The New Agenda - a voice for all women
Get Involved: Become a Member | Donate
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • Board of Directors
    • Welcome
    • FAQ’s
    • Contact Us
  • Media
    • Print & Internet
    • TV & Radio
    • Press Releases
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • Get Involved
    • Email Alerts
    • We Spoke Out!
    • Volunteer
  • Features
  • Blog
Home » Uncategorized

Secure Men Don’t Attack Women (but insecure adolescents do)

October 7, 2008

by The New AgendacloseAuthor: The New Agenda Name: agenda
Email: editor@thenewagenda.net
Site: http://thenewagenda.net
About: See Authors Posts (370)

|
26 Comments
  • Email
  • Share
  • Tweet

Yesterday The New Agenda received the following response from Slate Magazine Editor, David Plotz:

October 6, 2008

Thanks for your note, and I’m sorry the article troubled you. Perrotta’s piece is insightful, witty, and provocative. He clearly separates the sexual sites from Palin, and no reasonable reader could possibly claim he was imputing their provocations to her. As to the larger issue of Palin’s sex appeal, only someone living in a cave for the past month could deny that it is an important element in her appeal. Conservative commentators talk about her sex appeal all the time, and with great enthusiasm; Within the McCain campaign itself they call her the VPILF. Perrotta has pointed out what is obvious to every single person who has analyzed her effect on the race—pointed out what her most avid supporters are saying about her.

Needless to say, we will not be removing it or altering it.

Sincerely,

David Plotz

Which raises the obvious question: why are some men so insecure about their status? Why are some men unable to move forward from a high school-type maturity level?

Haven’t we all noticed where the attacks are coming from? It’s men who don’t feel comfortable in their own skin. Because they are insecure of their standing with other men and in society in general, they choose to strike out at the old comfortable target: women. We say “old and comfortable” as this is reminiscent of their days of adolescence.

Don’t worry, David and Tom. You can peacefully co-exist with women when you can come to terms with your insecurities. We are not the enemy – promise. Degrading and diminishing women by sexualizing them doesn’t make you a bigger man – it makes you a high school boy.

***

If you’d like to share your thoughts with Butthead David Plotz, here’s his email address:

David.Plotz@slate.com

And here’s the standard contact info from Slate’s website:

Slate’s New York office is located at 251 W. 57th Street, 19th Floor, New York, NY, 10019-1894. To contact editors in the New York office, please call Noreen Malone at (212) 445-5330 or e-mail nyoffice@slate.com.

Slate’s Washington, D.C., office is located at 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 400, Washington, D.C., 20036. To contact editors in the D.C. office, please call Chris Wilson at (202) 261-1310 or e-mail dcoffice@slate.com.

For media inquiries, please contact Jennifer Lee by e-mail at press@slate.com or by phone at (703) 469-2671, or Kris Coratti at press@slate.com or (703) 469-2763.

26 Comments »

  • pacific-cali said:

    Is anyone really surprised that Plotz & Parrota proved themselves to be the scumbags we thought they were?

    They’re just a couple more scumbags jumping on the msm woman-bashing band wagon. Its the place to be!

    October 7, 2008 at 9:10 pm
  • Rachel G. said:

    At least Beavis and Butthead have hair!…

    AND…likely more in the “smarts” department!

    October 7, 2008 at 11:34 pm
  • Violet Socks said:

    Gratuitous commentary on masturbation and anal sex = “insightful, witty, and provocative”

    Yep, Beavis and Butthead.

    October 7, 2008 at 11:48 pm
  • Dawn C said:

    And fisting! Don’t forget the fisting. So relevant to Governor Palin’s candidacy, I don’t know why I never considered it before.

    I thought that kind of social commentary was the province of Maxim, but I’ve long suspected that Slate is a thinly-veiled men’s magazine. They’ve even got a little stable of female writers, all nicely sequestered in their girl-ghetto XX Factor blog.

    October 8, 2008 at 1:51 am
  • Jason said:

    I’m laughing cause I remember guys like this in high school. Plotz looks like he was stuffed into a locker or two.

    The girls didn’t like them because they didn’t fit in. Guess they found a way to get back at all those girls now.

    October 8, 2008 at 7:51 am
  • goesh said:

    I would go a bit further than that and say secure men don’t attack anyone and ask why are some women so insecure about their status. In keeping with the trend of one-liners, Gee! that one guy up there sure looks like a penis with lips, doesn’t he?

    October 8, 2008 at 7:54 am
  • lisa said:

    I rather doubt that the McCain campaign called Palin VPILF.

