It has nothing to do with the gay theme. People are finding Cohen’s humor unappealing just like they didn’t like Letterman’s Palin jokes.

A man in a bar once accused me of being a lesbian because I wouldn’t go to his room.

My standard answer to that jibe, delivered with my sweetest smile, is “No, I am not gay, just very picky.” It cracks up the other men in the group and makes the man feel like a fool for accusing me of being gay. When I am asked if I am gay by a gay woman, I just smile and say, “Sorry, hon, I am straight.” It seems that the men mind that I am not gay more than the gay women do. Funny, isn’t it?

?

I just can’t win with you, can I?

Congratulations on your visit to the Red Light district in Amsterdam.

No congrats needed. I just hopped on my bicycle and went to the Last Waterhole to see some friends’ gig. Anyone can do it. It’s best not to look at the display windows of the sex shops, they are disgusting and depressing.

I call myself a ‘lazy b_____!’ when I punk out in my workout — and I don’t mean gender. My yoga instructor Brandi is like Coach Lombardi — she busts my ass in yoga practice.

“Straight men, however, have every reason to be afraid of gay men because they have a penis, and can do damage if they choose to do so. So it’s really pretty simple.”

It takes two to tango. If a straight man is afraid of gays because he doesn’t know if the gay man will ‘damage’ him with his penis, then the straight man isn’t exactly so straight, is he?

Boycott DNC fundraisers. The DNC is not lifting a finger to ensure that the GLBT community access to their Constitutional rights as US citizens.

Before I try to answer, let me repeat what I wrote in my disclaimer at the beginning of this piece:

I think maybe men are just too damn weird for women. Seems the more they learn about men, the less they like them. I can’t say as I blame them. I don’t like men much either.

Although I am a man, I have very few male friends. I find most of them somewhat Neanderthalish and highly prejudiced. When a guy like myself tries to persuade guys like those to wise up, get over their prejudices, and become more rational, it usually falls on deaf ears. It seems that in their way of thinking, I’m the oddball, and they dismiss my attempts to educate them.

Let me take your questions individually.

Why do men feel compelled to put down women who are strong, independent and speak their minds? Most recent examples being Hillary and Sarah.

I think this was explained by some of the asshole commentators, like Jonah Goldberg and Keith Olberman, when they made comments like, “She sounds like every man’s ex-wife.” “Her voice is like nails on chalkboard.”
Many men have had bad experiences with women who “harped” on them, “henpecked them,” and in the cases of ex-wives, “took everything they owned, including the kids.” I think it’s a little difficult for them to separate their own personal experiences with the women in their lives from women in power.

And yes, it’s true, some men are just plain idiots, misogynists, and homophobes, all in one!

I think if you look at the rallies that Hillary and Sarah held, with thousands of enthusiastic male supporters, and look at the ballot results of Hillary’s primary elections, it’s evident that large numbers of men have no problem at all supporting a powerful woman and voting to make her more powerful. This is not an area where most men think alike.

If they have had bad experiences with women in their personal lives (i.e., women who were not interested in making them happy, ex-wives who cleaned them out, and some female bosses who let their own bad experiences with men negatively affect how they manage their male underlings), they are more likely to recoil from women they perceive as “bitchy” or who got where they are by fluke (Sarah) or riding their husbands coattails (Hillary), or who seem like “affirmative action or Title IX” beneficiaries.

Plus, there are plenty of Neanderthals who just can’t take having anyone but a white man in power. As I said, these men are not my friends, and to be fair, there are plenty of women who give these men “reasons” to be prejudiced against women. It’s not right, but it’s real.

This is an example of why we who are smarter than average must take care to have our own prejudices under control. There are good and bad in every group. Most of the havoc in my life was caused by my former wives or lovers, because they were the ones I shared my life with. But I don’t blame all women for the actions of these few. I ask that the wise women here be just as responsible and be careful not to blame all men for the actions of a few.

What I think you’re saying is that men are hard wired to act a certain way due to some ancient genectic heredity. So, does this mean men are not capable of changing such behavior as aggressiveness and being demeaning, abusive, dismissive and controlling towards any woman who does not stay within their definition of what a woman should be and how she should act towards a man?

Hoo boy, compound questions!

I think I kind of answered part of this above. As for our biological hard-wiring, men are aggressive by and large, as we were the hunter/warriors in our primitive cultures. Sexually, we tend to be conquerors too. Unfortunately, many men have not evolved much in this area. Some still think it’s OK to use their physical advantages to get their way. This does NOT apply only to females. These men use the same tactics against other men all the time, but with obviously different purposes. The Alpha male wants everyone to be subserviant to them, and the lesser males demand the same from those they can overpower. Most men see themselves as leaders and women as followers. Many (most?) women accept and reinforce this standard with their husbands. So, the powerful intelligent women are few and far between in the experience of these men, which makes it uncomfortable, sometimes intolerable, for them.

I really don’t understand why men still view women as some sort of enemy, if we aren’t willing to be solely an object of sexual fantasy and desire for them. We are much more than that and I honestly don’t understand why that frightens men so.

Men are very careful about how they deal with women they don’t know out of concern they may have to deal with her husband or the law if she gets upset. When they find they can’t deal with a woman on a personal or sexual level, nor on a peer level, or must be cautious out of respect or concern for the men who protect her, it might seem easier to be dismissive. I don’t know of any men, off the top of my head, who consider women The Enemy, except in facetious terms.

Sometimes evolution is painfully slow.

Do other women feel this compulsion to draw attention to the disparity in respect afforded women? The first step in resolving a problem is to define it so it’s universally recognized and to fight the tendency to let things pass rather than rock the boat.

Steve’s post is meant to be humorous yet the reaction to my joke about Viagra was interpreted as an attack on male virility (which I strongly support and that is meant as a joke for those who don’t appreciate my humor).

Bragging is a form of exhibitionism not limited to juveniles.

Congratulations on your visit to the Red Light district in Amsterdam.

anything I write will be disregarded as the “ranting” of a man-hater.

Elise….Nobody thinks your a Man hater especially me…

I fear I have tarnished my reputation

I personally was not happy with some of your posts, but since you are a Jim Morrison fan, you can’t be all bad, ;-).