September 9, 2017

Deploying flood-rescue photographs as masculinity propaganda.

At WaPo, Janell Ross has a long piece titled "How viral images of hurricane heroes are rebranding the ‘redneck’ identity." You can guess what photograph appears first: that handsome white SWAT officer carrying a delicate Asian woman who is holding a little baby. Maybe you can also guess the second photograph: a white man standing up in a boat and holding the hand of an elderly woman.

These pictures and others are widely shared, but Ross focuses on the sharing by "far right, alt-right and just avowedly right-leaning sites." These photo-sharers add captions like:
When disaster strikes, it’s what men do. Real men. Heroic men. American men. And then they’ll knock back a few shots, or a few beers with like-minded men they’ve never met before, and talk about fish, or ten-point bucks, or the benefits of hollow-point ammo, or their F-150.
That is, the disaster activated some men to get out there and rescue people and the photographs activated other men (and perhaps women) to get on the internet and tout masculinity. And the masculinity-touting photo captions activate and Janell Ross and me to analyze the masculinity propaganda (and perhaps you to comment on our propaganda analysis instead of getting out there in the real world and helping somebody in your town or region who needs to be carried or boated somewhere).

There's much more to Ross's column, and it's specifically about whiteness. Ross, we're told, "covers race along with the social and political implications of the nation's rapidly changing demographics." She says:
What appears to be taking shape in the national conversation about disaster recovery is praise not only of the individuals doing the work, but of a particular brand of white male masculinity. And with that has come an open attempt to dismiss legitimate concerns about the stereotyping and racism some self-identified “rednecks,” “country boys” and those who admire them engaged in before the storm.

106 comments:

rhhardin said...

Political correctness strikes back.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Do we have to politicize everything. Does everything have be looked at through the lens of race or ethnicity.

I saw all sorts of people in those videos and photos helping each other. There was one video of a couple of young burly black men loading up their boat and getting gas at a station north of Houston. Asked what they were going to do...just looked at the media dope as if he was a dope and said: Gonna save some lives. Black Texas can be rednecks too.

I wish people (from every political stripe) would just give it a rest and be proud that people are helping others and tout this basic humanity instead of trying to divide us from each other.

James Pawlak said...

It appears that there are sufficient research results to support the claim that White, Christian, conservatives are greater, private, contributors to those in need (Without regard to race, gender, nationality, etc.) than others (eg On the left).

brylun said...

I suppose she doesn't want to talk about the looters.

tim in vermont said...

Lol. Hard to control the narrative when real life intervenes. If I didn't know better, I would say that SJWs are trying to summon white nationalism.

Tarrou said...

Mustn't let anything that raises the status of blue-collar whites leak out!


Fifty years of this contemptible alliance between the white upper class and the black underclass they use as a moral club to vilify the white middle and lower classes. I used to wish there were a way to progress as a society toward that color-blind ideal, but at this point all I care about is the destruction, impoverishment and eradication of the elites perpetrating this disgusting fraud.

cronus titan said...

Strange. Ms. Ross does not mention the powerful photos of black men carrying white children to safety or using their boats and jet skis to rescue elderly white people from their homes. Understandably, it galls Ms. Ross that masculinity can be a positive thing, and worse when white men act as something other than toxic. One can see why such images jar her worldview since it suggests that she may be wrong. Perhaps, just perhaps, the vast majority of people are fellow Americans and not all that interested in the movement and resisting.

And by the way, Althouse refers to that "handsome white SWAT officer" in quite a number of posts. Perhaps we should get her a Fathead of him and be done with it.

Kate said...

To some on the Left, to be a white man is to be evil. We can't have pictures or commentary that contradict that.

I've seen a screengrab of a paragraph of the Coates article stating Trump is the first white president. It's n-word this and n-word that. If "white man" can't equal "evil", then they have nothing left to say. And they're getting pretty virulent in how they say it.

tim in vermont said...

We all know what those men were thinking, "Goebles would have loved this shit." Then they threw the women in the water as soon as the cameras were gone.

rhhardin said...