    October 8, 2008 at 7:01 pm
  • Dawn C said:

    And what the hell kind of a defense is that, anyway?

    October 8, 2008 at 7:20 pm
  • Reclusive Leftist » Blog Archive » The Beavis and Butthead school of journalism strikes again said:

    [...] response, David Plotz sent the following reply, which lacked only an animated gif of a man’s hand patting a woman on the head: October 6, [...]

    October 8, 2008 at 11:16 pm
  • KayJL said:

    it’s possible we’re not being fair to Beavis and Butthead.

    October 9, 2008 at 7:03 am
  • Monarch said:

    “Night after night, she appears in my dreams”?

    David seems more than a tad obsessed and overdue for his psychiatric appointment. No wonder he resorts to media-stalking of Governor Palin. He and his cohorts are reminiscent of the paparazzi who stalked Princess Diana. They’ve managed to reduce the entire media to the level of the National Enquirer.

    October 9, 2008 at 8:50 am
  • Zee said:

    Here’s a “fine example” of insecurity at its most adolescent…if that adolescent is also criminally disturbed.

    They’ve gone from VPILF and MILF to MILP:

    http://www.afineexample.com/ot.....palin.html

    October 9, 2008 at 4:04 pm
  • The Beavis and Butthead school of journalism strikes again : NO QUARTER said:

    [...] response, David Plotz sent the following reply, which lacked only an animated gif of a man’s hand patting a woman on the head: October 6, [...]

    October 9, 2008 at 9:30 pm
  • Papoose said:

    Fucking cavemen. Seriously. I’d love to see those two charicaturized (sp. wtf cares?) with their big T-Rex Femurs dragging a chick along by the head of their hair…oh, we already saw that.

    Now they wear burqas, circa 650 a.d. Coming soon to a ‘hood near you.

    BTW … big deal about Bill Ayres ~ it’s all about Michelle Robinson and Berardine Dorhn, the ones that rock the Marxist cradle, carring their big purses and dragging their geeks by their balls…

    October 9, 2008 at 9:55 pm
  • Kiuku said:

    I just sent this to their NYC office. You don’t want to know what I sent Plotz himself:

    Your article in your so-called men’s magazine Slate, that your editors defended calling a perverted garbage piece on fisting and anal “witty” and “insightful” is loathsome.

    You honestly do not know the harm you do by playing this out as mainstream men’s views and calling upon men to hate the women in their lives.

    Were a racist piece of garbage like this to be acceptable today, you would be racist. That much is obvious for you have no regard for decency while women’s groups call you out on this piece of garbage and you defend it. You defend the demeaning and shaming of women and the degrading of a woman of prominent social status, and import. This is not free speech this is HATE SPEECH of the most vicious and vile sort.

    It used to be that sex itself for a woman was degrading. She was a slut, etc. With the sexual liberation of women, men have been trying ever since to come up with new ways to make sex degrading and painful for women. Men came up with their new line of desires. When sex wasn’t painful or blow jobs degrading enough they came up with Fisting and Anal sex and gang rape porn. It’s men that do this and it’s men that request it from women. The article is an attempt to shame women for what they do…again holding women in their oppression as moral compasses of men. We are going to demand anal sex and fisting and gang rape porn from our women, but then blame them as hypocrits. If a woman had anything more than missionary 15 years ago, that might be risque. Would we have an article from these bozos about how a woman who was virginal and has sex in some style other than missionary is hypocritical and should be called out with an insightful and witty article in a men’s magazine? She might be a hypocrit for being ‘virginal” and “pure” beforehand. Women are continually in double binds. They are wrong if they are virginal. They are wrong if they aren’t. They are wrong if they give blowjobs, and wrong if they do not. They are shamed, continually, by pervert and insecure and frankly inhuman men, animals.

    And to attempt to tear Governor Palin down by setting her up as the idol of the Shamed, the Shamed One, the fucked, the fisted, and the raped.

    But you see these men do or do not realize the harm they cause to everyday women, like me. They make my life miserable. Because the men who read this magazine, and delight in the FALSE sense of power it gives them over women, to dehumanize and sexualize women, make them into shamed fuck things, I have to work around. Some women even have to live with them.

    Well, I say I, and all women stop respecting all men, in return, until men stop this madness.

    October 9, 2008 at 11:57 pm
  • antph said:

    It’s nice that The New Agenda is non-partisan. But so far all I’ve seen are defenses of Sarah Palin and not a single criticism of the negative way she’s been campaigning or her arguable lack of preparation for the job of vice president. Surely as women we are secure enough to admit that simply being a woman doesn’t trump everything else. The Obama-Biden ticket may be all-male, but that doesn’t mean they can’t serve women well. In fact, many women are for Obama precisely because they agree with his stand on reproductive rights and other issues. And of course if women want to support Obama and Biden, it is their right to do that without being called traitors to feminism.

