Editorial: 'Like a man' (6-27-41)

The Pittsburgh Press (June 27, 1941)

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‘LIKE A MAN’
By Mrs. Walter Ferguson

One of my favorite indoor sports is picking quarrels with Dorothy Thompson, but when an advertising blurb for her column smugly assures us that she can “think like a man,” somebody ought to rush to her defense.

It is hard to tell whether to fall into a fit of anger or of laughter. The way I feel now, the remark is uncomplimentary both to Miss Thompson and to the male animal.

It is the insolence of the latter which should be exposed. The notion that “thinking like a man” makes the Super-Woman is due for elimination. The hint is clear, and we get it. One imagines the men saying to each other:

Lookitm, here’s a cute number! Easy on the eyes, enticing, with all the feminine tricks, and yet, by George, her brain works. She can use her mind and, being like ours, it’s a remarkable mind.

Hasn’t this gone on long enough? Especially when you consider where some male thinking has landed us?

Of course, we all know what the advertising man means. He means that Miss Thompson has the ability to reason – which in masculine circles is regarded as God’s gift to men only.

When a man is stubborn, he considers himself “staunch as an oak.” On the other hand, if he is unblessed with convictions, he will claim to be open-minded.

The hide-bound conservative regards his views as sincere persuasions when they may spring from sectional prejudice. And many a frustrated moron turns into a parlor pink while believing himself to be a tolerant intellectual.

It is perfectly true that some men are equipped with mental superiority, but not many. The rank and file are just as dumb as any bunch of females you can meet within a day’s auto journey. They are no more actuated by reason than a bunch of sentimental school girls.

I think Dorothy Thompson doesn’t think like a man; I think she thinks like Dorothy Thompson.