Maybe the hidden theory is that bringing out the best in people brings out better in whites than in blacks.

Unequal outcome fear.

Must suppress bringing out the best in people.

traditionalguy said...

This is an open complaint by a member of Soros's Psyops cadre demanding that reality must not be permitted to interfere with well done propaganda. This Harvey response in East Texas has set back the conquest of white anglos in North America by several years.

He is right. Messing with Texas has consequences.

rhhardin said...

It would be bad for the left if blacks took the pictures as male role models instead of the black gangsta.

David Begley said...

DBQ wins the thread.

I'm Full of Soup said...

At what point will articles like this be viewed as crazy & racist by a large majority of American citizens?

Roughcoat said...

A comment and a question.

Comment: Ross is a maggot. No need to say more. He gets banished to the cornfield.

Question: Are America's "demographies" really changing rapidly -- and significantly? This strikes me as the fevered wish of a left-wing white-person hating anti-American ideologue. It's my understanding that white people (i.e., people of European/Indo-European) descent still comprise and overwhelming majority. If I'm wrong about this, please tell me.

Amadeus 48 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

“This is one of America’s oldest stories,” Horwitz said, the typical protagonists in word-of-mouth storytelling, news coverage and even historical records of disasters. ... "So we all fall back on the stories and the tropes that we know.”

So the word-of-mouth storytelling, news coverage and even historical records are just "tropes" to fall back on?

Why am I not surprised to discover that the authorette of that garbagicle [sic!] is a black woman?

Brave but probably not-F150-owning Asian man rescues red sneakers

The Vault Dweller said...

I hate identity politics. So because some pictures appear of white, 'redneck' men behaving admirably, some people are upset because it distracts from the effort of others to label the platonic ideal of white, 'redneck' men as racist? The people making this argument don't even realize that this is the other side of the coin of someone complaining about a picture of a black man doing something admirable because it distracts from the position that there are black men who commit violent crimes.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Unlike Ms. Ross, I've always been a sucker for masculinity: competency, strength, bravery, selflessness, mixed with tenderness and caring. IF that is toxic, I guess I like toxic. The photo mentioned, of the handsome man carrying the woman and child, is the epitome of those qualities.

Masculinity is no more toxic in general than than Feminism is. Some men and some women are toxic....Ms. Ross. Most people are just decent humans.

Why there are more white guys with boats? Because they have purchased boats for fishing and sporting. If she wants to discuss why more white guys have boats and if it is that other ethnicities don't for whatever reason, that might be more interesting that trying to denigrate those "rednecks" who are using their own personal property and risking their own lives to save other people.

Some people just wake up sucking on sour grapes I guess.

Big Mike said...

And with that has come an open attempt to dismiss the illegitimate concerns about the stereotyping and racism some self-identified “rednecks,” “country boys” and those who admire them engaged in before the storm.

There, I fixed it for Ross.

At any rate she missed the story about the young black man in Port Arthur who helped his uncle rescue 50 people. When the floods came he and his family escaped to the roof of their house. A Coast Guard helicopter came by (shades of the Politico cartoon!) but didn't rescue the family (Wait! What?) claiming that they were looking for a neighbor who was having a medical emergency (Oh) but Coasties promised to come back (okay). Then the uncle came by with his boat and the young man left with him thinking that the Coast Guard would be back. But hours later the last two people rescued by him were his own parents because the Coast Guard never did come back.

But I can see why Ross would not want to reference that story, right?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

It's WaPo - Washington Pompous. Progressive DC insiders who mourn Hillary alone in their safe space huddled to their knees, trying hard to understand normal USA.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Leftists, for the most part, are selfish people who have no understanding of getting dirty and helping a neighbor. That's what the government is for, and super-Obama with his magic cape.

Amadeus 48 said...

Janell Ross.

Another idiot self-identifies.

Laslo Spatula said...

Maybe Stanford University can find a computer algorithm that could correctly distinguish between gay and straight male rescuers.

