Episode 111: Review of (Un)kind: How 'Be Kind' Entrenches Sexism
48 minutes long. Link to audio file. Link directly to this episode.
We review Victoria Smith's new book '(Un)kind: How 'Be Kind' Entrenches Sexism'. We discuss the overarching expectation on women to “be kind” and its implications, such as making space for men in women's spaces, disagreeing with men a cardinal sin, and women as virtuous only if endlessly forgiving. Other themes of the book discussed are the concept of "himpathy”, women’s kindness as transformative for men, women's kindness when tied to sexual access, and how the "be kind" mantra helps to secures male dominance in social interactions with women. Plus, examples of famous men being absolutely unkind and never being policed for it, men as ‘sexual communists’ when it comes to wanting an equality of sexual access according to sex as a supposed need, JD Vance’s excellently unkind grandmother, men's rage when women say “no", and how adherence to ‘be kind’ explains why more women than men supports trans rights, despite transgenderism not being in women's interests and very much in men's interests.