It seems there's a columnist at the Guardian named Julie Bindel. You can see a list of her articles here. I must admit that until this morning I'd never even heard of her, and certainly hadn't read anything she's written, but a quick glance at her titles and synopses indicates that she's much involved in the less savory aspects of relations between men and women.
This morning she put up an article titled "Why Men Hate Me", which turns out to be slightly misleading because it's mostly a wail about the fact that some of the men who comment on her articles aren't so nice. And she helpfully brings lots of examples, so we can judge for ourselves. (If this were really important we could of course go read the articles themselves and their comments, and decide for ourselves if Ms. Bindel is portraying things fairly, or not. I didn't feel it to be THAT important, sorry).
Why is this noteworthy, I hear you asking? Well, here are some reasons, and if I don't convince you, feel free to cancel your subscription to Ruminations.
1. Ms. Bindel proudly informs us that as a general rule, she doesn't read comments. Typical for a journalist to feel that the natural way of the world is that they should preach at us, but they don't listen to our opinion of them or their arguments.
2. Seen from the perspective of someone who regularly reads the comments on Guardian columns that deal with Israel, the things that rile her seem pretty tame.
3. Which may simply mean that each of us is sensitive to our own selves and subjects, and indifferent to the selves and subjects of others.
4. Someday, should I find the time, I'd like to write a book called "How to Recognize an Antisemite". Since the Guardian will be an important primary resource, I suppose I'll have to sort out this issue.
5. Of course it's possible that the readers of the Guardian are antisemites, and misogynists, and misanthropes, and Ms. Bindel is a misandrist. This would tell us something about the Guardian, wouldn't it? A newspaper that prides itself on being intellectual and serious.
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2 comments:
Please write that book.
I don't even have to read Ms. Bindel's piece to say this much: Women in certain areas of journalism tend, most unfortunately, to be fixated on themselves. It's all about them. That's what this sounds like. A little professionalism wouldn't hurt her.
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