I am Laslo.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

The left likes to propagate the image of a fat, slovenly white man berating POC at a Goodwill for speaking Spanish, and the like.

Maybe these rescuers fit the proffered stereotype of beer-swilling, blood-sporting country folk, but when you need someone with a 4x4 and a bass boat, a strong back, and the skill to tie knots and operate a winch, who ya gonna call? Hint: Not Janelle Ross or Te-Ne-Click-Click Coates.

The Vault Dweller said...

I can't help but think that the effort of some people to label 'rednecks' and 'country boys' as irredeemable racists stems from those labelers having a giant moral inferiority complex. These people want to feel like they are a good moral person which can be accomplished two ways. One is to actually go out and do 'good' deeds, the other is to hold yourself in comparison to other people who are 'bad'. The desperation to feel like a good person is so much that they toss out principles of objectivity and fairness and pretend this other group to which they don't belong is made up of evil racists. They sound like certain characters from the Scarlet Letter.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Before any of those 'redneck' photos went viral, Texans like me were already out and about helping.

Receiving, sorting, and packaging donations to shelters may not make for dramatic photographs, but it is vital assistance nonetheless.

tim in vermont said...

There was a great video of some rednecks with their trucks pulling a military vehicle out of the water, but YouTube took it down.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

DBQ hit the nail on the head. We've gotten to a point where we can't even take pride and comfort in the sight of Americans helping each other, if they're the wrong sort of Americans. I saw pictures of blacks and Hispanics doing their best to help too. My reaction was "How great that there are still people like this" and "Texas rocks!


If your reaction is (as Ritmo's was) "It would be better if Texas falls off the face of the earth" or "how dare you praise those white men!" there is something very wrong with you.

And yeah, thank God for men in situations like this. There are also women giving survivors food and water and helping them once they are safe and on dry land, and God bless 'em, but we can't pick up full grown adults and carry them to safety. I love those pictures because it shows male strength at its' best; strength being used to save and protect others.

Paco Wové said...

To an ever greater extent, popular media seem to operate mainly as employment programs/soapboxes for vile, stupid people.

Sebastian said...

Perhaps progs can identify their homes in the next storm, to make sure no white or black redneck stops by to rescue them. Wouldn't want to be tainted by toxic masculinity.

DanTheMan said...

Stereotyping is bad. Unless it's rednecks.

Oso Negro said...

Glenn Reynolds has kept beating the drum that the response to the flooding in Houston showed "real America". I say it showed Texas and South Louisiana, where the men (all colors) got out and did stuff. The Washington Post represents a different, but opposed, part of "real America", the one where women like Ms Ross sit around and take the vapors over fear that the men in Texas and Louisiana are being misrepresented. I loathe Ms Ross - not for her color, but for her idiocy.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

"Brave but probably not-F150-owning Asian man rescues red sneakers."

In that man's defense, he appears laden with quite a few heavy bags, probably including his wife's. Those red sneakers may be hers.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Sebastian said...
Perhaps progs can identify their homes in the next storm, to make sure no white or black redneck stops by to rescue them. Wouldn't want to be tainted by toxic masculinity.

9/9/17, 9:01 AM

They can plaster Hillary and "Resistance" stickers on their front doors so the rescuers will know which houses to avoid.

Saint Croix said...

There's a great scene in the movie Crash where Matt Damon is trying to rescue Thandie Newton from a car crash. They had a prior run-in where he did her wrong. And now he just wants to be a good guy and help her. It's a beautiful scene.

Mark said...

We are at the haz-mat stage of culture and discourse right now. There is so much toxicity out there that truly poisons minds and hearts and, ultimately, society itself.

Criticizing those who do what, yes, real men should do in times of trouble -- and using them to inspire others to be the same -- is one of those toxins. What images should be used to awaken people's consciences to help their neighbors in need? Pajama Boy? Mask-wearing, anarchist antifas (who are busy "occupying" McPherson Square in DC)? A bunch of screeching women wearing pink facsimiles of their genitalia on their heads?

