Submitted by kim on Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - 2:04am

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The Self chapter really opened my eyes to some burdens that common men may face. I, too, as Vincent had, pinned all straight, white, educated males as having it easy and not having any negative aspect about their societal identity. I really did find her intrusion in this chapter unacceptable, even in the name of her book, but it appears she did as well. By wanting Paul (Corey actually did) to cut her, it seemed like she was paying pennance. This was her Hail Mary for breaking trust on such an intimate level. It seems likely that some of the men in the group will read this book and recognize themselves, or atleast recognize Ned and be really pissed off about it. I'm sure they'll vent their rage in their healthy ways, but it's still injuring. As Darryl said in class, it's like unto rape for a woman. I think this is an exaggeration, but it's not too far off on the emotional scale. At first in reading this chapter, I thought, why is it fair that no women should be able to join? Men can join feminist groups and usually they find a mutually valuable niche. But in reading I realized they didn't allow women to join in order to avoid the type of judgement and scrutiny that plagued them, which I was already putting into place simply in reading about them. It's odd that a 'men's movement' involves therapy and huggy time (not to belittle it at all), and a 'women's movement' involves the arousal of more aggressive instincts and power. I guess it's nothing more than what comes from liberating two societally bound genders from their detrimental norms.

As for the work chapter, I hate Ivan and everyone like him. I'm glad I can say with confidence that 1) definitely not all men are like Ivan and 2) Ivan may not really exist per se because he is just a front for a weak, pathetic human being. Off with Ivan's head. Both of them.

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