The Backlash! - November 1994

Conservatives enjoy having me on their shows because it gives them a chance to feature an articulate, knowledgeable and authoritative non-extremist who shares many of their opinions. Moderates, because I can dish it out without going off the deep end. (Like the time, on Andi Beck's show before she and her husband, Jim Altoff, moved to the midwest. Former Seattle NOW president, Louise Chernin, was on the air trying to defend their slogan, "Stop Sucking and Start Biting." In response to one of her many complaints about men, I quipped, "Men will be nice when nice guys get laid." I think their ratings must have jumped 50 points after that.)

Perhaps this is why liberals tend to interview me only on tape, or for articles, where they can cut, splice, and manipulate things. Given that feminists like Gloria Steinem and Catharine MacKinnon complain how the mainstream press misrepresents their views, I think it's likely they do it less for ideological reasons than to boost ratings or increase circulation.

Maybe this is what Seattle Times staff reporter Jolayne Houtz had in mind as she was writing her January 10, 1995, article about me and The Backlash! Right off, she quoted the following:

"When men make money, they spend it on women. When women make money, they spend it on themselves. 71 cents on the dollar is too much. (Women) should get no more than 50 percent on the dollar, and for the first 10 years they should work for free."

From there, she turned her attention to Pat Faute's article, "7 Times 7 Times 7 Times 7," taking some of his examples of what the feminist inclination to exaggerate might look like if we indulged in it, and recasting them in a different context to make it appear we actually believe them:

(Rod) comes off soft-spoken, even pensive -- not what one might picture as the man responsible for publishing such misogynistic musings as this:

The average man's brain weighs 557 pounds more than the average woman's brain. The average woman has 14,189 more pounds of subcutaneous fat than the average man...much of this fat is in women's heads, where obviously they have some spare room.

Dear Mr. Fancher,

I wish to register a complaint against staff reporter Jolayne Houtz. She took something I wrote for The Backlash completely out of context and made it look sinister, when it was obviously mean to be humorous and tongue in cheek.

The main point of my article was to expand on Christina Hoff Sommers' idea that the media are highly slanted toward feminist principles--to the degree of distorting any opposing views. And Ms. Houtz sure proved my point.

I knew when I wrote that article that some women's advocates could take it out of context and use it against me and the point I was making. But I never expected any of the mainstream media to have the temerity to do this. Certainly they would have some integrity. Silly me.

I have included copies of both articles so that you can judge for yourself whether I committed "misogynistic musings" or Houtz owed an apology. My article appeared in the November (1994) Backlash. Houtz's article appeared in the January 10th Scene section.

Dear Mr. Faute,

Thank you for your letter. I've reviewed your original article in the Backlash, and the portion of the article written by Jolayne Houtz to which you refer.

To be honest, I think most readers would assume the quotes used from your Backlash article were meant to be cynical (another synonym for "misogynistic"). I doubt many of our women readers found the quotes humorous but I also doubt they found them "sinister."

I'm sorry if you feel Ms. Houtz was distorting your views. At least she didn't use the quote about your 506-foot penis. Now that would have been sinister.

Sincerely, Michael R. Fancher

Houtz's article was not just slanted, but sensationalistic:

The tone of The Backlash! is edgy, sometimes even violent (emphasis added). In January's (1995) issue, the magazine tackles sexual harassment (why shouldn't men be able to argue that women wearing tight sweaters and "libido- arousing perfumes" are guilty of sexual harassment?), the myth of female powerlessness ("Since 1920, women have had control of the American political system because they have been the majority of voters") and maternal bias in custody cases.

We can only speculate as to why Houtz and The Seattle Times chose to indulge in the bias and sensationalism typical of a cheap tabloid. Maybe it's simply a matter of "everybody's doing it, so why shouldn't we?" Or perhaps they serve an agenda less principled than we might hope. Regardless, the power of the Internet rests upon our ability to communicate. And on the Internet, you can communicate both with me, and with Michael Fancher, executive editor and Jolayne Houtz, Seattle Times staff reporter. Warmest regards, Rod Van Mechelen