The proper response to seeing any images of any body helping is not to whine and bitch and use it to make your crass, toxic ideological points, the proper response is to say, "Thank you." And then, "How can I help too?"

And if you believe that the pictures were demographically selective with respect to who is depicted, then go out and take your own pictures of people of another demographic helping.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

"There's a great scene in the movie Crash where Matt Damon is trying to rescue Thandie Newton from a car crash. They had a prior run-in where he did her wrong."

It was Matt Dillon, and he didn't do her wrong. She and her husband were having sex while he was inattentively driving, and she pulled the race card after getting rightfully pulled over. Even in their own movies their crybully bitching is unwarranted.

Doug said...

Word is that they've started digging an even LOWER SPOT in hell for this particular oxygen thief.

tim in vermont said...

You can tell just by looking at those men that they are prejudiced.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Pay no attention to these admirable men and their actions!
Remember that white men, and especially "redneck" white men, are a problem.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Boasting about one's masculinity is very unmasculine. Somewhat like bodybuilders preening in front of mirrors.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amadeus 48 said...

I particularly like the Molon Labe tee shirt worn by the guy in the second photo. NRA propanda, masculinity propaganda, and white male propaganda all in the same shot!

Janell Ross has never heard of the Spartans at Themopylae.

n.n said...

So, in the wake of the American Republican, it will be the Democratic Party that will be the platform for America's Nazi or rather Dazi Party, where "progressive" diversity denies individual dignity, "=" establishes political congruence (i.e. selective exclusion/inclusion), the pro-choice church operates abortion chambers at the twilight fringe (a.k.a. penumbra), and Cecile's Planned Parenthood cannibalizes the lucrative parts (because, as Mengele before her, the 1% wants to live forever). Progress. One baby step forward. One great leap backward.

Michael K said...

Pajama Boy did not want to get his footies wet so he stayed home and made hot chocolate.

Those men with bass boats just don't care what they look like.

Anonymous said...

"And with that has come an open attempt to dismiss legitimate concerns about the stereotyping and racism some self-identified “rednecks,” “country boys” and those who admire them engaged in before the storm."

Excuse me, we're journalists. We're the only ones licensed to throw around stereotypes here.

Christ, this stuff gets stupider by the hour. The modern "prestige" press. Click-bait by morons, for morons. Deploying third-rate "diversity" hires to pump out ever shriller, ever more retarded race'n'gender essays.

Hey, they hired 'em, and that's apparently the limit of their "skill set", so may as well use 'em in the last flailing attempts to maintain the idiotic "narrative". Après eux, le déluge.

YuriG said...

Wow, those Nazis sure are sneaky. Using photographs of white men rescuing people of other races as role models? What propaganda!

Chris N said...

Maybe if some people weren't such small, pathetic losers in their personal lives, they wouldn't politicize them...

...and make vast, sweeping moral, political, ideological judgments about the lives of others during a time of tragedy.

Fuck off already.

Big Mike said...

When disaster strikes, it’s what men do. Real men. Heroic men. American men. And then they’ll knock back a few shots, or a few beers with like-minded men they’ve never met before, and talk about fish, or ten-point bucks, or the benefits of hollow-point ammo, or their F-150.

Wait! You can't be a genuine heroic American man if you own a Chevy Silverado or a Dodge Ram 1500? GM and Chrysler-Fiat stocks are about to tank!

Gahrie said...

And with that has come an open attempt to dismiss legitimate concerns about the stereotyping and racism some self-identified “rednecks,” “country boys” and those who admire them engaged in before the storm.

The hypocrisy...it burns!

Sam L. said...

WaPo just can't say good things about white men without saying bad things about them. As the saying goes, THIS is how you get more Trump.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

AReasonableMan said...
Boasting about one's masculinity is very unmasculine. Somewhat like bodybuilders preening in front of mirrors.

9/9/17, 9:24 AM

The rescuers themselves were not boasting. Other people were praising them.

