness from the word "fantasy", but not more than any other leisure activity. I mean, it's not as if they're fantasizing turning themselves into bowls of ice cream or arm wrestling rattlesnakes (although, now that I think of it, that'd be pretty cool). At least these "fantasies" are somewhat reasonable.

And it's not a sublevel of escapism; it's the next level. It's as close to audience participation as you can get. I do believe that some fans take their fandom too far, to the level of obsession; but as long as you keep it to "hobby" levels and it doesn't interfere with your relationships with the people in your life, I don't see any problem with it.

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