December 7, 2007

Psychology Today, "Scientifically"-Condoned Patriarchal Domination Tomorrow

Now, I wouldn't consider myself a very politically correct or incorrect person, I'm pretty neutral. But I can call BS out when I see it, and this article from Psychology Today, "Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature," clearly constitutes as such. The piece justifies the (largely false) claims "...women want to look like [blond, blue-eyed, busty, blonds]" and that "men sexually harass women because they are not sexist," using "human nature," which here means thinly-veiled misogyny and racism disguised as legitimate psychology.

Quoth the piece, "First, our thoughts, feelings, and behavior are produced not only by our individual experiences and environment in our own lifetime but also by what happened to our ancestors millions of years ago." Which is why, you know, I have a burning desire to go make fire out of two sticks and draw on my bedroom wall with buffalo blood. 

The article goes on to say that "women's desire to look like Barbie—young with small waist, large breasts, long blond hair, and blue eyes—is a direct, realistic, and sensible response to the desire of men to mate with women who look like her." 

First off, why is this sensible? Far be it from such an honest publication to condone chauvinism! While I understand that many men do prefer said women, a good portion are fairly indifferent to a women's appearance at all. PT not only offends women by telling them they're bound to comply to these standards (and abnormal if they don't), it offends men calling them shallow and superficial. A double whammy!

The articles tenth and final "truth" infuriated me the most: "...men are not treating women differently from men—the definition of discrimination, under which sexual harassment legally falls—but the opposite: Men harass women precisely because they are not discriminating between men and women."

If that's the case, then why aren't men sexually-harassed and why aren't women getting the equal paychecks and cushy office chairs? Apparently, Psychology Today has replaced science with sexism.  

1 comment:

Emily said...

Wow. That PT article is appalling. "Men harass women precisely because they are not discriminating between men and women," doesn't even make logical sense!