A Man’s Gotta Do
There’s often times when I will think of phrases that seem either out of date or just purely odd to the point of sometimes being dangerous. I certainly made this trend clear with “Anything You Want” sometime two weeks ago or so. But I think I have found the ultimate one, which IS dangerous. Sexism exists because of this phrase.
“A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”
That literally gives men the advantage to do ANYTHING. They can decide not to go to their wife’s sister’s third removed cousin’s daughter’s wedding because they “have to work”. And she can’t argue with it because then he’ll say, “Hey, you want electricity don’t you? We HAVE to have money!” Or as for another example, a personal one actually, my step father decided to go on a hiking trip in Yosemite when my grandmother was dying and my mother needed support. He claimed he “didn’t know how to react” (he lost his parents in a murder, so maybe this is true and he really just doesn’t know how to handle it) and that it’s just “too hard for him”. Again, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do to get by. Does that work with murder too?
“I HAD to murder the pizza guy, he was going to make me pay and I’m on a fixed income! God DAMNIT a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do!”
There’s a breakup saying that mostly men use when they don’t want to see a woman anymore, and it goes, “It’s not you, it’s me” which is the relationship equivalent of “a man’s gotta do”. Ya know, he can’t date you anymore, he has personal issues he has to work through. And he’s GOTTA do them, damnit! He’s a MAN!
And on an ending note, what with all this talk about men doing what they have to do and relationships…
my step-dad is moving out and divorcing my mother.
m@rk
December 29, 2008 at 4:30 am
I wish you didn’t have to go through this.
I wish I had something kind and consoling to say.
I wish all people were mature enough to talk about their problems instead of making half-assed excuses.
I wish we, as a society, cared more about the well-being of our fellows than we do about ourselves.
I wish.
December 29, 2008 at 7:14 pm
We all do what we have to in order to get through life.
Some of it’s not legal and some of it’s cruel, but it’s what we have to do.
Doesn’t make it the right thing to do, but hey, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.
m@rk
July 26, 2009 at 10:10 pm
[...] so they did all this preparation in order to show women who was in charge. Even as I stated in an earlier entry that “a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do” is a HORRIBLE expression it [...]