I have a different perspective on all of this stuff.
I think people have a peculiar sweet tooth for seeing society as being toxic. New-agey movement that has the profound sense that “science” is a biological and psychological poison. Insular cultures believe that other cultures and peoples are to be kept out of their utopia. Scientologists believe that
Basically, today’s vapid quazi-feminist movement sees men and women as clones. In this particular society-is-sick iteration, any instances of gender differences in outcome is evidence of discrimination. Since there will, at least over the span of evolutionary time, always be gender differences and therefore different gender outcomes, it’s the gift that will keep on giving to those who get a charge from the belief that society is sick.
The trope that’s become in vogue these days is that we’re living in a “rape culture”. This is the shark-jumping moment. It’s taken the ugliest word and the most heinous deed and applied it to the broadest possible scope of human interaction. Really: this is a rape culture. That’s the tenor and intensity of emotion that accompanies this particular brand of the age-old psychological impulse to see society as sick, and even threatening.
As one of innumerable gifts that keeps on giving, any jackass can say brain-dead and aggressive stuff on a YouTube video. When it happens, it creates the opportunity to say, and truly believe:
“Rape and death threats have become a standard response to any woman who dares to speak out on the internet about, well, anything.”
Why is that little word “a” not unpacked? Is it too many syllables to specify that it is (and not “has become”) the standard response by jackasses, who indeed exist? No, I think that that little vowel illustrates our sweet tooth to see society as sick.
The levels of conflation and plain-old exaggeration are myriad. Greeting beautiful women is not just impolite, or lacking in tact. It’s aggression toward women. Appealing to boys by depicting women in their prototypical beautiful physical form is an insult to women. It’s not deliberate deception; it’s quite genuine sentiment. But it’s meant to move the needle perception that society is sick. To feed the sweet tooth.
My metaphor quota for the week is now full.
