About Men and Women

the oldest story

Just the other day, my wife said to me, “You don’t like women much. Do you?”

I was taken aback. I had just remarked that I didn’t like what a woman on TV had said about men. I guess I had made a rather emotional statement to that effect.

We have been together for over 45 years, and she has never said anything like that to me. I took a moment and thought about it. I listen to my wife and value what she says. (One of the reasons we’ve been together so long. Is we learn from each other)

Lately, I have to admit to feeling put off, not by all women, but by some women. Phrases like: toxic masculinity, white male privilege, male supremacy, and male hierarchy, to name a few, came to mind. Each grating on every nerve in my body and every brain cell. Navy boot camp came to mind – I thought my name was “spastic puke” by its end because that was how I was called most of the time.

After four years in the Navy, I went to college on the GI bill. Which paid tuition, but I worked full-time to pay the rest. I graduated with honors and debt-free. It was from a state school, thank God it wasn’t Harvard.

But during my college time, the women’s movement started in earnest. It was then that I started hearing about how bad men were and what we had done to women since the beginning of time.

I was not excited. After all, I put my life on hold for four years and risked my life for my country and women and children, or so I thought. It turns out I was just helping reinforce the male hierarchy to oppress everyone else.

Being four years (adult years) older than most of my fellow students, I couldn’t believe how small their thinking was. They made huge generalizations from limited facts, drew conclusions from wishful thoughts, and had no idea what the real world was like.

None of them had been involved in facing down the Russians in the North Atlantic or Mediterranean. I was there – not as a hero but as a man doing my job. Trying to talk about reality with them was like reasoning with a sea cucumber.

But I digress.

Do I not like women? The original question. Of course, I like women. Both sexes in partnership complete each other. I believe God made us that way (if you don’t believe God did it, then nature, through trial and error, did). However, it happened – it is the truth – like it or not.

Do I like every woman or man? Of course not. I don’t like being condescended to by the pompousness of any gender and will not accept it, especially from some ingrown mind of either sex. Don’t talk to me – talk to each other. I will gladly have nothing to do with you. I don’t wish you harm, but I will resist to my last breath you telling me what or how to be. I have spent my life learning that for myself.

Does that make me unreasonable?

I don’t care.