Oh. My. God.
"Crazy" Caroline: I'd be interested to hear what you think about Den Beste and what not. As the Drexel Dems' official feminist, would you like to expand on this topic?
I've been reading blogs pretty regularly since early 2003, before the Iraq war, when I was still in high school. Though I was somewhat familiar with Steven Den Beste, he was still a little before my time. So when Lawyers, Guns, and Money pointed to this post, I was reading it for the first time. All I can say is "wow!"
I would dismiss it as the ranting of a crank, but so many of my elders insist that Den Beste was actually a prominent conservative blogger before he went into exile.
I don't want to write this just to pick on some poor, lonely, guy, but rather I want to point out to the young ones around here how much sexual identity often has to do with politics. I admit, when I first started reading blogs, I thought a lot of the feminist bloggers (the pandagon crew) saw sexual politics where they didn't exist sometimes. I've since realized how naive I was.
Click "There's More..." and I'll elaborate for the blog-novice Drexel Dems.
Seriously, go read this post by Den Beste. It's unbelievable because it's an admission of guilt for everything feminists have ever accused right-wingers of. Den Beste is whinning that women, or, female persons as he calls them, don't love him like he loves them. It's sad and pathetic, but everytime you start to feel sorry for the guy, he says something so idiotic and offensive that it feels ok to laugh at him again. Everything wrong in his life is someone else's fault, and it's usually the fault of a women.
You can see how guys like Den Beste think that women need to be punished for living their lives beyond Den Beste's control. Rightwing attitudes about abortion, equal rights, the right not be be raped or sexually harassed, the right to work, all of these flow directly from the sexual attitudes and frustrations of men like Den Beste into our national politics.
I promise you, you won't be disappointed if you read it. It explains a lot about the wingnuts and their sexual-political hangups. I applaud Den Beste for his honesty, but he was so deluded he thought that people would read it and think "hey, he's right" instead of "hey, he's pathetic."
I definitely recommend reading the LG&M post about gender anxiety and imperialism.
Pick out your favorite parts from Den Beste's "essay" for the comments. I can't pick a favorite, but here are a few top ones:
- When Den Beste thought that the stripper really liked him
Now I have no illusions about her motivation: it was mostly mercenary (though that doesn't completely explain that last big hug).
- How he felt the need to keep mention how loaded he is:
(Understand that this represented a minor expense for me; because I am very well off financially.)
- When he laments that if only that nice latina in his office didn't get fired, he totally would be banging some of her hot latina friends right now:
Unfortunately, two months later she was laid off, and as an upper class professional Anglo, I no longer have a way to make contact with that culture, where I'm sure I could have found what I'm looking for. Had she remained employed there, I suspect I'd be married by now.
- And Finally, for the creepiest moment, when he describes what a gentlemen he is when he gets lap dances (for which he pays handsomely, because he's loaded after all). I'm not going to quote any of that, for obvious reasons.
