Charlotte Gore is having a go at Man-Flu as a concept1. Good on her – the very idea of it irritates the hell out of me.
Except, well, gosh, Charlotte, perhaps women might consider their own role in this sordid affair – perhaps the fact that so many women appear to be genuinely sexist enough to believe that men are complete wimps who can’t cope with a minor cold could be part of the problem? Perhaps the low-level sexism of shows like Sex & The City and jokes like ‘what do you call the useless bit of skin on the end of a penis’ might actually have a sociological impact? Could it not be that ‘man-flu’ is yet another manifestation of the way men have to constantly jump through heart-shaped Valentines Day hoops to prove they’re not chauvenists, and can’t open a door or give up a seat to a lady on public transport for fear of implying that the lady in question can’t open her own doors or cope with standing?
Whilst, of course, women complain that there just aren’t any proper gentlemen left…
Perhaps?
Post Script: I was once watching some women’s daytime TV in Australia (it happens, okay?) when one of the interviewees said “Through the 90’s we always said we wanted men who could cry. We just didn’t know what to do when they actually started doing it!”
- Although she seems to have got it wrong – as far as I was aware, ‘man-flu’ was the idea that men complain about minor illnesses more, thus man-flu, it is implied, would be just a cold to a woman. [↩]
I think you’re mixing up male chauvinism with manners. There are women who go through the hoops of Valentine, who open doors for anybody, who will give up their seat for those less steady on their feet, regardless of what they’ve got between their legs.
Most women would run a mile from a ‘proper gentleman’, so stop winding me up.
Perhaps.
ladytizzy
February 16, 2009 at 2:52 pm