CarbonDate's Comments (314)

“The comment about the feminization of men is not about men exploring their feminine side, but being consumed by it. The movie is (partly) about the need for men to re-explore their *masculine* sides, which in part means the instinct to fix and construct things, to conquer one's environment, and to provide for and protect one's family. When those instincts are subverted in favor of more feminine nesting instincts (which most of us simply do not possess to begin with), frustration can mount in men. Most such frustrated men simply live lives of quiet desperation -- others choose to express the frustration in a violent manner. But most don't even understand why they're frustrated.

In the movie, Tyler says: "In the world I see - you are stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You'll wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You'll climb the wrist-thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. And when you look down, you'll see tiny figures pounding corn, laying strips of venison on the empty car pool lane of some abandoned superhighw­ay."

I promise you that most men will find that vision appealing on some level or another.”

“QT's movies are always about other movies.”

“You can call it "chasing", others might call it "predation". It's two sides of the same coin. If the woman is interested, then it's a fun "chase". If she's not, it's stalking.

This isn't a minor point, by the way. The idea of males as predators is being reinforced and even encouraged by this thinking which says that the man has to initiate contact and do all the courting because men enjoy chasing and conquering. The ugly side of that impulse manifests itself in the form of stalking and rape. I'm not sure that women shouldn't be more empowered to choose their own mates and perhaps that males shouldn't be permitted to take a more passive role in the process, if only to give it a greater sense of balance.

Men used to initiate contact through the father, and upon marriage the groom would pay the father. Asking the father's permission was based on that old practice, and while most regard that practice as antiquated, we still hold to the idea that men should initiate the contact. I don't regard it as biological. I regard it as sociological, and that can be changed.

If a woman is empowered enough to approach a man and finds out that that man needs to chase and conquer a woman like she's an elk, well, maybe they're not such a hot match.”

“Indeed. And what of gay couples? Who chases whom in that situation? Do the "the Rules" just not apply to them?

It is, as you say, silly.”

“I reiterate that Polanski should be in prison.”

“Sounds like she double-booked in case her Plan A backed out. Not that I've *ahem* ever had that happen....”

“Har har har. :P

The fine line between trying too hard and not trying hard enough eludes me. I was raised to behave like a gentleman, but increasingly I find that those mores are outdated to the point that I'm actually odd. We're moving increasingly back toward caveman mores, and I'm just not interested in regressing like that.

Of course, I'm occassionally told that if I want to meet "nice girls" who appreciate a gentleman, I need to meet them at church. Kind of difficult for an atheist like me. Really, I just need to get out of the military.”

“Reading dating advice (on both sides of the gender divide) makes me glad I don't date.”

“And Dan Quayle had a cue card that said "potatoe". Still should have known better.”

“Polanski should be in prison.

That said, a black celebrity is not going to garner a lot of sympathy on the race card from working class whites. Okay? They're just not. What kind of a complaint is, "we can't get away with rape and murder the way rich whites do"?”

“The problem is the way that the Electoral College is set up. Any Presidential candidate has to garner over 50% of the electoral vote in order to win, otherwise it gets thrown to the House of Representatives.

Third party candidates can and do win in congressional elections, though.”

“The DNC issued a response worth of Hannity -- at least the Bush-era Hannity, anyway.”

“Actually, he reports to his Combatant Commander, GEN David Petraeus, USCENTCOM/CC, who reports to Secretary Gates. GEN McChrystal is three steps down on the chain from the President.”

“Yet I find the generalizations to be true. Most men don't respect women, and neither do most women. I think this goes back to upbringing: if the father treats the mother with respect, then the child (male or female) grows up with a healthy respect for women. The lack of respect for women is even more destructive for girls than it is for boys, because it plays into self image. The media feeds into this of course, but it begins in the household. My own father treated my mother with respect, and thus I grew up with a healthy respect for women and my sister grew up with a great deal of self-respect. Unfortunately, I am finding that this is not universal.”

“It would, if sexual assault were consistently increasing since 1972. My understanding is that reporting is what has increased, not actual assaults necessarily. Are there any numbers available for this? You may have touched upon something, and I'd like to see that question explored further.

Also, the number I've heard is one in six women, not one in three. Even one is unacceptable of course, and one in six is obscene for a "civilized" nation.

I would posit that the increased happiness in men could similarly be correlated with the decreasing percentage of men who've served in wars. PTSD is an issue with both men and women, both in the case of war and in the case of sexual assault.”

“Within the confines of the student's house, sword > gun. That intruder still would have had a new hole in his body. Gun nuts, please take note. Guns are not the be all, end all of home defense. You can protect your family without a gun.”

“Actually, I think this debunks the "guns for home defense" mantra. A good sword is a lot more useful for home defense than a gun could ever be. No stray rounds killing your neighbors or children, and you won't wake the neighbors with a sword.

Besides, how many people have homes which are large enough that you can't get to the intruder with a two-step lunge faster than you could pull out a pistol? Just from a utility standpoint, swords are better for close-range combat.”

“If that's the case, then please explain the results of the last two elections. What does it say that the Republicans can't win in a nation that is 2:1 conservative versus liberal?”

“Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please”

“Not that this makes it better, but he's 32. That's not "almost 40".”

“"I unclog my nose at you, you sons of window-dressers!"

The Republicans are officially the French Taunter party.”

“I agree they shouldn't be prosecuted, but they shouldn't be allowed to practice law anymore, either. However, I've always been told that "ignorance of the law is no excuse". Just because your lawyer gave you bad advice doesn't mean you're legally off the hook. It just means you shouldn't have pressured your lawyer into giving you a legal CYA memo so you could go off and rape, pillage, and plunder.

If my lawyer writes a memo saying that I can legally rob a McDonald's and presented that as my defense, I'd be laughed out of court and sent to prison. But Bush's lawyers write a memo saying that torture isn't actually torture unless it becomes attempted murder, and the AG won't even look at it.

Despite what the Republicans said in the 90s, the President really is above the law. If Bush and Cheney aren't held legally responsible in some way, then that becomes fact.”

“The third:

"CIA Worked in Conjunction with Xe to Conduct False Flag Ops Against Iraqi Schoolchildren"

See, I can come up with crazy hypotheticals, too.”

“That's for the courts to decide. I'm sure the Bush AGs will have an opportunity to defend their legal opinions there.”

“Many a truth is spoken in jest. Leno's comments are an example of that. I think the fact that his coverage of Blackwater hasn't gotten more exposure is the reason Scahill is still alive; he's not perceived to be a big enough threat. Knocking him off would just draw more attention to his work.”