One thing I do to help
out around here is regularly harangue Maine Today Media about its lack of
female political columnists. Recent commentary published by MTM written by women suggests my Herculean efforts may be starting to finally pay off, but
even more enlightening on the topic is an opinion written by a self-described
“powerlifting pundit, paleo practitioner and paternal force for good.” We’ll
call him “Dan the Man,” or “DTM” for short.
My simple rational
argument is as follows: The male-dominated public conversation about politics
feeds the male-dominated political landscape that causes war, climate change,
the wage gap and overall degradation of civilized society. Over and over I make
the case to MTM with the hope my refrain becomes an ear worm. (Not a mean,
bitter ear worm – a nice friendly one)
Perplexed about why a
mainstream newspaper doesn’t want to appeal to a mainstream tribe of thinkers
like me who read the local op-eds and listen to morning talk radio with
clenched teeth and a racing heart until near-death by exasperation? Me too!
Only an editorial Epipen administered by NPR or the New York Times brings me
temporary relief of my whiteguyitis symptoms. I seek an antidote to the
underlying disease.
Major advances over the
past two weeks offer a glimmer of hope that a cure to debilitating whiteguyitis
is likely attainable in two or possibly three hundred years.
Last Sunday, MTM’s
“Insight” section included the usual slew of opinion pieces written by white
guys covering foreign affairs, national politics and Maine’s governor, but
added to the mix was a riveting article written by a woman about hot flashes.
Menopause is a tough
first act to follow, but this week Insight did not disappoint. Politics was
“analyzed” again by the usual suspects, and a woman was given ink to offer her
well-researched article about life after Jazzercise.
Calorie-counting and fantasizing about being a backup dancer at a Cher concert
is heady stuff, for sure, but what aroused my interest was Dan the Man’s essay about the
use of social media and the rise of the GOP.
Making the excellent point that moderate Republicans need to reign in extremists, DTM uses a
titillating, very insightful pun. He writes, “a tweet from a member of
Congress can add to the national debate. On at least one occasion, however, a
member of Congress actually tweeted a photo of his member, and it is hard to
come up with an example of a bigger self-inflicted public relations blunder.”
Hard, indeed.
I’m no columnist, but I
thought a “member” was a person who belongs to a group. Who knew certain male
body parts achieved personhood? It’s no wonder women aren’t allowed in
this club. We’re outnumbered two to one.
(Is it really hot in
here, or is it just me?)
