Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Male Chauvinist Pigs

I remember this catchphrase. Back in 1980, when this strip from For Better or For Worse originally was presented, I was just entering university. It was a time period that, whenever a woman was angry with a man, you could count on that phrase, “male chauvinist pig” to make an appearance. I have fond memories of the times when I was called a “male chauvinist pig” especially if there were some accompanying pig noises. The terms women use to insult men today are not nearly as much fun.

By definition, a male chauvinist is: “A man whose behavior and attitude toward women indicate a belief that they are innately inferior to men.”

In the reprint for today, Elly Patterson calls John Patterson a “male chauvinist pig” (corrected from the 1980s' "chauvenist") because she believes (and he has pretty much stated) that he has hired his new hygienist based on the idea she looks like Shania Twain (Cheryl Ladd for the real-life 1980s' Rod Johnston), over a hygienist who was better-qualified. This is not actually male chauvinism by definition. If John Patterson hired a less-qualified man over a more qualified woman, then the charge would stick. Nevertheless, I was excited to see the old term used once again, and as was typical back in the 1980s, incorrectly used.

The simple fact of the matter is that attractive people are more likely to get hired, earn more money, and are much more likely to date and make friends than their less-attractive counterparts. Attractive people are also more likely to get jobs as actors and are more likely to attain an elected office (See Sarah Palin). Some years back, the TV show Dateline NBC had an episode that showed people have a preference for pretty people when seeking medical attention, or change for the bus or even simple directions. Humans are visually-oriented, and that’s the way it has been forever (See Helen of Troy).

The way it works in the dental business (at least where I go), is you have your semiannual visit with your hygienist. The hygienist will clean your teeth up, and then if there are any problems, they are pointed out to the dentist who will then suggest things which can make some real money for the dental practice. If the dental hygienist is the dentist’s first line of greeting for most dental patients, I can see a strong economic reason why the dentist might want the hygienist to be attractive. It’s almost the same as wanting attractive people in your sales force, or as the greeter for your business. As for me personally, my wife picks our dental care service and, believe it or not, the hygienist is a big factor for her. She has switched dentists when a new hygienist came into the practice she did not like.

Let’s say I am Dr. Rod Johnston in a town like the mining town of Lynn Lake, Manitoba in 1980. I have just started my business in a town that has had virtually no dental care before me. The people are accustomed to not going to a dentist except in dire emergencies. I have a choice between a hygienist that looks like Cheryl Ladd or a less-attractive, but more-experienced one. It wouldn’t take much to see that an attractive hygienist might draw in some of those Lynn Lake miners. It would seem like good business sense, even if it is not fair to the less-attractive, but more-experienced hygienist. I applaud Lynn Johnston for pointing out the inequity, but it would have been a better-rounded strip if John Patterson had offered an excuse smarter than “Somebody’s got to hire them.”

When this strip was originally published, I wonder if young Dr. Rod Johnston was embarrassed by it or simply said, “Now even more people know I have a pretty hygienist. Business will be booming!”

15 Comments:

Blogger DreadedCandiru2 said...

howard,

The way it works in the dental business (at least where I go), is you have your semiannual visit with your hygienist. The hygienist will clean your teeth up, and then if there are any problems, they are pointed out to the dentist who will then suggest things which can make some real money for the dental practice. If the dental hygienist is the dentist’s first line of greeting for most dental patients, I can see a strong economic reason why the dentist might want the hygienist to be attractive. It’s almost the same as wanting attractive people in your sales force, or as the greeter for your business.

You just explained why Lynn/Elly is still so upset by all this thirty years after the fact: she ran into the brick wall of The World As It Is. She, wishing she could live in The World As She Would Like It To Be, has little patience for real-world rules that she doesn't like. The idea that people are going to be attracted to the attractive instead of coddling her and indulging her paranoia and self-loathing is "unfair". Unfair, of course, being defined as suggesting that she is not the be-all and end-all of all things.

2:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

howard,

I applaud Lynn Johnston for pointing out the inequity, but it would have been a better-rounded strip if John Patterson had offered an excuse smarter than “Somebody’s got to hire them.”

Rod probably did do just that. I should think that he pointed out that people judge by appearances so there was little he could do to address her concerns. Given her arrogance and inability to see any other perspective than her own, Rod's rational argument got mutated into today's reprint.

5:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The idea that people are going to be attracted to the attractive instead of coddling her and indulging her paranoia and self-loathing is "unfair".

There's nothing wrong with being attractive. Not everybody can be a great beauty, but we can all put our best foot forward.

