I'm So Over My Gender

Most of the books we read in my Detective Fiction class bore me to tears. Only Humphrey Bogart can make The Maltese Falcon less boring, and that is only on screen. I thought it would be the same way with Robert Parker's Promised Land. Oh was I wrong! I love this book to pieces, and I would recommend it to anyone. If you do not think you like the detective fiction genre, I especially recommend this to you. I'm so going to read the entire series, because Spenser is legit amazing.

That being said, the novel deals with feminist issues. More importantly, he takes on a guerilla feminist movement. These women are stupid, and they are using feminist rights as a disguise for their outright hatred of men (actually, they just have anger and direct it toward men). The women in this novel are nothing like the large majority of the feminists of the late 1970s. However, there were women like the ones in the novel who pushed feminist propaganda, disregarding that plenty of women choose to get married, have children, and not work.

But my professor had an issue with this. Apparently, in the eyes of Dr. Pompous, all feminists (even the borderline terroristic ones) are perfectly fine. They killed a man, but hey, they were doing it for a cause! They were sticking it to the man! Who cares if he was just doing his job as a guard when they try to rob a bank?!

Yeah, see why I had an issue with this?

Then my professor started talking about how Spenser disregards women throughout the whole book. He sees attractive women on the street and rates their appearance even though he is in a committed relationship. As if he doesn't have freaking eyes! If my professor (who talks about his marriage ad nauseum) hasn't fantasized about another woman throughout his marriage, I feel really sorry for him.

But this is not where the really annoying part started. The argument (when I was outraged) started when Dr. Pompous decided that Spenser's girlfriend shouldn't be with him. See, Susan (Spenser's gf) is an independent, older divorced woman. She has a career, and she is incredibly intelligent. Professor wanted to know how a woman like her could ever be with a "buffoon" like Spenser. I defended him. Then a girl in the back said, "Susan tells 'I love you' and he doesn't say anything back. And then she comes back two days later saying sorry! She has a right to be mad!" I was so over it at this point. I told her, "That is so backwards. If a man said 'I love you' first and got mad when there was no reply, he would be considered a pig for pushing her when she isn't ready! Completely backwards, and it's against your so-called feminist stance."

Yes, I was mad.

Then class ended.

As I was walking out of the classroom, I heard two girls (so-called "feminists") yelling about the things I said. One girl said, "I've been in that fight before; it would not be ok for me not to say 'I love you' back!"

If you really don't know if you love your partner, you shouldn't be pushed to say it back. If you get into a fight, one or both of you is dumb and doesn't deserve the other.

And you know had Spenser said 'I love you' to Susan but had really not meant it, they would have been so pissed. What is with the double standard?

I'm just so over my gender sometimes.

If you want to be equal, you have to take the consequences. Susan chose to say it first, and it didn't end the way she wanted. She got mad, but then she got over it. And you know what? At that point he had figured it out. He did love her.

So, case in point: some members of my gender are dumb. And they embarrass all women everywhere.

PS- this book series was made into a tv series. This guy played Spenser. It makes me giggle, because Spenser is not all like this.

And yes, that is Susan. She matches what I imagined more so than Spenser.