Friday, June 3, 2016

Confessions of an Old, White Man.

Maybe I'm too sensitive. Maybe that's a characteristic of being an old white male, but I'm fed up and tired of being verbally assaulted and disparaged because I am an old white male.

(Just because I am an old white male does not mean I can't relate to women, African-Americans, Hispanics, etc. Implicit in my skill and craft is my ability to be understanding and empathic--the same, in a sense, as a psychotherapist.)

The latest affront comes from a t-shirt that's making the rounds.

Printed on it are the words "The Future is Female."

I'll admit, I think slogans on t-shirts are almost universally banal. The other day I saw one that read "Fuck Poverty." I've seen "End Hunger." I had a joke t-shirt once that I wore into shreds, it read "Stop Plate Tectonics." 

If you want a cause, work for it. Sloganeering never solved anything and has caused many more problems than it's cured.

Anyway, back to the future and its femaleness.

That slogan is mean.

It's narrow.

It's sexist and exclusionary.

Yet somehow, it is in vogue and worse, it is acceptable, it is flaunted.

Imagine a t-shirt that sloganeered, "The Future is White." Or Black. Or Left-Handed.

Look, I'm well-aware that for the roughly 6,000 years of civilization women have been put into what are today regarded as subordinate roles.

I'm well-aware that women generally earn less than men.

I'm well-aware of all these things and more.

That does not make me evil, wrong-headed and responsible for 6,000 years of history. I'm old but I wasn't around for most of it.

Shit. I've never oppressed anyone. 

How about another t-shirt, if that's our preferred  metier of communication. 

"The Future is Everyone."

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