day FOUR HUNDRED and THIRTY EIGHT

A WINEDRUNK RANT by Ally Malinenko

Dear Universe,

Could I maybe wake up one day, just ONE day, in this life and NOT have some dude (read: white dude) policing my body?

Is that possible, universe? Because it would be a goddamn relief.

Unfortunately last Saturday March 31^st – on the LAST day of Women’s History Month mind you – the New York Times, a newspaper that while I support, read and trust, frustrates the living hell of out of me, posted an op-ed piece by Bret Stephens defending a man that called for the public hanging of millions of women.

What are you doing Times, you ask? How is that possible, you say?

Bret Stephens, who does not deserve the real estate space or the salary provided by the New York Times, has been problematic for a long time. He claimed that if college rape was really an issue than women wouldn’t go to college, suggested that there was a specific “Arabic disease of the mind” and called Black Lives Matters thuggish.

So he’s trash. But to back and apologize for a man that publicly called for the execution of millions of  women? And for the NY Times to pay him and publish him?

So who is Bret Stephen’s defending? Another garbage human – Kevin Williamson who was recently hired to write for the Atlantic. Kevin Williamson, in a 2014 article about a visit to East St. Louis, referred to a black child as a “primate” which was the same year that he said that women who have abortions “should be hanged.”

Because we live in a white supremacist patriarchy this man now writes for the Atlantic.

Unsurprisingly some women, and a few men – but mostly women because defending women is apparently also women’s work – were pissed and had some things to say about how maybe he can fuck off six ways to Tuesday with his horrible ideas about millions of women being executed for having abortions.

But because the left can’t EVER DO ANYTHING with some cis-het white dude striding in with “conservative” (what does that even mean anymore? It’s like either they’re Nazis or misogynist trolls) perspective.

Bret Stephens to the rescue.

In his piece that he fames as an open letter to Kevin “Kill All the Women” Williamson© Stephens’ decries the original tweet but goes on to say that the outrage is uncalled for. It was just a tweet, he says! Since when do we take tweets seriously? Had Williamson, Stephens continues, actually written a whole book on murdering women then he would start to be concerned.

Huh. Well THANKS Bret for stepping in there and letting us know at what point threatening to kill women was worthy of attention. Because last time I checked when people show up to murder folks at Planned Parenthood it wasn’t cause they read a whole book about it.

As Jessica Valenti pointed out in her tweet what Stephens is doing  is “the perfect encapsulation of men debating over women’s lives as if they mean nothing.”

So he dismissed the “tweet” to murder 25% of the female population but really draws the line at women expressing anger and fear. That, he claims is “character assassination” against Williamson.

Just remember, when women talk about the thing they fear most about men it is always getting hurt or killed. Men’s greatest fear regarding women? Rejection and humiliation.

Just fucking sit with that.

And then Stephens goes on to talk about how Williamson is a NeverTrumper so we need to listen to him.

Excuse me, sir? No. No I do not and you can have all the seats.

I am not obligated to listen to a man who has zero respect for my actual personhood and humanity just because they were willing to say that Donald Trump was a bad fucking idea. That is the lowest of the lowest common denominator if you think for one hot second I’m going to be okay with you talking about HANGING women.

But Stephens then doubles down cause you know what else Williamson has got? Great prose.

Gee, he’s a good writer who hates Trump so I guess it’s 100% okay that he wants most of us murdered.

What Stephens doesn’t seem to understand, or more so refuses to acknowledge is that Williamson is being attacked, rightfully so, not for a tweet but for his beliefs. This is a fact.

And because this is also a petty fucking hill I will die on, it was NOT ONE TWEET. He’s said that in multiple interviews, and then doubled down in interviews that women who have abortions should be treated like murders.

I have over the course of the last two years thought about cancelling The New York Times when I felt that they coddled Trump voters and/or took less than seriously the danger that this man causes. Once again, the New York Times has proved that my instinct to distrust them.

Maybe they’ll only listen when I pull my money, though to be honest, probably not even then. This is America and in American I have learned that women do not count as fully autonomous people and men across all platforms - from the street to the New York Times - will continue to police, politicize and execute us.

--Ally Malinenko