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  1. Longreads12/3/1920 min
    6 reads6 comments
    5.3
    Longreads
    6 reads
    5.3
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    • bill
      Top reader of all time
      4 years ago

      “I’m sure Ryan will be just fine.”

      Yup. That’s a really great line. I read a lot about masculinity, so I’m surprised that I’ve never heard of Jordan Peterson, although the bed-making thing does kind of ring a bell. (If he’s a social media star, that would explain why he’s been invisible to me.)

      Of course men are “natural rulers.” And of course women’s are too! We all rule different stuff in different ways! Our powers are equal and, often, opposite. There’s no debate here. Right?

      My brain is a bit fried after a morning of heavy reading, so I’ll talk about me instead of the rest of the world, to reduce the likelihood that I’ll commit an embarrassing faux pas: Being a man is tough. And f*ck anyone (uh oh - faux pas territory!) who doesn’t have the time or patience to hear that out. The only way to maintain perspective is to hear all perspectives. In exchange, we men need to get comfortable ceding the ground that we won by less-than-moral means. We need to master the art of losing, which is why it’s a good thing that Elizabeth Bishop gave us that poem by the same name.

      • jeff4 years ago

        Why is that a "really great line"?

        • bill
          Top reader of all time
          4 years ago

          It’s colloquial, which I always like.

          As soon as you read a line like that, you know it’s going to hang in your memory just as it hangs on the end of that paragraph. It zips.

    • joanne
      Reading streak
      4 years ago

      I agree with the writer that on a deeply molecular level this was difficult to get thru. It feels so generational to me, am I crazy to believe that society is finally catching up with the capabilities of woman and the sensitivities of men. On second thought after looking at the television and seeing so many angry white men grasping on to power that is slipping away .... maybe society needs more time to catch on.

      • bill
        Top reader of all time
        4 years ago

        Yup. We always need more time. And more time is always good.

    • jeff4 years ago

      The sight took me aback. Despite the 2018 book’s many weeks as a nonfiction bestseller, I’d somehow never considered that the scope of Peterson’s audience might extend beyond sulky white men who like to outsource their thinking.

      Casual racist and sexist remarks like this need to be called out for what they are. The derisive remark about white men is gross enough, but presuming to know the preferences of any group of people (in this case non-white, non-males) based solely on their natural identity or to hold a belief that something isn't for that group is despicable.

      Journalists who write in this tone are at least as culpable as Trump (and similar opportunistic politicians) in cultivating the sense of divide that is being felt throughout the country. I look forward to the day when such close-mindedness is no longer tolerated, let alone celebrated.