Dorothy Sayers was one of the first women graduates from Oxford.She was a high Anglican, and people associate her with the inklings. She wrote, inter alia, The Lord Peter Whimsey detective stories, very readable and marvellous English, the liveliest English Translation of Dante to date, and the WWII Radio dramatization of the Gospels , A man born to be king - all superb!
Probably no man has ever troubled to imagine how strange his life would appear to himself,
if it were unrelentingly assessed in terms of his maleness:
if everything he wore, said or did had to be justified by reference to female approval,
if he were compelled to regard himself, day in day out, not as a member of society, but merely -salva reverentia- as a virile member of society;
if the centre of his dress-consciousness were the cod-piece, his education directed to making him a spirited lover and meek paterfamilias, his interests held to be natural only in so far as they were sexual;
if fromschool and lecture-room, ,press and pulpit, he heard the persistent outpouring of a shrill and scoldingvoice, bidding him remember his biological function;
if he were vexed by continual advice on how to add a rough male touch to his typing, how to be learned without losing his masculine appeal, how to combine chemical research with seduction, how to play bridge without incurring the suspicion of impotence;
if, instead of allowing with a smile that “women prefer cave-men,” he felt the unrelenting pressure of a whole social structure forcing him to order all his goings in conformity with that pronouncement.
He would hear -and would he like hearing? the female counterpart of Dr X informing him:
“I am no supporter of the Horseback Hall doctrine of ,”gun-tail, plough-tail and stud”' as the only spheres for masculine action, but we do need a more definite conception of the nature and scope of man's life.”
In any book on sociology he would find, after the main portion dealing with human needs and rights, a supplementary chapter devoted to “the ,position of the ,male in the ,perfect ,state”
his newspaper would assist him with a “Men's Corner,” telling him how, by the expenditure of a good deal of money and a couple of hours a day, he could attract the girls and retain his wife's affection’
and when he had succeeded in capturing a mate, his name would be taken from him, and society would present him with a special title to proclaim his achievement.
People would write books called, “,History of the ,male,” or “Males of the Bible,”
or “,the ,psychology of the ,male,”
or “,the ,psychology of the ,male,”
and he would be regaled daily with headlines, such as “,gentleman-,doctor's discovery,” “,male-secretary ,wins calcutta ,sweep,” “,men-,artists at the ,academy.”
If he gave an interview to a reporter, or performed any unusual exploit, he would find it recorded in such terms as these:
“Professor Bract, although a distinguished botanist, is not in any way an unmanly man. He has,in fact, a wife and seven children. Tall and burly, the hands with which he handles his delicate specimens are as gnarled and powerful as those of a lumberjack, and when I swilled beer with him in his laboratory, he bawled his conclusions at me in a strong, gruff voice that implemented the promise of his swaggering moustache.”
Or:
“,there is nothing in the least feminine about the home surroundings of Mr. Focus, the famous children's photographer. His ,”den”' is panelled in teak and decorated with rude sculptures from ,easter ,island’ over his austere iron bedstead hangs a fine reproduction of the ,rape of the ,sabines.”
Or:
“I asked M.Sapristi, the renowned chef, whether kitchen-cult was not a rather unusual occupation fora man. ”Not a bit of it!”' he replied, bluffly. ,”,it is the genius that counts, not the sex. ,as they say in .la.belle .,ecosse, 'a man's a man for a' that!”'--and his gusty, manly guffaw blew three small patty pans from the dresser.”
Where Dr X had disclaimed adherence to the .,kinder, .,kirche, .,kuche school of thought
he would be edified by solemn discussions about “,should men serve in drapery establishments?“
and acrimonious ones about “tea-,drinking,men”‘
by cross-shots of public affairs“from the masculine angle,”
and by irritable correspondence about men who expose their anatomy on beaches -so masculine of them-,
conceal it in dressing-gowns -too feminine of them-,
think about nothing but women,
pretend an unnatural indifference to women,
exploit their sex to get jobs,
lower the tone of the office by their sexless appearance,
and generally fail to please a public opinion which demands the incompatible.
At dinner-parties he would hear the wheedling, unctuous,predatory female voice demand: “,and why should you trouble your handsome little head about politics?“
If, after a few centuries of this kind of treatment, the male was a little self-conscious, a little on the defensive, and a little bewildered about what was required of him ,I should not blame him.
If he traded a little upon his sex,I could forgive him.
If he presented the world with a major social problem, ,I should scarcely be surprised.
It would be more surprising if he retained any rag of sanity and self-respect.
2010 :
From a very nonfeminist website, click here
Here is one of their videos, chosen rather for language use:
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