I had this delightful little line thrown at me in an online conversation recently. The conversation was about abortion so if you can see how this comment is relevant then please, fill me in. It was over a month ago and I’m still trying to figure it out.
It all happened around that time of the filibuster in Texas. Remember that? People were getting their pro life/pro choice swords out and waving them about for all to see. Everyone had an opinion. Personally I don’t see that arguing about abortion is going to get anywhere. I don’t know what the stats are but I reckon that the vast majority never switch teams in this little debate.
Anyway, on this day when I first commented on the blog in question I didn’t set out to argue one way or another. Of course the conversation spiralled into pro life/pro choice and I ended up in the enviable position of defending my opinion. That’s all well and good. I’m up for a spar with anyone if the mood takes me. As long as people fight fair and are intelligent in their comments then I’m all for it. A little bit of debate keeps the brain active and healthy. So in one of my responses I happened to mention that I was a single parent. And that’s when that phrase came out.
“Ah, I see now. Because you are a single mom all men are shit?”
Notice that I’m calling it a phrase and not a question. I’m doing that deliberately. It looks like a question because there is a question mark at the end of it but it’s clear that it is not. How do I know this? Well look at the words that come before the “question”. They are expressing clarity and understanding. The words that followed were a statement of belief from this guy, they weren’t a question.
At that point I took my gloves off and threw them in the ring. I don’t spar with dirty players.
But it led me to ponder this single mom = man hater comment. Where the hell did it even come from?
I turned to my trusty friend Google for some more info and it is apparently a thing. I have no idea what to say about this except that it makes me sad. It’s like saying that homosexual men are paedophiles (actually that’s worse but my point is about the generalisation, not the accusation). It’s an unwarranted leap that has happened somewhere along the line and then been passed along like a Chinese whisper.
Apparently non single mums can be man haters too but in that case they are carpet munching feminists. I know this as I did a Google image search for the term ‘man hater’ and came up with lots of pics like this:
oooook then
See what I mean?
There are pictures so that must make it true right? Some people are simply stupid and delusional and there’s nothing you can do to help them.
Am I a man hater? No. Am I an idiot low life douche hater? Yeah well hate is a strong word but let’s just say I’m not a fan.
Don’t worry, it’s not gender specific. I don’t go much on idiot low life chicks either. And don’t get me started on stupid people.
PS. Yes I unfollowed the stupid person’s blog.
