So, on another blog, a guy commented about how the current discussion going on in the comments section was being conducted by "hormonally heightened" females. He apparently came into the discussion in order to start some "intelligent discourse". Little did we know that the discussion happily going on before that was lacking in intelligence. Gosh, it's a good thing he came along to set us little ladies straight.

Do people still really think this way? Didn't this misogynistic bullshit go out of style sometime in late 1973? Last I checked, we were all, male and female, under the influence of hormones. They go running through our bodies when we are stressed, scared, hurt, and frightened, not to mention when we are in the mood to tangle some sheets. Last I checked, neither sex gets to claim some "get out of hormones free" card that allows them to pass go and collect two hundred dollars. Unless of course, testosterone is no longer considered a hormone. Gotta keep up with those advances in medical science, I guess.

It wouldn't bother me so much if this were only about the rantings of the occasional internet dipshit. The problem is, this whole "those pesky women, always at the mercy of their hormones" mentality affects more than just the clouded minds of a mere few. It's awfully pervasive, for these oh-so-enlightened times. For instance, the British Boxing Association decided, oh about two years ago, to not allow women to enter the sport of boxing, because apparently women are so at the mercy of their hormones that they could not be trusted to not accidentally maim or kill another boxer while they suffered through the apparently mind bending effects of PMS. Gee, little do my friends and family know that they gamble with their lives hanging out with me for a few days each month. Funny how the male dominated boxing that I have witnessed has also had their problems with the occasional maiming and killing. Guess the British Boxing Association is suffering from short term memory loss. Too many blows to the head can do that, I have heard.

Now, I am not all that interested in stepping into the boxing ring, as I like my nose right where it is, but decisions such as this have a much wider impact. We can assert that women are autonomous and capable individuals, yet every time a group of people who get to decide what we can do and how we can do it base their decisions on the idea that women are helplessly at the mercy of their overwhelming hormonal urges, any assertion to the contrary by the general public is completely undermined. Yeah, you've come a long way, baby. The thing is - I don't get it. I really don't. What is so fearsome and loathsome about a few women having an intelligent and passionate conversation, or about a woman wanting to play a freakin' sport that makes everyone have to run out and find any excuse to characterize them as nothing more than a Stepford wife married to a bunch of biological secretions.

So let me say this for all those who may be a little confused. Just because a woman displays a little passion and zeal doesn't mean she is a hapless victim of her hormonal urges.

Well, unless she's naked.