The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal

Aristotle
Gender equality, gender identity, gender fluidity; terms used to describe
current events under the political microscope. Amidst the apparent gender crisis
facing our society, it is clear: there is no crisis, only confusion. Confusion in a world
structured as a patriarchal system within a gynocentric society. LGBT, feminazi, sexchange, even sexual harassment in the workplace; a few examples of a reaction to
a singular issue, gender confusion. Ironic, is it not, that in the Age of Information, we
experience great misunderstanding for the fundamental and seemingly inherent
concepts of masculinity and femininity. Susan Faludis In the Darkroom, Samantha
Bee On 'Full Frontal,' Feminism And The Freedom Of Her 40s, Gretchen Carlson Suit
Against Fox News Head Forces Network to Face Changing Mores, and Massachusetts
Lawmakers Poised To Send Gender Identity Bill To Governor are the 4 primary
sources used in this expository synthesis, as well as a personal reflection, which will
first establish the groundwork upon which the thesis is supported through the
articles summarizations and analysis. The media helps shape, and reflects, the issue
of gender identity, but the root cause of this issue is a lack of understanding for the
concepts of masculinity and femininity.
Rhetoric is reality. As a contemporary rhetorician sponsor, I see our reality
being shaped by the portrayals of reality within the media at large. The recent
protest events near me in Atlanta, GA are but one example for the power of
influence which the media has. What started out as less than 100 people, this
protest sky-rocketed in numbers after the demonstration was broadcasted in the
media. Without the media, the number of protestors and length of protest obviously
would not have reached the extent to which they did. In an age of digital overload
and the socially maladroit, the influence of others perspectives is stronger than ever
as we become more reliant upon others for information regarding the world in which
we live. The purpose here then, is to expose the way I see this influence via the
media, and relay how it relates to the general problem of confusion.
NPRs June 1st Article, Massachusetts Lawmakers Poised To Send Gender
Identity Bill To Governor, describes a Massachusetts bill concerning public restroom
use wherein gender-identity would be the new legal standard for evaluation of
appropriate restroom choice. This bill proposal was to be debated in a public forum,
as is standard. At the public debate, a record-breaking number of people showed to
voice opinion. If public advocacy numbers reflect constituency importance, then this
would mean that gender identity is the most important issue in Massachusetts todate.
Samantha Bee On 'Full Frontal,' Feminism And The Freedom Of Her 40s is a
selective transcript which paraphrases part of an Interview with Samantha Bee.
Discussed are her current state-of-mind, her professional life and its impact on her
family, her feminist origins, her rape threat hotline, The Daily Show, and her key
to peace of mind. Samantha Bee exudes a pungent stank of insecurity in the face of
her mid-life-crisis at the age of late 40s. Now, others opinions of her dont matter
that much to her, rather her career is most important. She was recently given her

own show, and has found it difficult to devise interesting content to broadcast.
Tensions are high as her dwindling career teeters on the edge of a slippery slope to
boresville, yet those tensions have not affected her kids (because she wasnt
spending time with them in the first place) and they remain ambivalent youth. Her
maternal family members were strong female role models whom she closely
associated with and because of this she became a feminist activist. Lost an
argument on her show with a male guest concerning abortion, and continues to play
it down as no-biggie, at least until the show gets contracted. She thought that a
rape threat hotline was a good idea, until she saw it in hindsight. That is, no one
wants to rape 46yo women, only the younger ones will do and this whole idea is
sickening to her. She has now mastered the art of saying no in non-sequitur
fashion, in that she has stopped pleasing others and started pleasing herself.
A real titan of industry this one. This would be the key example of gender-role
reversal should we ever have one. Not only is the entire portrayal an obvious
facade, it is also unclear if it is meant to be a joke, after all she is a comedian. The
numerous logical fallacies and absurdities within her interview are astounding. She
is asked about her views as a feminist and her reasons for supporting feminism
because her new show is meant to be a political satire with a feminist perspective.
Her reply, My mother's a feminist. ... I think that I was steeped in feminism from an
early age. It's just in my DNA. It's not something we ever really talked about that
much or congratulated each other for. It just is part of who I am. Basically, she has
no clue what it means, but she struts the title proudly. Despite her current
situational awareness being a sham, her faade is more in line with masculinity than
most men are portrayed to have.
July 7, 2016, Jim Rutenberg of The New York Times publishes the article
Gretchen Carlson Suit Against Fox News Head Forces Network to Face Changing
Mores, wherein Carlson claims to be fired unjustly, as a result of refusing to have
sex with her boss on multiple occasions. Her boss, Mr. Ailes is reported to be a
typical male chauvinist pig who demeans women while objectifying them.
When females were given the ability to enter the workforce, a great injustice
had been fixed and we as a society took a great step towards progression. However,
enforcing equality, without addressing duality, is ancillary to inequality. Truth is,
some women will f**k their way to the top, some will not, and some change their
mind, a lot. Men need to be grateful for this experience when it happens, accepting
for when it does not, and understanding when it stops. Sex for career advancement
is a realistic inevitability that occurs within the dark side of business. This is a part
of the nature of business in our society and no amount of laws to forbid it, or H.R.
memos against it, will prevent this from occurring at some point.
As a successful multi-millionaire, he assuredly has a decent group of women
to choose from, yet his subordinate, Miss Carlson, was not one of those women and
this he could not move past. According to his wiki page, he is worth approximately $
25 million, yet even this titan of industry fell prey to a lack luster understanding of
masculinity. When a relationship is sought with a woman and it does not work out, a
man moves on. This should not phase nor distract a man as there are plenty of