Feeling a bit insecure, ARM?

Gahrie said...

Boasting about one's masculinity is very unmasculine

No one was boasting about their own masculinity you illiterate....the heroes didn't boast at all, and we're praising their masculinity.

LYNNDH said...

I believe that I saw a good number of pictures with Black Males helping others too, including Whites. Wow, people helping people, what a concept.

Rico said...

That's funny - I remember seeing several pictures of African-American men doing much the same thing. Doesn't fit the narrative, I suppose.

rhhardin said...

A bunch of screeching women wearing pink facsimiles of their genitalia on their heads?

It's like the plastic turkey, it won't go away.

They're cat ears, via a pun on pussy.

The genitalia are too hard to represent graphically. Architecturally chaotic, Paglia says. Every attempt at direct representation gives a WTF-is-that effect.

A garrison cap would be the closest headwear though not very obvious, but at least avoiding the WTF reaction.

James Graham said...

The New Yorker shows white men acting well ... on its cover!


https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2017-09-11

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

I somehow missed the photos of Antifa or BLM members rushing around to save POC in Houston. And where are the pussy hat womyn? Why aren't Ashley Judd and Madonna handing out supplies at shelters? Gee, Sean Penn didn't even turn up to try to bail water with a red Solo cup.

Could it be that liberals like cheap and easy moral preening, enjoy marches and loud public displays, and even a bit of the old ultra-violence every so often, but are bored by the hard work of actually doing something concrete to help out individual human beings who are suffering?

mockturtle said...

Males of all races are helping smaller, weaker victims of disaster. Would the WaPo prefer if men just stood by and watched people drown? Identity politics is a scourge that may ruin our culture. And I'm sure that is the goal.

Anonymous said...

ARM: Boasting about one's masculinity is very unmasculine.

No, it's just kinda prole by the standards of refined gentlemen in a particular subset of cultures, such as my own. In this culture, a refined manly gentleman also leaves snarky-girl comments like the above to the pajama boys.

In cultures that prefer a more flamboyant masculinity, of course, no such rules are followed.

RBE said...

Thanks for the great comments Dust Bunny.

JimT said...

My favorite image from Harvey is of a black man on a JetSki carrying a well-to-do woman out of her ruined home.

Does Ms. Ross need to overlook black heroes to make her point?

Mark said...

They're cat ears, via a pun on pussy.

Maybe some are. But on many those are not ears. They are fallopian tubes.

I meant what I said.

Mark said...

And how many cats are pink???

Mark said...

And where are the pussy hat womyn? Why aren't Ashley Judd and Madonna handing out supplies at shelters?

Actually, I did see some stories about some of those groups offering to help victims of Harvey -- with free abortions.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Michael K said...
Pajama Boy did not want to get his footies wet so he stayed home and made hot chocolate."

Someone should photoshop a picture of pajama boy being carried by a white or black redneck.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I somehow missed the photos of Antifa or BLM members rushing around to save POC in Houston. And where are the pussy hat womyn? Why aren't Ashley Judd and Madonna handing out supplies at shelters? Gee, Sean Penn didn't even turn up to try to bail water with a red Solo cup.


You got it, Exiled. Where are they? Where is Clinton Foundation money? Where is George Clintonoplois with his stubby little check?

MayBee said...

Hahhahahaaha!

Almost exactly one year ago, Hillary was coughing at campaign events and eventually collapsed at the 9/11 memorial. And lefty women were proclaiming that Hillary went to work sick, because that's what women do.

But yeah, pictures of men actually rescuing people is a big problem.

MayBee said...

Do we really know none of these men raped the women they were "rescuing"?

hombre said...

AReasonableMan said...

"Boasting about one's masculinity is very unmasculine. Somewhat like bodybuilders preening in front of mirrors."

I can't quite put it into words, but for me this comment characterizes the contributions of ARM to discussions pointing out the lunacy of the left and leftmedia.

n.n said...

The New Yorker shows white men acting well ... on its cover!