    October 10, 2008 at 6:23 am
  • goesh said:

    More and more it seems women are going to have to go the route labor unions and Blacks went to get where they are at today. We of today want to view history from the perspective of 2-3 decades when in fact 50 years ago, Blacks were being brutally oppressed in many places in this nation. Not long after MEN allowed women to vote around 1920, there was brutal conflict to stop economic, industrial servitude. Labor Day is supposed to be a day of remembrance of blood shed by working people to attain a reasonable standard of living but we’ve made a picnic of it. I don’t think women have any choice but to rise up in ways similar to the civil rights and labor movement.

    October 10, 2008 at 8:53 am
  • Alwaysthinking said:

    I cannot comprehend why any woman could, or would, support Obama-Biden, after having seen the crude, sexist treatment of women by Obama and his campaign and after having seen, or experiencing, the intimidation of people at caucuses. Further, I recall the treatment of women during the Clarence Thomas hearings in which Biden participated. Do we still not understand that we can no longer condone such treatment?

    It absolutely is time for women and men to stand up and decry the behavior of those who behave in such disgusting and harmful ways.

    How can a candidate constantly cry “rac ism,” because it might affect him, while at the same time use techniques that are just as vile against women? It is selfish and a horrible double standard.

    October 10, 2008 at 7:40 pm
  • Kiuku said:

    Stop derailing the discussion about the sexualization and sexism aimed at degrading Governor Palin as featured in Slate.

    BTW, when can I expect an article from Slate about how weird it is that so-called religious men want to have fisting and anal porn sex with their wives. Why do men go for religious women if they want to consummate their marriage vows with pornography?

    Especially with a picture of Obama holding a porn magazine about fisting.

    October 10, 2008 at 9:13 pm
  • Kiuku said:

    This is what I e mailed their DC office:

    “Dear Chris Wilson,

    Thank you for your “witty” and “insightful” article about degrading women and Governor Palin. Never before have men used sexual practices of women to degrade them! This is completely novel, insightful, and absolutely witty!

    BTW, when can I expect an article from Slate about the weirdness of so-called religious men who want to have fisting and anal porn sex with their wives. I can’t wait to read the one about the men who go for religious women when they want to consummate their marriage vows with pornography!

    This could be exemplified with a picture of Obama holding a porn magazine about fisting. That would be amazingly insightful and witty! Everyone would appreciate it!

    Thanks Slate for being total bigoted morons. Your growing fan base of angry adolescents and pedophiles must be good for business.”

    I think that is an excellent template for others seeking to do the same. Only I would add for it to be really analogous the picture of Obama should have a slight erection.

    I’ve also titled each one of my angry letters some variation of “Perrotta’s piece”

    October 10, 2008 at 9:55 pm
  • bmc said:

    Dear Mr. Plotz:

    I Can’t wait for Perotta’s next article about how he masturbates over girls in parochial school uniforms–the ultimate iconic male sexual fantasy about “sexy puritans.” It’s so “witty” and “insightful” and “provocative” dontcha know?

    October 12, 2008 at 10:43 am
  • Msakel said:

    Kiuku

    Thanks for your dynamic letter to the SLATE BOY-NEANDERTHALS.

    The media misogynist frat-boys together with the camouflaged misogyny of the anorexic resume-holder himself (Barry Obama) ensured the fraudulent push to the ‘finish line’ of Obama.

    Now, the sexist teenagers of SLATE GARBAGE proceed to vilify yet another woman who wants to enter politics at the above-secretarial level. Their dumb and dumber articles speaks to the illconconceived fantasies of every teenager whose testosterone freckles are still evident when they try to shave themselves in front of some Bgrade motel mirror.

    The best point you’ve raised is that this is HATE SPEECH and until we have legislation prohibiting this type of woman-hatred, expect more abuse from the misogynist frat-boys of both the left and the right.

    We must work to ensure that anti-Woman-Hatred legislation is enacted at the soonest. Surely Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Sarah Palin are the most glaring examples and, if these two are made victimized and abused with such blatant enthusiasm by these immature morons, think of the effect on the everyday lives of ordinary women. No wonder our society is so f*cked up. If only we could place a fist on the Slate boys’ brains till they start bleeding on the presses….

