Remember this: Your comedy is sublime.
Phil Robertson made the saying, "if your boyfriend
doesn’t know how to hunt or fish, then you have a girlfriend" popular. This has
also become a popular meme on the internet posted by male and female hunters.
It seems to be intended for comedy. I take it as comedy and do not get offended
at the lack of political correctness.
Depending on how each individual male is raised
determines the way in which he turns out or what activities he chooses, unless
he goes lone wolf. Some men like to beat each other up with ribbings and
insults to encourage their brethren to be as manly as each individual in the
group. This also could have been a form
of encouragement to other males. That
would bid the question: is it better to build a façade of manliness or actually
be a man?
I wanted to
dissect this phrase because of the sublime message hidden in the meaning, if you
took it literally. Sublime messages
intrude from every place. Bringing
awareness to issues of gender treatment in the outdoor sports should be a
consideration as the horizons broaden.
Just as someone could get offended at this phrase,
the people that float it around the internet might get upset that I am writing
about it because they feel their right to pass such a thing along has been
attacked or suppressed. That is not my intent but I am not apologizing for
writing about it either. I figured if people could pass this post around, then
no one should have a problem when I dissect it. Someone’s sensibilities are
being insulted, either way.
The initial point is: the derogatory nature of what
being a non-hunting male was defined by in the phrase. If you didn’t hunt or
fish then you were a girlfriend. There are a lot of people that know how to
hunt and fish but are horrible people, inside and out. I would think that what define
a man are virtuous traits like character, honor, humility, the ability to lead
or follow for a sensible cause, and acting like a decent human being. Hunting
and fishing are activities not characteristics.
The second point is: the derogatory nature of what
being a girlfriend is as defined by the phrase. For the male to be considered
lacking, it was referred back to the feminine and the inability to do an outdoor
activity. Somehow being feminine is a negative aspect of the person. There is something wrong with being female or at least it is sublimely implied.
Big companies and small business women educate the
general public this ideology is incorrect. There is nothing wrong with being a
female. There is nothing wrong with being a male. There is something wrong with
callous bad behavior when it is broadcast in an intentionally derogatory way. Contrasting
this, is the idea female hunters posting this phrase were once girlfriends,
singletons, and married women, who do or do not hunt yet were poking fun at a
non-hunting male that was lowered to the standard of the perception of what it
is to be a female, a girlfriend, or a married mother. You were demoted to a
lesser class of citizen because of the lack of participation in an activity. The
female hunter equated the male that couldn’t hunt or fish as undesirable. The
female hunter didn’t recognize this fallacy while hitting the post to profile
option. Now that is comedic; the blind
leading the blind. The humor grows as this phrase is posted over a young girl
with a bow who could be someone’s girlfriend, singleton, or wife. Once again,
it is the idea that a particular individual is completely separated from the
image, its meaning, or the responsibility of promotion. Girlfriend is treated
as a sexless word but still degrading even when clearly feminine.
There are people that take part in the
mistreatment of other people and promoting messages while separating themselves
from the message defining, or being applied to them when in fact it does.
Somehow there exists for them immunity.
In retrospection, I thought of myself. I was a
female who hunted, fished, and did other things. These were activities, not
things that denoted who I was as an individual. If this was the case, maybe I
should ask the next man I date whether he wants a boyfriend or a girlfriend.
What a pickup line! If he wants a girlfriend, then I shouldn’t bother with him
because he clearly wants a boyfriend. I am floating in a sexless void with no
identity based on my reproductive organs. I am a boyfriend with female parts.
This seems to be more acceptable.
Written by: W Harley Bloodworth
~Courtesy of the AOFH~