Do they, "journalists", take turns to avoid exposing the game?

n.n said...

Do we really know none of these men raped the women they were "rescuing"?

That would be redemptive of men who maintain a pretense of denying "evolutionary" whimsy, and much needed therapy for people who do.

Derek Kite said...

Janell Ross, if you want to make yourself useful get your backside down to Florida and help haul people out of the water/ rebuild their homes/ find their loved ones. Etc. Lots to do.

But you might need to get your hands dirty. And talk to men, white men.

If you haven't figured this out yet, you are the ugly one here.

rhhardin said...

"They're cat ears, via a pun on pussy."

Maybe some are. But on many those are not ears. They are fallopian tubes.

I meant what I said.


The trouble is that female genitalia are recognizeable only in position. You need some torso and legs, and no feminist is going to use that graphic.

In that position, you're prepared to notice that there's wide variation of the same thing because it's anchored in something. But without the contest, it's all variation and no same.

Ray - SoCal said...

I am surprised the media did not manage to slime the Texas and Trump response to the flooding, as was fine with Katrina.

Was this due to the rise of social media, so the MSM was not the only source of information? This way pictures could become popular, before the MSM focused on the problems? Or the Houston mayor was a professional and not finger pointing like Nagin? Or Trumps fast visit set the narrative?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Actually, I think what really burns urban leftists is the reminder that they do not control the universe and in situations like Harvey and Irma, they are useless. The whole global warming thing is centered on the idea that humans can control the climate and nature. As Paglia and George Carlin pointed out, that is egotistical nonsense. The global warmists think they are honoring nature, but it is actually a way of denying the power of nature.

When Mother Nature decides to act like a bitch, you can't snark and tweet away the water pouring into your house. The skill sets of the Cajun Navy matter more than that of woke vegans with Ivy League degrees. On a day to day basis, upper class liberals take the fact that their lights go on, their toilets flush, their trash is picked up, and their refrigerators are full for granted. Events like this remind us all how very vulnerable we still are despite all our technology. But some people are less vulnerable than others. The guys on the duck boats who have been hunting in the Louisiana bayous understand nature much better than the idiots who are blaming Trump voters for hurricanes.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

James Graham,

They aren't all white, either. Which I imagine is part of the point.

n.n said...

They aren't all white, either.

They're both males. One is black, while the other is brown. This would not pass as "diverse" under the progressive doctrine of color diversity. Most notably, it is exclusive of minority colors. It's a political congruence ("=") that should have never been approved by the editor. Shame or something.

Ralph L said...

On the racial angle, after Hurricane Floyd washed away Princeville, NC, a black suburb of Tarboro, a resident was embarrassed that all the people who came to help were white.

grackle said...

What appears to be taking shape in the national conversation about disaster recovery is praise not only of the individuals doing the work, but of a particular brand of white male masculinity.

So far, so good …

And with that has come an open attempt to dismiss legitimate concerns about the stereotyping and racism some self-identified “rednecks,” “country boys” and those who admire them engaged in before the storm.

There’s nothing racist about praising rescuers, except perhaps in the minds of the Social Justice Warriors. Is any praise that happens to involve someone white now automatically considered racist by the lefty MSM?

Here’s another piece of bullshit:

… those who supported Trump’s campaign were either attracted to the stereotypes and racial scapegoating that it employed from the day that it began, or were not bothered enough to vote against it.

But this is the fucking failing NYT, so it is to be expected. Any opportunity to brand Trump or Trump supporters as racist is never overlooked.

From the comments:

The global warmists think they are honoring nature, but it is actually a way of denying the power of nature.

I find this a very interesting idea. The commentor gets points for originality.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

hombre said...
I can't quite put it into words


I find Althouse's endless whining about the media tedious but in this case I was reacting to a commenter's mention of Glenn Reynolds - the image of that effete dipshit wrapping himself in the efforts of working men in Houston triggered a gag reflex.

Jupiter said...

AReasonableMan said...
"Boasting about one's masculinity is very unmasculine. Somewhat like bodybuilders preening in front of mirrors."

