I like Colbert’s tie in that clip. But he’s right. We must stop the destruction of American manhood. I’m going to go get in a bar fight.
Yes, a horrible unsolvable problem. If my husband wasn’t a SAHD, my kids wouldn’t be watching Thundarr the Barbarian this afternoon. So does that mean I get to get felt up?
The feeling-up thing grossed me out too, but I think Colbert did a great job of using it to demonstrate the wider sexism of people who question SAHDs and are convinced that only women should be home with the kids.
Re: The felt up thing Working women are either hypermasculinized (the shots of her drinking beer on the couch while the husband a vacuumed) or hypersexualized (feeling up). I think it also had to do with the paranoia that gender noncomformity = insufficient masculinity = Fabio will steal your woman. As usual, Colbert is a genius.
Well, if it’s an unsolvable problem what’s the problem? If I wanted kids I’d want a stay at home dad. My dad stayed at home with me and I turned out fine………’cept for being a feminist and all….and not believing in organized religion……and earning two degrees before I turned 30….and then there was the premarital sex….oh dear…. I’m going to go cry in the corner now, at the loss of my gender conformity. *sniffles*
Because my mother died when I was 12, my dad ended up being a SAHD by default. (He was eligible for early retirement, so he took it.) From then on, my beloved, incredible Dad cooked a bazillion healthy dinners for his three girls; helped me get into college a year early; taught me to play chess, cook cabbage and grow roses. He also taught me to take every possible opportunity to learn a new language (elementary Japanese is not very difficult. Intermediate German is somewhat harder). In my own experience, Dads make great primary care-givers! If it hadn’t been for my beloved Dad, I would have ended up a total loss.
The whole “I surrendered my manhood” thing got me more. No, you didn’t. If you think you did, that’s because society made you define “manhood” according to its precepts, but you didn’t surrender anything. Despite that and the feeling-up crap (why?), Colbert is still my Truthiness Messiah.
Working women are either hypermasculinized (the shots of her drinking beer on the couch while the husband a vacuumed) or hypersexualized (feeling up). Yeah, I think he defanged both stereotypes by playing them against each other.
Despite that and the feeling-up crap (why?), Colbert is still my Truthiness Messiah. The feeling-up crap was, “See, you’re so emasculated that even I, Stephen Colbert, can steal your woman!” It was (purposely!) a little gross, but absolutely necessary to play all of the stereotypes off one another. I loved the slow-mo “danger!” shots of men pushing baby strollers.
I love Colbert. That man (and his writers) is a complete genius. n3rdchik: Yes, a horrible unsolvable problem. If my husband wasn’t a SAHD, my kids wouldn’t be watching Thundarr the Barbarian this afternoon. Totally off topic, but is that on some channel I don’t get or are there dvds? That was my absolute favorite cartoon as a kid.
SAHD’s are the life. Please, if a woman could provide for me, I wouldn’t be happy enough. She wants to win the bread, I certainly will not stop her. Plus, I like doing most house stuff anyway and it gives me time to work on that novel…
Plus, I like doing most house stuff anyway and it gives me time to work on that novel… You understand that there’s a difference between being a stay-at-home-dad and being a stay-at-home-novel-writer, right?