“All men are pigs.”
This offhanded comment could not go unremarked by me. Not only is it untrue, but it’s hurtful.
It reveals a greater psycho-sociological problem that disproportionately affects vulnerable white women. Those like my friend, who end up saying these things and breathing them into existence. For someone who claims to be witchy, I don’t think she realizes just how much of a curse it is upon such a large swathe of society to say “all men are pigs” and believe it.
It’s unfair to the good men. To the men who have unlearned implicit biases. To the trans men. To the men who are only men sometimes. To the men who want to do better but don’t know how. To the men afraid to reach out. To the abused men. To the traumatized men. To men in power who want to make a difference.
Jesus is depicted as a man. Is he, too, a pig? Or does his divinity grant him a pass? (Perhaps this relies on fallacy too much to be a valid argument.)
The bottom line of my opinion is this: Lumping all men into any one category serves radical feminist and gender essentialist rhetoric, and it is regressive language. It’s dangerous to fall into that gender- and bio-essentialist trap.
Going forward?
As long as people speak about men like this and believe it, our society cannot healthfully and peacefully make progress toward achieving equity among the sexes (and genders, and let’s face it, all people).
I wish my friend inner peace. And I wish inner peace for all men. Every human shares a little piece of stardust with the next, so why should we NOT treat each other with love and respect?
Not all men are pigs. Pigs are pigs. Cops are pigs. But men are just men.
And men deserve better than heartless, witless insults.
They deserve love just as much as anyone else.
Date of origin: May 6, 2024. Minor edits made.