Shook the Spot

Harvey Mansfield—the Harvard professor who, among other outlandish claims, argues that grade inflation is a result of affirmative action—is one of those douchebag conservatives who's generally not worth engaging in argument. But he's got a new book out that's been notching a bit of press and lending him a public stage, so for the sake of venting frustration, allow me to make this one note. The book, Manliness, sets out to prove . . . fuck, I've read a lot about the damn thing, but I honestly have no idea. According to the official book description, "This is the first comprehensive study of manliness, a quality both bad and good, mostly male, often intolerant, irrational, and ambitious." So yeah, okay, whatever. This is the bit that irked me, from a glowing profile on The Wall Street Journal's editorial page . . .

Mr. Mansfield's contention that women and men are not the same is now widely supported by social scientists. The core of his definition of manliness—"confidence in a risky situation"—is not so far from that of biologists and sociologists, who find men to be more abstract in their thinking and aggressive in their behavior than women, who are more contextual in their thinking and conciliatory in their behavior.

Science is good for confirming what "common sense" already tells us, Mr. Mansfield allows, but beyond that, he has little use for it: "Science is a particular enemy of manliness. Manliness asserts something you can't scientifically prove, namely the importance of human beings." Science simply sees people as just another part of the natural world.

Hmmmm . . . whom does that sound like?

We are divided between those who think with their head and those who know with their heart. [ . . . ] 'Cause that's where the truth comes from, ladies and gentlemen: the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your stomach than in your head? Look it up. Now, somebody's gonna say, "I did look that up, and it's wrong." Well, mister, that's 'cause you looked it up in a book. Next time, try looking it up in your gut. I did, and my gut tells me that's how our nervous system works.

Hey, I don't even like science . . . like, at all . . . but Mansfield's a fucking moron.