Margaret Lyons hates women

I decided today I hate Margaret Lyons.  I don’t know or follow Margret Lyons, but I have a good feeling she is one of those people whose face always looks like she is eating a lemon and has an odd sense of entitlement nobody can put a finger on. Lyons blog response to Seth MacFarlane's hosting the Oscars is setting women back and frankly I feel we are owed an apology for her irresponsible writing.   (Her stupid blog is here: http://www.vulture.com/2013/02/why-seth-macfarlanes-misogyny-matters.html)

Having worked in male dominated companies for my entire career, I am not stranger to chauvinism, misogyny, male ego, or locker room banter.  As much of that I have experienced, I am lucky to have mostly worked with kind and intelligent men who are not threatened by strong women.  I really hate whiney women.  This post is not about Seth MacFarlane's Oscar hosting.  I feel as though if the producers had ever see anything Seth MacFarlane was remotely responsible for, they would have known the entire event would be filled with the juvenile, tasteless humor we come to love from the creator of Peter Griffin.  If they wanted it classy, hire someone classy.  If you wanted "Ted"….you got him. 

But then you get Margret Lyons writing her blog post about how misogynistic this was and how wrong that is.  What women need to understand is your whiny attitude about this kind of thing does more harm than good.  You are the bad female apple spoiling my vagina barrel (…that was graphic).  Why?  Because you lack basic coping skills and that does not make you the equal of men- it makes you weak.  And it puts a huge magnifying glass on the weaknesses of our sex- which makes me want to kick your ass in an alley until you toughen up.  Below are my responses, and 3 life rules for Margaret Lyons.

In response to the low -brow “we saw your boobs” song MacFarlane opened with, Lyons says “… after 30 or so years, this stuff doesn't feel like joking. It's dehumanizing and humiliating”.  Wow…Lady, you have a lot of issues wrapped up in your boobs.  This song was tasteless and childish, but I am not ashamed or humiliated as a woman that someone sang a song about boobs.  Go into any 5^th grade classroom and you will probably hear a similar ditty.  I feel bad for people who would only see me for my (amazing) breasts, but these are people I don’t need to acknowledge.  This is more offensive to grown men in the room than it was to women because most men over 14 years of age don’t think like that (fine, 22 years of age…27….whatever).   Rule #1: As a woman, you will always be objectified.  Find a way to use it to your advantage, and find a way to cope with it because these behaviors don’t go away by whining about them.  You take away their power by being stronger than the words.    

Apparently, according to Lyons, MacFarlane also over-complimented the most stunning women in Hollywood.  “Well, thank God, because what matters to all women is that we look good for Seth MacFarlane. How many women did he introduce over the course of the night by mentioning how they looked: "Please welcome the lovely ___ ," "the beautiful ______"? How many men?”

Prior to the Oscars was an extravagant red carpet show in which actresses talked about who they were wearing, how long it took them to get ready, and put their fingers in the “Mani-cam” so we could see nails and diamonds.  If I went through all of that- someone sure as shit better call me “the lovely”.  Rule #2: As a woman, it does fucking matter if you look good!  You don’t have to be the thinnest or the prettiest, but you better have your shit put together because otherwise people will talk.  And people talk about men too because it matters how you look on the outside if you want people to take you seriously.  It may not be fair, but it’s true- SO COPE. 

And then my favorite part- Margret’s dreams and wishes: “I dream of someday watching women win all the non-performance categories, of women making as many films as men do, of women and men being nominated for a comparable number of awards.”  Well then you know what Mags, get out of their way.  Women don’t get to do that stuff because they are women.  They get to do that stuff because they are GOOD enough to do it.  It’s not about the penis.  If you want to get the recognition, the award, the role, the pay, the anything- BE the best.  Rule #3: it’s not fair, get over it.  It is still a man’s world and the only way that equalizes is by being the undisputed BEST.  It’s getting the outfit, the makeup, the education, the experience- but more importantly the swagger- and after you have all of that and you are exhausted and want to be done- THEN you have to do the job twice as good.

It’s not easy, but you don’t get there by whining or pointing and tattling that the mean man made a boob joke.  Margret Lyons is impeding progress.  Learn to overcome the boob joke, develop a skin, stay focused- and then maybe women have a shot.