Are you a wet liberal? Are you a misogynist?

And did you have any idea ex-Red Dwarfer Robert Llewellyn has a regular video blog? Me neither, so thanks to Shiny Katie for the heads up.

Llewellyn's You Tube channel, the cleverly named Llewtube, contains more than 100 videos with a lot of interesting content. His latest "Wet Liberal" post discusses misogyny, and I'm interested to know what you think about it. More after the jump:

I like that Llewellyn talks openly and honestly about having the odd irrational misogynist thought from time to time and not feeling good about it. I'm sure that it's very common. If you actually watch the Diggnation episode he references (#177) it does include a very jokey discussion about how a man could inflict pain upon a woman that would be comparable to being kicked in the balls. Kevin Rose decides cutting off "a teat" with some scissors would do it.

Hmm. Is that funny? Not really. Is discussing violence towards men or women funny? Nope. Should those comments have been edited out? Hmm. I don't enjoy childish conversations where people make light of hurting others, and I think it's pretty weird content for a podcast, but what do you think?

Do you think it's better for people to express their innermost thoughts in this way, so that (hopefully) society jumps on them and makes them realise that's no way to conduct themselves, or is it better for them to keep quiet? How dangerous do you think it is for views like Kevin Rose's - however jokey their intention - to be broadcast to a large number of people? In the same way racists can be educated through logical argument and education, do you think misogynists should be given the chance to discuss their opinions in debate?

Readers, please discuss.

Laura

Thank you so much for commenting - I absolutely agree with you. As a feminist there are lots of places I can go to sound off and find support, and though I veer away from some groups/sites because they seem overly negative, at least I know they're there for me if I choose to access them.

I've often spared a thought for the nice, balanced, pro-equality men who get unfairly grouped in with their blokey brothers - it must be just as annoying for you as it is for an intelligent woman to be labelled a bimbo for her physical attributes. We're only going to hear the bad news too, no-one writes up the "Man and woman had nice conversation and went their separate ways" stories, do they.

Why isn't there a place for men to talk about these things?

Alabaster Crippens

The thing that I've become interested in lately is the idea that men do need a space to discuss how behaviour relates to the gender identity of maleness/masculinity, and what it means to be a man, experientially and conceptually. Feminism has done a great job of creating spaces for women to explore their identity and the way society creates part of it for them (and how to subvert it) but it hasn't extended across the gender divide. The only way to combat patriarchal misogyny is to stop it being a part of mainstream male identity. This means talking about what being a man really is and asking difficult questions about who acts violently and why (amongst other things).

Making any sense?

Are you a wet liberal? Are you a misogynist?

Are you a wet liberal? Are you a misogynist? - Comments

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