other fish, so-to-speak, and it should most definitely not make him clingy. Had he
known this, this event would not have occurred as it did.
In Miss Carsons sexual harassment lawsuit deposition, instances of sexual
harassment were persistent for almost two years, during which she voiced
dissenting opinions towards these comments. For her dissent, she was demoting,
faced reduced pay, and ultimately fired. This case seems unjust, open and shut,
except that the suit was not filed until after she was fired. This opinion is shared by
a fellow host at FOX, Greta Van Susteren, who stated shes disgruntled she didnt
get her contract renewed and the timing is very suspicious. Suspicious indeed,
seeing as the deposition clearly states the cause of her termination at FOX as a
refusal to have sex with Mr. Ailes for the second time, at least, which was nine
months prior to her termination. She did not seek recourse when she was demoted,
nor when propositioned multiple times. Recourse was only sought after termination.
This lack of legal-recourse, as is her constitutional right and responsibility to act
upon, shows an abetted acceptance for enforcing a standard of practices that are
claimed to be unacceptable and psychologically damaging in her suit. Ludacracy
under the guise of equality prevails.
Susan Faludis In the Darkroom is a NY Times article by Susan Faludi
published June 16, 2016. Fauldi begins with an e-mail stating I have decided that I
have had enough of impersonating a macho aggressive man that I have never been
inside which I was surprised to find was not from an old lesbian lover named
Butch. Also, the importance of commas was made apparent as this Freudian
grammatical slip caused phrasing confusion. Anyways, this e-mail was written by
her father after receiving a sex change operation in Asia at the age of 76. She was
surprised herself, saying Despite our long alienation, I thought I understood
enough of my fathers character to have had some inkling of an inclination this
profound, yet there was none. As a famous feminist and baffled daughter she
inquires as to the meaning of gender. Her father viewed masculinity and femininity
as an overbearing patriarch and as a coquettish old woman which he denounced,
ultimately with an absurd sex-change operation. Whatever he meant to accomplish
was obviously not achieved as he became a resentful recluse in what his daughter
described as a world [that] feels claustrophobic and sordid. He has a perverse
imagination as to the female experience, believing he is entitled to walk around
without clothes and for [his daughter] to treat it normally as is his right as a
woman.
The author states Many religious conservatives, as well as some groups of
radical feminists, insist that trans women arent really women, but men with
fetishes effectively, as Samatha Bee would say, putting us all in a tiny box that
just doesnt make sense. As a man of common sense, I will give her the benefit of
the doubt that she has never meet someone like me in her social circles. It is
common sense that a man (biologically) is still a man, no matter how misshapen his
penis. Cut it off, scoop the insides out with a melon-baller and invert it, whatever
the process of mutilation, a penis will always be a penis. A man will always be a
man. A man who has a sex-change operation is obviously a man with severe sexual
frustration and unique fetish, unless your name is David Reimer. Dissenters stated

as beleaguered campaigners for trans rights who report to furiously reject the
idea that anyone transitions to fulfill an erotic fixation. Yet, her father experienced
a sexual renaissance post-surgery which is described as a transgender id in which
becoming a woman was thoroughly sexualized, in which femininity was related in
terms of bondage and humiliation and orgasm, and the transformation from one
gender to another was eroticized at every step. Point in case.
The only reasoning offered for an explanation as to her fathers unfounded
sex-change: her father was never a man. Her exact words: I-have-always-been-awoman was trumping all the other motivations that might reflect the crosscurrents
of the human psyche. Biologically he was a man, mentally he was on the same
page as a woman, but this is not what Steve Harvey means when he says Think Like
a Woman, Act Like a Man. This is sad product of our society, an outlier reflecting a
male who has lost himself while adapting to anothers conditioning. Somewhere
along the rebel line of *fuck it*, in-between a local brothel and celibacy, this poor
man mutilated himself for happiness which he never found.
Rhetoric is reality. The most important bill discussed to-date in
Massachusetts: gender identity and the public restrooms. Samantha Bee: rolemodel for women or role-model for men? Gretchen Carlson, the poor soul receiving
world-wide attention as the Virgin Mary poster child for sexual harassment, now
seeks payment nine months after the immaculate emasculation of her boss Mr.
Ailes. Roger Ailes, male chauvinist pig who just couldnt come to grips with the fact
that his money did not make his appearance any less disgusting. Susan Faludi,
famous feminist author and grieving daughter left asking *Dad, were you ever a
man?*. All products of an environment which stem from one issue, the unvetted
meaning of our gender identities.