Intro
Years ago (1969 to be exact) a subversive Jewish guy named Philip Roth wrote a book. The name of the book is Portnoy's Complaint, which is a partially autobiographical confession of sexual deviance by the author.
Why is this on TRP?
Roth received massive flak for this book. He pissed off an amazing number of people and groups - women, Jewish Americans, mainstream media, the "polite society", you name it. All were angry.
This is a post about critical thinking, and why it is so important to your journey as a man.
The Book
Portnoy's Complaint is framed as a man's confession of his sexual escapades to his therapist. This was partially because talking about sex in 1969 was still thoroughly forbidden - Roth's framing of the narrative allowed for the plot to take shape without being immediately dismissed.
“I needed permission, and permission came with casting the book as a psychoanalytic confession”
-Roth, New Yorker
The book details events like masturbating with raw liver that is later served at the family dinner table, the many women Portnoy runs through, and his inner thoughts .
The Response
Here's where TRP comes in - the difference between the message and the the response.
The principal themes of the book are lust and awe - Portnoy is both using and fascinated by women. As much of his nature is objectification, it is accompanied by a certain appreciation for femininity. While not as salacious, TRP recommends a roughly similar approach - appreciate women for what they are but don't mistake what they are. Ultimately, the book was a revolt against Roth's conservative upbringing.
Feminist critics (the movement was just getting its engine going in 1969) objected violently to the book. In their minds, Portnoy's Complaint was the pinnacle of misogyny, a written work of objectification. They were wrong - for one simple reason. Voracious sexual desire and misogyny are miles apart.; the awe of women that accompanied Portnoy's lust could never be construed as hatred of women.
Confusing the two is one of the principal mistakes of our critics, that masculine animal nature is to be contained. On the contrary, this book proved that unbridled male desire has myriad fans, men and women alike.
The other wave of critics were the Jewish community - they claimed Roth's book cast the protagonist as a man out to destroy the image of Jewish people.
“The cruelest thing anyone can do with ‘Portnoy’s Complaint,’” novelist Irving Howe said in his own scathing review, “is read it twice.”
For many Jews, the subversion of what was once a traditional, mate-pairing exercise guided by religion had been supplanted by this book. How could they stand for it? Portnoy was by all means a complete cad - bedding women and not generating children was antithetical.
For his critics, Roth had committed a major sin: portraying women or Jews as imperfect creatures, not perfect angels.
Conclusion
The vulgar scenes and comedy all are a way for Roth to hit the real nerve: the frustration that comes from being told to comply via shame, from the shame of sexual urges to the shame of abandoning family traditions to the shame of survival. Portnoy's Complaint is actually a rejection of "traditional moral values" as they're inconsistent with his lifestyle:
“The hysteria and the superstition!” Portnoy blurts out in the book. “The watch-its and the be-carefuls! You mustn’t do this, you can’t do that — hold it! don’t! you’re breaking an important law! What law! Whose law!”
Ultimately, people were mad because Roth portrayed characters like them that had flaws. To them, this was hateful.
Think about that statement as you hide your phone beneath your shoulder while you browse this sub. Maybe you're not so different from Alex?
Conclusions
-
Lust is often mistaken for misogyny in the modern era
-
The hatred of a fictional character is projected embodiment of a deeper problem within a group
- Is it hateful for characters to have flaws? Ask yourself.
SKRedPill 5y ago
The feminine inability to understand male experience is the reason why women raise a hue and cry about objectification, when in reality they also objectify men for a different set of needs. It's no different. Sex is really the ultimate selfish desire - your body and mind using another person for an orgasmic emotional high.
In any case just take one thing away from here - a woman attracted is a different animal from a woman that's not. And a woman that's repulsed is a whole other beast. Just look at dogs and learn, they're emotional creatures first. A dog that's your best friend is very different from a dog that doesn't recognize you.
send_nasty_stuff 5y ago
Dogs, women, children and undisciplined weak men are all emotional creatures first.
Good comment though SK.
returnofthequack 5y ago
Think about that statement as you hide your phone beneath your shoulder while you browse this sub. Maybe you're not so different from Alex?
​
Nice
AriesAsF 5y ago
Voracious sexual desire and misogyny are definitely NOT miles apart, in fact I'd say they coexist most of the time in men. You can intensely lust after a woman yet hate her for her ability to reject you and see her as little more than an object that exists for your use (Incel manifesto 101). I've read that book and I kinda gotta say that he definitely sees women the same way I see my gun collection. Yea, I fucking love them, but I don't have any empathy for them, they are simply tools to be used and discarded at my will. Misogynism is way more complex than hate ..... Now misandry, THATS just pure fucking hatred.
[deleted]
warlordchad 5y ago
Male sexuality is constantly under attack--witness this article today on Medium.
Basically, a classic hamstering screed of nonsense saying that older men shouldn't date younger women. The irony is that the writer admits:
So it's always the man's responsibility to know better and curtail his own strategy and desire...why? Well friends, that's never explained. What harm is being done to the girl who finds herself attracted to and dating/fucking an older man? Other than the pale notion some people think this is "icky", nothing. Indeed, it's what we were bred and evolved to do.
SKRedPill 5y ago
Media is a totally left leaning, feminine space (that is one reason why it's socialist as well). When it used to be a male space, content was more important. Now opinion is the only thing there is.
monsieurhire2 5y ago
An older female friend just told me that her brother is married to a younger woman; she is half his age, works as a professional while he stays home with the three children they had together. This is his second marriage. Apparently, they are both happy with this arrangement. I saw a photo. She isn't ugly.
Imperator_Red 5y ago
Makes best Tucker Carlson face and asks....
Why?
Thunderbird93 5y ago
For real dude. Thing is high value males work for years to acquire money, why would they want a girl that is unattractive and old? Fuck that. Shaming men for getting young pussy by claiming there is a discrepancy in the power dynamic is laughable and ironic because it just confirms hypergamy in action
Vynxe-Vainglory 5y ago
Well, if we go along with their argument that adult females well into their mid to late 20s still can’t make responsible decisions and are innocently manipulated by older predatory adults, they are claiming that they are still children. And yet, at the same time, they want to be taken seriously?
Come on.
warlordchad 5y ago
Good point. Ironic that a woman who claims to be a feminist is basically arguing that women who are legally adults can’t be trusted to make their own decisions.
[deleted]
TheRedPike 5y ago
Knock it all, adolf.
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
AutoModerator 5y ago
Just a friendly reminder that as TRP has been quarantined, we have developed backup sites: https://www.trp.red and our full post archive (and future forums) https://www.forums.red/i/TheRedPill. Don't forget to register on TRP.RED and reserve your reddit name today. Forums.Red is currently locked but will be opened soon.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
[deleted]