You like gladiator movies, ARM?

sane_voter said...

@ARM Glenn Reynolds - the image of that effete dipshit wrapping himself in the efforts of working men in Houston triggered a gag reflex.

Glenn is definitely not effete or a dipshit. But you are definitely a worthless commenter who I mostly skip over. Unfortunately not this time.

Paul said...

You wanna know why more men are out there rescuing people than women? Cause it's DAMN DANGEROUS and physically difficult.

If these liberal 'feminist' want to see more women in the pictures, then they need to get of their butts and go out there and help.

sane_voter said...

Lefties bitching about possibly percieving a tiny bit of accurate news reporting as right-leaning propaganda, when 99% of reporting is actually lefty propaganda. They want that last 1%.

tim in vermont said...

@ARM Glenn Reynolds - the image of that effete dipshit wrapping himself in the efforts of working men in Houston triggered a gag reflex.

One thing ARM hates is people horning in on his territory.

tim in vermont said...

I did see some stories about some of those groups offering to help victims of Harvey -- with free abortions.

You are thinking of a different Harvey. He was able to rape so many women on account of he was invisible.

Boasting about one's masculinity is very unmasculine.

Boast to us some more how you adhere to a higher type of masculinity that doesn't boast about itself.

Jim at said...

Karma would dictate she'll someday need some gawd-awful, rednecked white guy to save her sorry ass.

And nobody will be there to do it.

Jim at said...

"Boasting about one's masculinity is very unmasculine." - ARM

Well, it's a good thing nobody was actually doing that, isn't it.

Omaha1 said...

I guess the author thinks it's no big deal for these "privileged" white men to leave their homes, spend money to gas up their trucks and boats, drive hundreds of miles, and take time off from their jobs to go and help people. All I know is if my car was stuck in a ditch I wouldn't be looking for some New York metrosexual to come to my rescue. I have known plenty of these kinds of guys over the years, they may be a bit rough around the edges but you could surely count on them to stick by you in any kind of bad situation. For many people in the world "acting like a man" is nothing to be ashamed of, and this is not to impugn gay or non-white guys either, I have known plenty of them as well that were tough as nails.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

You wanna know why more men are out there rescuing people than women? Cause it's DAMN DANGEROUS and physically difficult.

Correctamundo.

People do what they can do best. Each person can have a role to fill. If you are a woman, you are, most likely, not strong enough to do the heavy lifting. So men do this work. The dangerous and physically demanding stuff. Women can be part of the rescue effort as well. Helping with settling in the refugees, getting supplies organized, feeding, clothing, etc etc.

There is no shame whatsoever in having roles divided up by ability and IF those abilities are sorted by gender, well that is the natural and biological way of things.

Not everyone can be a first line responder. Not everyone can be a Navy Seal or combat specialist. However, those responders and specialist need the support of a whole lot of other people to make their jobs able to be done. Look at WWII. It was a team effort of many MEN and WOMEN who each filled the slot appropriate to their own skill set.

Feminists who try to insist on equality are missing the big picture and worse, putting everyone in danger.

MaxedOutMama said...

There's a lot of pictures of non-white males out doing the same thing.

Just a bunch of decent human beings doing what they can for others - and the fact is that male strength and size has its points. Why is it so threatening to admit that?

Gahrie said...

There is no shame whatsoever in having roles divided up by ability and IF those abilities are sorted by gender, well that is the natural and biological way of things.

Burn her!

/Monty Python

Daniel Jackson said...

The fact is that the folks down in Texas did NOT act like the folks in New York City during the blackouts of 1965 and 1977 or after hurricane Sandy in 2012.

1977 here: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/looters-prey-city-blackout-1977-article-1.2284260

Sandy here: https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/1103/Hurricane-Sandy-s-darker-side-Looting-and-other-crime

1965 et al here: http://www.boweryboyshistory.com/tag/blackout

I could not find the famous photos of the religious supply store looted and gutted.

