Today, Mal and I were leaving Little Land when a guy watching Mal bop along behind me said, "Girls are so much fun." I just smiled and nodded because, ya know, we're never going to see this guy again.
But he wasn't finished.
He went on: "I have a 4-year-old daughter, and she's the smartest thing. My 22-year-old son? He's an idiot." Um. Congrats? I just kept heading for the door.
More: "Women are just so much better than men; they're the future. I swear, if you guys were physically stronger than men and could have taken over first, it would be so much better."
At this point, I wished I'd corrected him. But I also didn't want to engage. So we just left.
But, seriously, what was this guy trying to do? It was pandering, if we were both female, and since he had mis-gendered my son, he was basically insulting my child to my face.
Listen, I'm all for smashing the patriarchy, but not because men are stupid or I hate those jerks. It's because I oppose systemic favoring of one gender (or nationality or ethnicity or religion or body type or... etc.) over another. Period.
I happen to know and love a lot of smart, fun, men: My dad, my husband, and the son this guy singled out as being a "fun" gal... Pretty neat folks to know.
I need to develop a script to have my response ready next time someone, especially some DUDE, starts off on a condescending diatribe about how awful males are, because this isn't a zero sum game and everyone gets to be as awesome as they want to be. Any suggestions?
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