So It's Like This.

I've had this happen a couple of times before. Actually several times.

It's like this…. A member of my gender (NOT SPECIES! SPECIES CANNOT INTERBREED WITH ONE ANOTHER!) is seen doing something disapproving to women. It could be anything from stupid sexist comment, to you know, being shitty and emotionally abusive to girlfriend. Or, you know, movie characters or romance novel males being idiots to their loves.

Let's not get into the argument about how wrong those men are, okay? It's general knowledge that Richard made a boo-boo in public radio, not the way Nik Aziz used to boo-boo about anything in front of the Press, but somewhere on the line. And the prick who's emotionally abusive to his girlfriend? Not worth talking about. Ditto movie characters or romance novels.

No, no. Let's get into the fact that when the conversation always somehow, some way, women say this, or words to this effect:

“Men suck!”

All men?

I've learnt some things in the past half-decade or so. I really have. Five years ago, I adored women. I mean, you folks could do nothing wrong. It's the always the Men who have erred, the Men who are boors, the Men who are unenlightened, the Men who should change. Not enough Men make women happy.

I've since learnt that this is apparently inaccurate. Imagine my surprise.

Look, men have done stupid things. Sure. Folly follows the actions of men throughout the ages. We're now, in popular culture, regarded as a cross between boors, idiots and beasts (you don't think so? Go watch a sitcom). That's fine; as a society, we need to get that off our chests, for the things we have done, historically.

But stupidity and folly isn't the only province of Male-dom. I've seen women do some pretty stupid things myself. Folly follows everyone.

It's not Men that suck. No, no, no. It's people who suck, not men.

You want to sit around and bitch about how stupid the men are in your life? I can't stop you. Hell, I've been known to listen with at least a sympathetic ear about everything apart from the gender-bashing. But it all sounds a little bit like Jordan's Two Solitudes, you know? It just does.