Men Can Be Feminists, Too (Maybe)

I was a Women's Studies minor in college (save the lesbian comments, Curly). I participated in Take Back the Night Marches. I helped Cindy man a booth for the shelter where she volunteered. I wrote articles about domestic violence. I was also a scantily clad shot girl at a local dance club, because being a contradiction is how I roll. My point, and I promise I do have one, is that being an outspoken feminist was part of how I defined myself, and because I was young and obnoxious, everyone had to know about it.

Because I was Jess the Feminist, the frat boys and football players who were inexplicably drawn to me would try to use it to their advantage.

"I totally think chicks should get paid as much as dudes and stuff."

"I took Women in Film sophomore year, and it's completely opened my eyes and stuff, you know?"

"I think it's really cool that you care about women's rights and stuff."

Not to belittle all of the frat boys and football players who were inexplicably drawn to me. It worked sometimes. Well, not so much worked as, "I think you're cute and would like to make out with you, therefore I will overlook the completely transparent and lame way you are attempting to put the moves on me."

Why am I telling you this? Because we need to discuss the Time Warner cable guy who came to my house yesterday to solve my On Demand woes.

Exhibit A:
He's telling me that the Scientific Atlanta DVR boxes, while sexy and slim, are riddled with bugs and problems. He likens the old cable boxes to "a woman who has been with you through thick and thin, and so what if she has an extra 30 pounds on her?" while the new boxes are like "some hot, young thing who can't even boil water."

Exhibit B:
A Jenny Craig commercial comes on. Cable Guy asks me if I've ever been to Europe. I tell him I have. He starts to talk about unrealistic body images in America, and how women in Europe aren't afraid to look like real women, because society expect them to look like real women, and how everyone is so skinny here and he doesn't like it one bit.

Exhibit C:
News of Leona Helmsley's death comes on NY1 for the 50th time that morning. Cable Guy asks me if I think people would have judged her so harshly had she been a man, because he thinks they wouldn't have.

Maybe Cable Guy was sincere. Maybe he was practicing his feminist line for the next lady he wants to make out with. Maybe he thought I was fat and wanted to make me feel better. Who knows? All I know is that, after a week in Brooklyn, I finally have working cable, and that rocks.