Sexist Bullshit

Earlier today I tweeted:

"Men can't write women" should join "Women aren't funny" on the dustbin of sexist bullshit.

Obviously I screwed up the preposition. It should be "IN" not "ON," but oh well. I'm a noob.

It's a thought that's been sticking with me ever since I saw a documentary on the True Grit Blu-ray called "Charles Portis: The Greatest Writer You Never Heard of."

Interesting doc about an interesting subject, but there was a part where a woman (who I think may have been Nora Ephron) was praising Portis's ability to write True Grit from the perspective of a 14 year old girl. I'm paraphrasing here, but the woman said something like, "That's hard for a man to do," the implication being that "men can't write women" as a rule and that Charles Portis deserves special praise because he proved to be an exception.

Now it doesn't bug me so much that she made this statement. I know there are people who believe that men are incapable of writing about women, just as I know that there are people who believe that women aren't funny. What bugs me is the casual way she just throws it out there, as if it's some grand point about Portis's work, and how the damn editors of the doc put it in.

Imagine Mel Gibson or some other notorious misogynist talking about Erma Bombeck or Chelsea Handler or any other female humor writer and saying flat out that their work deserves special praise because it's funny, and well...woman aren't usually funny.

Bullshit, man. The funniest person I know is a woman. The best writers? A lot of them have been men. Maybe the essential truth is that when it comes to writing about women or being funny, it doesn't matter what's between your legs. What matters is what's between your ears.

Not Cooperative

Sometimes I wish I was a dentist, just so I can find out whether pulling teeth is literally easier than getting incompetent theater staff to do something. I think it is...but that's only based on the sheer effort required to accomplish anything with these clowns.

A few other things easier than cajoling theater staff into action:

Climbing mountains, erecting buildings, putting out wildfires, rolling a perfect bowling score, herding cats, raising taxes...

Twittered

I thought it was high time I joined Twitter, so I did. If you're a tweeter, look me up. It's free, it's easy...you know the drill.

Whitewash

This photo cracked me up when I saw it. Supposedly it depicts Mitt Romney doing his own laundry a couple days ago in South Carolina.

I guess this is supposed to take him down a peg, show the rest of the world that despite the bank accounts worth millions down in they Caymans, Mitt's just a regular dude.

Of course, he's not just a regular dude. Not really.

I'm also sure that he doesn't spend much time doing laundry or other household chores, what with the running for president thing and all. How did Newt Gingrich win in South Carolina? Cuz Mitt Romney was at the laundromat.

And really? I know Mitt Romney has to convince voters that he's recognizably human, but why not have a photo op somewhat related to the job for which he's applying? Like he's gonna be up at the White House, doing laundry...