    Why was Obama treated with kid gloves? Imus was justly fired cause the comments were “racist” mostly. They wouldn’t have given a Slate’s rat-assboy’s damn if the girls were white!

    Agitate, mobilize and work for enacting anti-HATRED LEGISLATION to prevent more sexist holocaust….

    October 13, 2008 at 6:37 pm
  • Msakel said:

    Remember Obama’s “Periodically, Hillary feels down and starts launching attacks against me to boost her appeal”.
    “The claws are coming out”
    “She’s likeable enough”
    and his youtube mega-hit where he shows his tremendous respect for his fellow female senator–and all women voters:

    “OBAMA GIVES HILLARY THE FINGER”–BHO does his JayC rapper-wannabe routine the day ater his pathetically inept Pa.ABC Debate performance. Barry smirks and awaits for the applause of his kool-aid crowds while ‘flip-offing” and dusting and scraping her off his shoes as if were…excrement.

    Then Bama goes on stage with the other comedian at his fund-raiser and agrees implicitly with him in his sick joke that “mothers and sisters are ‘hos”!! Now, that’s presidential talent that shows respect for women voters!

    The SLATE boys belong in the Obama camp, it seems–till legislation would gag their woman-abuse instincts!

    October 13, 2008 at 6:42 pm
  • Kiuku said:

    This is where Perrotta is gonna be Oct 23, 24, 25:

    http://www.nhwritersproject.or.....l2008.html

    “Hear bestselling author, Tom Perrotta, read and discuss his work; “

    October 20, 2008 at 3:12 am
  • Kiuku said:

    “We must work to ensure that anti-Woman-Hatred legislation is enacted at the soonest. Surely Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Sarah Palin are the most glaring examples and, if these two are made victimized and abused with such blatant enthusiasm by these immature morons, think of the effect on the everyday lives of ordinary women. No wonder our society is so f*cked up. If only we could place a fist on the Slate boys’ brains till they start bleeding on the presses….”

    Msakel, Absolutely!

    October 20, 2008 at 3:18 am
  • After the Election: Our Real Work Together Begins : The New Agenda said:

    [...] again and this time our members worked together to speak out and bring about change against a sexist article in Slate, a misogynistic video, and a video of Gov. Palin being knocked unconscious. In all three cases, [...]

    November 3, 2008 at 10:26 pm

Leave your Response

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.

You can use these tags:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Join Our National Movement »

Supporting women.
Ending sexism.
Finding common ground.

  • Become a Member
  • Get Email Alerts
  • Volunteer With Us

We’re in the Media »

Click to see our latest stories in the media

More Stories »

    Recent Comments

    • Janis: Rolling Stone Cover: Sexist, Pornographic, or What?
    • Bes: Are We the Women of Mad Men?
    • Lynne Spreen: Are We the Women of Mad Men?
    • Swannie: Rolling Stone Cover: Sexist, Pornographic, or What?
    • yttik: Rolling Stone Cover: Sexist, Pornographic, or What?
    • Kathleen Wynne: Are We the Women of Mad Men?

    The Latest from our Blog

    • Rolling Stone Cover: Sexist, Pornographic, or What?
    • Are We the Women of Mad Men?
    • How Feminists’ Eggs Came Home to Roost
    • Constructive Feminism and the Third Wave
    • Best City for Working Women: In Our Checkbooks

    Archives

    Blogroll

    • Afrocity
    • Amazing Women Rock
    • Conservatives4Palin
    • Elect Women Magazine
    • Equal Visibility Everywhere
    • Equal Writes
    • Femisex
    • Hardy Girls Healthy Women
    • Jack & Jill Politics
    • Jenn Q. Public
    • Marketing the Muse
    • MomsRising
    • NewsReal Blog (Feminist Hawks' Nest)
    • No Quarter USA
    • Peacocks and Lilies
    • Smart Girl Nation
    • Still4Hill
    • Stray Yellar Dawg
    • Taylor Marsh
    • Tennessee Guerilla Women
    • TexasDarlin
    • The Confluence
    • The Red Pump Project
    • The Stiletto
    • The Vyne
    • Uppity Woman
    • What About Our Daughters
    • WOMENomics

Find the New Agenda Online

  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Flickr

Subscribe Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS)

The New Agenda is a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls by bringing about systemic change in the media, at the workplace, at school and at home. More...

  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • Board of Directors
    • Welcome
    • FAQ’s
  • Media
    • Print & Internet
    • TV & Radio
    • Press Releases
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • Get Involved
    • Email Alerts
    • We Spoke Out!
    • Volunteer
  • Features
  • Blog
  • Become a Member
  • Donate
  • Contact Us