Eventually it palls

So I made a mistake. I can admit it. I started reading Craig's List "Best of". Yes, it's fairly amusing, and yes, I'm certain reading it as opposed to reading a whole category of posts weeds out a lot of crazy rantings and poor grammar. But eventually, I came up against people who, while I support their right to be as different from myself as possible, I just wouldn't want to spend any time with.

Particularly troubling to me this afternoon are the incredibly mysogynistic men. Really, for them, women aren't individuals at all, merely variations on a stereotype that has been cobbled together from all the women who wouldn't have sex with them at the exact time and position they desired.

Now, I'm trying to be fair here. (Why bother? you ask. Because I don't want to become the thing I hate.)

I know, I should have a sense of humor about it. But I always think the gender war is largely constructed. No, I don't want to argue that men and women are exactly the same. But isn't it a huge disservice to all to assume men merely want to hit things and have sex every moment (hit things and "hit" things, I suppose) while women just want to cuddle and put on lipstick? Couldn't we all take a moment to remember that individuals exist? After all, who in their right mind actually wants a picket fence? And yet that's the symbol of the stereotypical American dream. But hardly anyone has them! (They're a bitch to paint and it's easy for kids to steal the pickets, so your fence is like a smile missing teeth.)

There are a lot of people out there who don't fit your idea of who they are, and thank goodness. How boring would it be if everyone did? So, thank you, mysogynistic man, for showing me that people can be mean, petty, lacking in self-awareness and devoid of empathy for anyone else. Because the moment I realized that, I was grateful for the kind, sexy, caring men I have encountered, one of whom I currently date, and who allows me to be whatever I wish, whether it fits into his stereotype or not.