Housework is Gay
“Dear Abby” recently received a letter from a woman concerned about the budding masculinity of her son:
Dear Abby: My husband, “Ron,” and I are at odds over parenting our 7-year-old son, “Brett.” My husband is very domestic. He cooks like a world-class chef and does more housework than any man I know of. I have read Dr. James Dobson’s books on family. He clearly states that a father should be the manly role model for the son, to prevent the son from being homosexual. I’m concerned that Brett will learn feminine ways from my husband and turn out to be gay.
Notice how she praises her husband — clearly, she doesn’t think that men doing this sort of work is problematic (at least when she personally benefits). Why, then, is she so worried about her son picking up her husband’s habits? How is it that her husband’s behavior is acceptable, but not “manly” enough to be a proper role model to her son? If her son isn’t gay, wouldn’t she want her future daughter-in-law to be in a situation like her own? Does her husband know that she thinks his behavior is “feminine”? What do world-class chefs think about this?
Of course, it’s interesting who decides what is and is not “feminine” in the first place. Is it simply a coincidence that housework is “feminine”? I doubt it. The writings of people like James Dobson are harmful to society precisely because they perpetuate false stereotypes about men and women, stereotypes which lead to letters like the above. It’s not un-manly to cook and clean; it only seems un-manly to those who want to keep women in subordinate positions in society, church, and the family.
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Comments
The writings of James Dobson and others like him are not only harmful to society, they’re dangerous as well.
Dobson and those who follow him are usually very ignorant and often quite uneducated as well. But they are often people you’d never suspect as well… wolves in sheep’s clothing if you will. Sometimes they’re some of the nicest, kindest people you will ever meet, and they sincerely believe that people like Dobson and Dictator Bush are just what this country needs (thanks of course to propaganda machines like Fox News which act as nothing more than a 24/7 media outlet for the White House). But ask them anything on current events or if they’ve read a book in the past year and you’ll be shocked by their simplictic views of the world around them and by how astoundlingly wrong their answers are.
As the neocons continue their march to remake American society into an evil fascist militaristic theocracy and destroy everything around us - including other countries and scores of of innocent people - people like Dobson act as willing puppets to their even more evil masters, Bush and the neocons (see www.yuricareport.com on this subject).
Dobson gains followers by preaching ignorance and hatred veiled by the Bible, and if there’s any downside to the First Amendment, it’s that people like him are allowed to preach and prevaricate on their own radio and TV shows (remember the Fairness Doctrine??? –that thing the Republicans did away with!!?!) to millions of gullible listeners who buy their lies and misinformation hook, line, and sinker, and then go out and vote for Republicans and against their own best interests come election time.
It would’ve been interesting to see Dear Abby’s reply to that letter.
My first thought on reading the reader’s letter was, “Does she suspect that her husband is gay?” If not, what rational reason could she have for worrying about her son’s masculinity?
The “90’s guy” was supposed to be a man who wasn’t afraid of sharing the housework. While we’re past the 1990’s now, I think there are still quite a few “90’s guys” out there. The mother who wrote in should consider that, at least outside her backwards little hamlet, her son might be considered a real catch if he picks up his father’s habits.