The fact is that those good ole boys and gals of all colors, creeds, and castes have behaved in ways that really DO make America Great--not again; but, as it has always been

Comanche Voter said...

Some folks ( or at least folks who write this sort of feminist baldedarsh) are just stuck on stupid. The late Dan Jenkins has a daughter (now maybe about 50) who writes for the Washington Post. She had a column where she talked about the men (and some women) who were out there rescuing people with their boats and jet skis and high clearance vehicles in general. She said the rescuers were men who could still thread a hook when their hands were wet and cold; who knew that ducks just didn't drop out of the sky to land on a dinner plate; and who realized it's okay if you are not warm and dry. Her daddy, Dan Jenkins, would have been proud of her and that column.

And of course one of the worst things about the men and women in those pictures! A great percentage of them were regular church goers, whose pastors or rabbis or priests had told them that the best life is lived by those with a servant's heart who respond to and help others who are in need. Toxic masculinity! Toxic Methodists! Icky Evangelists! Clueless Catholics! Bozo Baptists! I'm surprised the writer didn't go "eek" and jump on a chair at the sight of those folks and their thought processes. And truth to tell down in Texas and Louisiana and most of flyover country, even the atheists and agnostics believe in helping their neighbor. May not compute in the Acela Corridor, but that's those folks loss, not ours.

ccscientist said...

My friend in Florida goes with his church to the carribean for vacation. While the wives and kids are at the beach, the men build churches. This they do for fun.
I never saw a single rescuer who had any interest in being interviewed or even waved at the cameras. They had meaningful work to do and they were doing it.
The fact is that real men can go out in a boat in the pouring rain all day and rescue people without complaining and this simply cannot be understood by writers at the NYT. It violates the narrative which is a Marxist narrative which states that there are only the oppressors and the oppressed. If you aren't oppressed (ie brown) you are an oppressor. It is an insane narrative but that is what organizes reality in these idiot's minds.

stevew said...

In times of crisis, and not, men do good things, women do good things, these things they do are often different and, generally speaking, aligned with their skills and abilities. There are photos of this phenomenon, do i read this right that I'm supposed to be disquieted by such photos? Hostile even?

furious_a said...

Brave but probably not-F150-owning Asian man...

You'd be surprised, there are alot of Viet contractors and commercial fishermen in that part of Texas.

furious_a said...

Check out the t-shirt on the bearded, scowling cracker crushing that poor woman's hand:

"ΜOΛON ΛABE"

OMG Triggered.

furious_a said...

ARM's posts trigger a gag reflex.

furious_a said...

OMG, Look...at...all...those...Rednecks!

Martin said...

Would she rather that people have died because no one rescued them, and by doing so incurred her displeasure? What a bizarre and sad excuse for a person. Anything a white man does is suspect, and if he is in a demographic that might have supported Trump (which tells nothing about the individual, and so what, anyway?) even more so.

Ross is consumed by ideology and hate... the hatred is hidden to a degree, but she is a hater, and she is being encouraged by her employer.

chickelit said...

I felt such unwarranted racial resentment in the author's prose that I just had to check her photo.

Yep, her prose is colored with hatred.

Rusty said...

sane_voter said...
"@ARM Glenn Reynolds - the image of that effete dipshit wrapping himself in the efforts of working men in Houston triggered a gag reflex.

Glenn is definitely not effete or a dipshit. But you are definitely a worthless commenter who I mostly skip over. Unfortunately not this time."

I read him for the irony.

JAORE said...

" There was one video of a couple of young burly black men loading up their boat and getting gas at a station north of Houston. Asked what they were going to do...just looked at the media dope as if he was a dope and said: Gonna save some lives."

I saw that too. Plain words, spoken as a man who believes ANYONE would do the same. Almost as if there was no choice. Certainly no question about the right thing to do.

I wept.

But, of course, not everyone would so so... at personal expense, personal discomfort, personal risk.

A real man, a real hero. Houston could do worse than to erect a monument with that man, his boat and those words.