Stoopid Men Give Neanderthals a Bad Name or Not.
Joseph Epstein decided that his opinion that Dr. Jill Biden’s designation as a doctor wasn’t earned because why? He just thinks it. I guess his opinion was worth publishing an Op Ed in a major financial newspaper. Thanks for nothing. The backlash has been swift and deserved. In another time, this kind of dissing of a woman would go without remark, but it’s 2020, we have a misogynist sexist jerk and potential predator in the WH and the cultural tolerance for it has reached its limit. The same limit where women have been for a long time.
Mr. Epstein, what gives you the authority to write an Op Ed for the Wall Street Journal? You’re a “writer?” Maybe. Is it because you were a “visiting adjunct lecturer” at Northwestern University? Probably. You didn’t earn a doctorate in education. That’s clear. In fact, Mr. Epstein, you gave yourself the authority to write a backward and out-of-date screed and the editorial board decided you had the authority because you could. And millions of women and men have decided that you are, as the kids say, stoopid.
Remember Jeffrey Toobin? His decision to expose himself during a work event was the equivalent of being flashed by someone you know and thought you trusted. I have read many accounts from women and men who think the response to Toobin’s actions were too harsh. After all, he only offended and was inappropriate to a few female colleagues. Really? His behavior and that of Epstein are examples of a privilege that knows no limit. These guys don’t recognize that their behavior is (what I was going to call Neanderthal) but that wouldn’t be fair to the Neanderthal. We have learned recently that this cousin to the Homo sapiens used tools, “controlled” fire, created art and may have ritualistically buried their dead.[1] But maybe the analogy is correct. Turns out the difference between Neanderthal and Homo sapiens might have been their excessive tribalism and narrow knowledge of the world.
Sound familiar? Neanderthals lived in small groups and didn’t venture far from that group. Homo sapiens, on the other hand, traveled far and wide. Their travels taught them how to live in different environments, gave them a more diverse genome, taught them to survive on a wide-range of food sources and to learn from others including the Neanderthals. So, in many ways, these guys who think nothing of degrading and dismissing women may be more like Neanderthals than I was giving them credit for. Neanderthals didn’t adapt quickly enough to keep up with their competition. Men like Epstein act like Neanderthals mocking the Homo sapiens way of life as the Epsteins of the world diminish, their genes becoming inbred, and dying out in their tiny pockets of the world.
We can only hope that the behaviors these men exhibit become extinct and we can stop having these exhausting conversations.
*Please excuse any grammatical mistakes.
[1] “Neanderthals made and used a diverse set of sophisticated tools, controlled fire, lived in shelters, made and wore clothing, were skilled hunters of large animals and also ate plant foods, and occasionally made symbolic or ornamental objects.” (Smithsonian Institute, Human Origins, Homo neanderthalensis https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-neanderthalensis)