“Hey, Damn it! Pay Attention! This
is not just breaking the glass ceiling, or demanding equal pay for
equal work, or telling us that women will make their own decisions
about reproduction and reproductive health even if it means defying
us. Those things are about power. This is far more important. This
is about our masculinity, our manhood! There is nothing more
masculine than a jock strap, and we point to the guys who wear them
as examples what a man should be. How dare Bruce (Kaitlyn) Jenner
destroy the image of manly athletes! How can I tell my son to be a
man like Bruce Jenner when Bruce Jenner does not want to be a man
like Bruce Jenner? How can I explain why any man would turn in his
jock strap for a g-string?”
All I can say to that is: “buck up
lads! It is not your loss. What Kaitlyn Jenner is doing has
nothing to do with your genitalia or gender identity. And gay
marriage has nothing to do with your heterosexual marriage. And the
choices women make regarding reproduction and reproductive health do
not destroy your religious beliefs. We must all make our own
decisions, and we must be afforded the freedom to do that.”
Unfortunately what I just wrote was an
exercise in futility. Asking a person to cast aside his fear when
his whole world view revolves around fear is useless. So let me
address the demagogues rather than the true believers. Ginning up
that fear might win over the evangelicals, but it is wiser to avoid
expressing an opinion about such social issues if your base will let
you.
Damn it! I am writing to myself again.
All of the Republicans who are reasonable enough to heed my advice
have been purged from the party or mouth the party line out of fear.
And that is something we really should lament.
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