Literary Analysis (4th Draft)

The Opposition w/ Jordan Klepper “War on Men: Resisting the Evil Estrogenda”

“STORYTIME: I GOT RANOVER BY A CAR”, “HOW I LOST 20 POUNDS IN 1 WEEK”, “JAKE PAUL EXPOSED”. Did I catch your attention? Was that clickbait enticing enough for you to keep on reading? YouTube is a great space to watch your favorite pranks, clothing hauls, and storytimes. But within all of that fun lies a place where light is shed on important issues in the world. In his segment, "War on Men: Resisting the Evil Estrogenda", Jordan Klepper suggests that men should educate themselves about feminism and look towards statistics for truth, rather than make assumptions based on their feelings. Just like YouTube, while filled with sarcasm and witty jokes, this video addresses an underlying issue -- “meninism”.

While watching the video, the whole idea of a "War on Men" didn't settle well with me. As a student, I’ve seen the phrase “War on…” in many different situations. From reading a history textbook about the “War on Drugs”, to watching interviews about people’s opinions on the “War on Islam”, seeing this phrase was not new to me. By Klepper utilizing the term “War on Men”, he catches viewers’ attentions by stating that there is in fact a societal issue against men. After centuries of oppression and decades of fighting, women have started to make greater leaps in achieving gender equality. Yet, here I am watching a video about how in reality, men are the ones being oppressed. It all seemed completely ironic in itself. In fact, Klepper notes the irony of the topic when he says, "We men have never been more under attack than we are right now because we used to not be under attack at all." Klepper directly states the irony of the concept, highlighting the ridiculousness of the idea. For centuries, we have lived in a patriarchal society, constantly praising men for leading us in every aspect of our lives. This idea of men as the breadwinners of their families has been instilled in society for so long that it became a part of philosophies and religions, such as Confucianism. One of the fundamental parts of Confucianism is "The Five Relationships." And in "The Five Relationships," one of the key relationships is a wife’s duty to her husband. This is a clear example of how women have constantly been considered inferior to men as they were to obey their husbands no matter what. Therefore, seeing as men have never really been attacked, the whole concept of a "war on men" is simply ironic, as it contrasts greatly with the reality of gender inequality. 

In the TV show Parks & Recreation, Amy Poehler plays
 Leslie Knope, a great example of a female leader.

Aside from the content in the video, Klepper’s sarcastic tone also stood out to me. Everything he said had a sarcastic tone to it, notifying viewers that he wasn't a misogynist or a "meninist," and that what he said was to be taken lightheartedly. Right off the bat, when he started talking about this so-called war on men, he illustrated how ludicrous it was for men to fear progress by stating that “suddenly frothing feminists are forcing men to make the same amount of money as women." His sarcasm shined through when he said this, as he framed the "frothing feminists" in a negative way, but framed their intentions in a positive manner. Similarly, when talking about what is now becoming a "Tech Fempire," he included numerous statistics about employment and how "Women now hold a whopping 11 percent of executive positions [in the tech industry]." Wow! 11 percent! I mean, “Is there any room for men anymore?” But seriously, the fact that more women are currently holding top positions in several, different job industries shows an advancement in gender equality. For a ridiculous amount of time, society has labeled executive positions as a man’s job, because women were believed to not be “leadership material”. But now, future generations will be able to think of CEO and President as a position that can be filled by both a man and a woman. By contradicting his statements with facts, Klepper further reinforces his message of how men should look towards real evidence, before basing their opinions on how they feel as his segment clearly illustrates how closing the gender gap is a positive thing, not something to fear of.

In fact, in order to highlight this fear, Klepper employed allusions and made various references throughout his segment in order to help the viewers further understand his message. For instance, when describing the situation between Google and James Damore, a former Google employee, he compared it to David and Goliath. People often allude to David and Goliath in underdog situations. In this context, men are the underdogs (David), and women are the bigger, stronger opponent (Goliath). By alluding to "The Bible," he gives readers the ability to further understand the circumstances, as "The Bible" is a holy text that millions of people base their morals on, and David and Goliath is a well-known Biblical story. Moreover, by using this analogy he highlights how ridiculous this war on men is, as men are feeling like the weaker opponents, when they're the ones implying that "31 percent of Google's employees were less fit for their job" just because of the biological differences between men and women. This juxtaposes the David and Goliath analogy because in this situation, men (James Damore) are the ones attacking and criticizing women for being "weaker" in certain skill areas, which resembles greatly with Goliath's characteristic of being the superior one in the situation. By contrasting David and Goliath with the words of James Damore, Klepper highlights how the idea of progression for women in various aspects of life, scares some men as the perception of men being considered higher or better than women is starting to deteriorate.

Timothee Chalamet's post regarding the Woody Allen movie

Seeing as there has been a lot of progress in regards to women moving up the hierarchy and becoming equal to men, I felt that this video was very relevant. In Hollywood recently, there have been many actresses and actors who have spoken about unequal pay and sexual misconduct in the industry. Noticing the huge disparity between men and women, many actors have been willing enough to take pay cuts, so that their salaries are equal to their female counterparts. Recently, news spread that Mark Wahlberg received 1,500 times of a larger salary than his co-star, Michelle Williams, in the film All the Money in the World. With millions of people in shock of the enormous pay gap, Wahlberg came out and stated that he would donate all $1,500,000 to “Time’s Up” in the name of Williams. Following his lead, rising actor Timothee Chalamet, recently put out a statement to the public saying that he too would donate his entire salary to well-known organizations such as “Time’s Up” and “RAINN”, after controversy sparked from news of him working with director Woody Allen, who has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women. Being able to see men joining the conversation and making a right of what was wrong, shows how men are now standing with women, not against them. 

As a teenager, I look up to many strong women. And for these strong women to fight for their rights in front of the public eye, shows young girls like me that we are not lesser or weaker, and we should not be afraid or ashamed to speak up. After all, we were born with a voice, so why not use it.