Student Government Candidate Ridicules Men In Sexist Tweets


(Source: Stock Catalog via Flickr) 

Candidate for Freshman Senator Jimmy Counihan ridiculed men in a series of tweets on Friday.

Counihan tweeted "The only way to truly make women and men equal in America is to suspend men's voting rights for the next 132 years just as women's were suspended."

He also gave a number of other examples broad-brushing men as women's historical oppressors.



However, Couinhan claimed his comments were satire.


According to Google, satire is "the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues." So whose stupidity is Counihan satirizing?


Counahan doubtless employs ridicule to make his point (which is fine), but the problem with his claims are that they unfairly portray men as oppressors. He makes a false claim about men's historical relationship to women. Here is why.

MEN AS HISTORICAL OPPRESSORS

First, all men are not collectively responsible for the unique and independent choices that some men have made against women. For example, if a female babysitter sexually molests a boy in her care, does the boy then have the right to blame all women for this injustice? Are all women everywhere responsible for this one woman’s choices? No, they are not.

This is because groups do not make choices. Individuals make choices. Therefore, if Counihan is to place blame, he should blame those individuals who made choices that harmed women rather than blaming generally all men for the poor plight of some women.

"Portraying men as oppressors encourages women to see themselves as powerless victims."

Secondly, Counihan’s suggestion that, on the whole, men’s primary operation in American history has been to oppress women is historically false.

Rather than women’s oppressors, men have served women for centuries through cooperative and mutually-enriching relationships, as loving fathers, supportive husbands and as devoted brothers and friends.

Men have served in wars to protect women, given up lifeboats on the sinking Titanic to secure women, worked in perilous coal mines to provide for women, families and daughters. Men’s legacy is much more one of being supporters, providers and friends to woman than of being their insensitive oppressors.

Undoubtedly, there are plenty of men who lack respect for women and who wrongfully treat their counterparts. However, there are likewise just as many men, if not more, who will step in front of a gun to protect a woman they do not know, who will give up his chair, meal or shirt to provide for a woman or go out of his way knock on an elderly widow’s front door to give a friendly hello.

While there are many dishonorable men, there are many honorable men and who are unworthy of being tarnished with tag of natural oppressor.

These are the truths about men. They do not get rid of the problem of injustice in the world, but they may clarify what the real problem is.

MEANING 

 Counihan portraying men as oppressors encourages women to see themselves as powerless victims and reminds them of the lie that a woman’s power lies somewhere else, in someone else, namely, men’s hands. This idea does not persuade women to embrace that the power to create meaning lies in their own hands, regardless of what other people have done to them.

As long as Counihan perpetuates this falsehood, he will do a disservice to women by helping women hold themselves down, when the power to create a meaningful life is in their own hands. Hopefully, this is something Counihan will think about if he takes a seat as a senator in student government.

Twitter: @jhescock

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 18, 2018 at 1:18 PM

    This is a good article, I even agree with some of it. I only have two small complaints; first, there is some bigger lettering with quotations around it, I don’t want people to think that’s a quote attributed to me because you said that. Secondly, I did clarify and say I was talking about oppressive men, you did cite that tweet but I still think that fact isn’t as clear. Obviously I disagree about the conclusion of this article but this is your blog and you can draw your own conclusions.

    Good writing!
    -Jimmy C.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Primer to University Governance - Part One

Image
  ( Photo : ''Court Gavel - Judge's Gavel - Courtroom'' by wp paarz via Flickr ) The following is a primer to internal university governance. When you're a student, it is easy when you want to do something for yourself. Want to drop a class or change your majo r ? That's no problem. Yet, the moment you want to do something for the student community, say end a student fee or save the mascot from extinction, then you enter the realm of campus politics. Reforming campus policy requires you engage with the structure of university governance and that you participate in a democratic process. For this, you need to understand the university’s governance structure and how the powers that be set university policy. To the average student, all of this can be quite foreign. So to help students understand university governance, here is a primer to university governance. Everyone can have an introductory understanding of university governance if they understand th...
Read more

OPINION: SGA's Inaction On Student Issues Not For Inability To Act

Image
    (Logo. Source: Student Government Association at UT-Tyler.) Student government elected a new chief of staff this week in a special meeting at the end of the semester. Senator Jennifer Chandler won the assembly's vote in a three-way race among two other current SGA members, Allison Schwartz and Tyler Paige. Student members spent nearly an hour both investigating and discussing who should be the next officer in the association's executive board. That members take such an interest in their organization's affairs is commendable. However, given that the assembly displayed how it has the capacity to both investigate and deliberate over a subject matter with rigor, then I ask, why it could not also demonstrate this same rigor in matters that are undeniably of popular student concern, such as unavailable parking space and advisor shortages? The assembly's ability to both convene a special session and to debate the issues at length demonstrate that members have the ability t...
Read more

OPINION: SGA Election Awards Residential Students More Representation

Image
    (Logo. Source: Student Government Association at UT-Tyler.) Student government elected a new chief of staff this week in a special election at the end of the semester. Senator Jennifer Chandler won the assembly's vote in a three-way race among two other current SGA members, Allison Schwartz and Tyler Paige. In her campaign pitch to the assembly, Chandler championed her priority for inclusion and accessibility in SGA as well as her three years of experience as resident advisor (RA) in Ornelas Hall student housing.  With Chandler's election, Student government advances yet another residential student to a position of power. There is nothing is wrong with this in principle. After all, all students, both residential and commuter, have the right to participate in student government. However, given the obscurity with which SGA operates to most commuter students, it is mostly residential students who know about its activity and therefore stand the most to benefit from their ...
Read more