While Masculist Man (MM) seems cheerful about debating me, I've become less than eager to continue to engage him. He would probably attribute my attitude to the indefensible nature of feminism but it's more that I can't seem to find common grounds for exchange. The last straw for me was his view that dating between men and women is a form of prostitution. That is, men pay for food and a movie solely in exchange for sex at the end of the "date". If sex is not forthcoming from the woman, MM thinks the woman is essentially stealing from the man.

This left my mouth hanging open. It's not that I haven't seen or heard of this attitude but it is so demeaning to women, so baldly nasty, I was stunned. Speechless. The reduction of female/male interactions to sexual/economic terms implies such a poverty of soul, such a meanness of spirit, such a dearth of respect for women, that I am left dazzled and disheartened.

This could have been predicted from the first exchange probably. Perhaps I was foolish to even begin a discussion with MM. There was always a certain trollish sense about his assertions, more concerned with declarations than substantive argument. And, despite the courtesy I normally extend to guests to my blog, I succumbed to temptation by basically calling him once-removed from a racist through a rhetorical association.

I've always harbored hopes of having good discussions in my comments section, something that hasn't come to pass much over the years. Perhaps that hope has left me a little desperate, a little too eager to encourage anyone interested in posting. I'm actually not sure I could handle the time and maintenance a lot of comment traffic would require from me so perhaps it's for the best.

Still, live and learn. You may note that I haven't reproduced these last few exchanges between MM and myself in this post. I've been able to mine the experience for some observations and reflections but I think it's about played out now.