The Australian Financial Review went off-brand today when they published an article entitled 'Women should challenge men emotionally 'without whimpering or ball-breaking' and oh boy I am not impressed.
A 'psychotherapist' by the name of 'Dr' Patricia Morris wrote a book called Love & Sex - 50 Therapy Lessons. (Google searches have yielded no results as to whether this woman is who she says she is, however, the book is easily found on Amazon with customer commentary.)
A summary of the article; feminism has fucked up relationships.
The section that really riled me up, to the point I had to put it away and read something Kanye had tweeted to calm me down, lies under the heading 'Paradox of Feminism.' This section tells me that even though I'm a feminist chick with her shit together (sort of) that I will still submit to men, even want to, whether I like it or not.
No. I don't think so.
Morris writes, "Afterwards, she will analyse the significance of his every phrase. She will hurt if he shows insufficient interest in her, as if her preoccupation with him legitimises her expectation that he respond in kind"
A 'psychotherapist' by the name of 'Dr' Patricia Morris wrote a book called Love & Sex - 50 Therapy Lessons. (Google searches have yielded no results as to whether this woman is who she says she is, however, the book is easily found on Amazon with customer commentary.)
A summary of the article; feminism has fucked up relationships.
The section that really riled me up, to the point I had to put it away and read something Kanye had tweeted to calm me down, lies under the heading 'Paradox of Feminism.' This section tells me that even though I'm a feminist chick with her shit together (sort of) that I will still submit to men, even want to, whether I like it or not.
No. I don't think so.
Morris writes, "Afterwards, she will analyse the significance of his every phrase. She will hurt if he shows insufficient interest in her, as if her preoccupation with him legitimises her expectation that he respond in kind"
Let me tell you something I've learnt from years of dating. That's bullshit. Men say what they mean, they do what they mean to do. That meme he just posted online has nothing to do with you. It's pretty simple and best of all it will save you a lot of time.
It will also save me a lot of grief from listening to the beer garden analysts dissecting their latest romantic interactions. It sounds selfish I know but I'm tired of repeating myself.
For the last time, there are no hidden messages!
The next paragraph is a killer; "Paradoxically, despite describing herself as the equal of men, she will be offended or even feel threatened if a man leers at her. Violence and manhandling aside, she will be outraged, even hurt, if he directs at her his antediluvian sexism. These responses are incompatible with self-assured equality with men."
As a woman amongst many with experiences in sexual assault, domestic violence and sexual harassment, this 'doctor' can get fucked. Antediluvian sexism is the main reason we don't have equality and we need to call that crap out whenever we see it. All of us deserve the freedom to walk down the street without being reduced to a sex object.
I am equal to men, a lot of them just don't know it, yet.
Morris' totally lacking in scientific research theory continues into the bedroom, Apparently sex triggers a woman's biology into taking possession and being possessed by her man. A woman will compromise herself in the bedroom in order to gain his affection or approval. In this extract I come to realise Morris is promoting internalised misogyny. I think she actually approves of the patriarchy.
This whole article stinks of pre-women's liberation how to be a good housewife etiquette.
That time is over. Rather than telling women to behave as the men expect them to, we need to honestly tell ourselves, our friends, to dump the demanding, needy bastard and move on. I have no time for patriarchally conditioned men. Equality will remain a struggle as long as they live.
There are men out there who have risen to equality. I've seen them in action, they're happy, their families are happy and they're still men. They are far too rare though.
Psychotherapists like Morris are a scab on the equality movement. She'll give you an itch every now and then, leave an unsightly mark but in a few weeks will drop off into obscurity and be forgotten forever.
It's women like her who pander to men and the men produced by the patriarchy that make me a very happy single lady indeed.
So, in summary;
- Don't try to analyse the man, he's a simple communicator.
- Call out sexism constantly
- Don't settle for one who won't work with you
- Keep an eye out for unicorns
Finally, a word for the 'doctor'