I don't color the dull gray in my hair, wear clothes in flattering colors & add a bit of makeup in order to seduce every man I see. My low-maintenance "beauty routine" is just part of preparing to face the world.

We've all noted that Lynn is not a bad looking woman. Pictures show she does have her hair done & stays in shape.

Yet she let her alter ego turn into a potato nosed cow. One with precious little "inner beauty" either.

6:08 AM  
Blogger howard said...

DreadedCandiru2,

Given her arrogance and inability to see any other perspective than her own, Rod's rational argument got mutated into today's reprint.

After viewing that CBC documentary from 1980 again, I think I can see a way that Rod would have actually said that. When she and Rod were talking about how much she hated Lynn Lake, she played it very humourously for the interviewer about how she was driven by true love to move to Lynn Lake. You would not be able to tell from her demeanor how much she truly hated the place. In the strip, Elly is drawn with clinched fists and full of fury, calling John a chauvinist pig. No man would dare say what John says, if they saw that. But if Rod saw the Lynn in the CBC interview, sort of happy and laughing like she was when they talked about Lynn Lake, he may have had no idea that she was seething inside. That is, until the strip came out.

7:04 AM  
Blogger howard said...

maggie-texas,

We've all noted that Lynn is not a bad looking woman. Pictures show she does have her hair done & stays in shape. Yet she let her alter ego turn into a potato nosed cow. One with precious little "inner beauty" either.

Lynn’s also had plastic surgery too, so I know full well she is working on her appearance. Lynn has admitted that her drawing of Elly has reflected the way she feels about herself. If that is true, then over the years, Lynn has felt worse and worse about herself. If modern Elly is the way you think you look, then almost any woman your husband hires is going to be an intimidating beauty. In the CBC documentary, the Cheryl Ladd hygienist looked a little like Cheryl Ladd with her lantern jaw; but mainly she was young and thin and blonde. She did not look like a Hollywood TV star. Lynn Johnston at the same time was just as thin, only a few years older, and she wore no makeup that I could tell.

7:07 AM  
Blogger DreadedCandiru2 said...

howard,

In the strip, Elly is drawn with clinched fists and full of fury, calling John a chauvinist pig. No man would dare say what John says, if they saw that. But if Rod saw the Lynn in the CBC interview, sort of happy and laughing like she was when they talked about Lynn Lake, he may have had no idea that she was seething inside. That is, until the strip came out.

Lynn does have the alarming tendency to not say what's on her mind to people's faces. It would seem that Rod and the kids always had to deal with the problem you mentioned; they'd think Lynn was cool with something only to read the paper and find out she wasn't.

8:44 AM  
Blogger howard said...

DreadedCandiru2,

It would seem that Rod and the kids always had to deal with the problem you mentioned; they'd think Lynn was cool with something only to read the paper and find out she wasn't.

The fun part is to imagine Rod Johnston in the first year of his wife's strip. He thinks things are great. He has a new wife, a son, a cute little daughter, a great business in his home town. Then the strip comes out and he discovers that everyone knows his dirty laundry. "Did you really say this, Rod?" or "Why don't you help your wife out around the house, Rod?" from everyone and anyone coming in his office. And then the strip sequence comes out for this week and his hygienist is going to be saying, "So, Dr. Johnston. You hired me only for my looks, because you didn't think anyone else would hire me?" And people will start looking at Dr. Rod Johnston to see if he really does all those things his wife writes that he does in her comic strip. In short order, his life would become a living hell. His only saving grace would be those who will sympathize with him, and say, "Dr. Rod Johnston has to be a really, nice man to put up with what his wife is saying about him."

9:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow. What a bunch of apologists.

A dentist has an even stronger economic reason to hire the most skilled hygienist possible. Have you ever had a clumsy/unskilled/rough hygienist work on you? I have. It is sheer torture. The experience makes me reluctant to go back to the dentist. If you are in a town full of people who did not grow up with regular dental care, they are likely to be uncomfortable with the experience anyway. One bad visit with a clumsy hygienist would likely make them not come back.

The reason John's "looks are the more important than skills" criterion is chauvanistic is that it is not how he hires male associates. Everett/Elliott was obviously not hired based on looks, because that guy is ugly. He is portrayed as having enthusiasm and skill in dentistry. What this reveals is, John believes women cannot possibly possess skills that might outweigh the value of their looks, and he overemphasizes the value of those looks to start with (which are negligible in dentistry, as hygienists are masked during most of their work). He does not do this with men, presumably because he believes they can have worthwhile skills.

If you are the wife of a dentist who hires only gorgeous babes, especially in a town where they are hard to come by, and who tells you that he prefers looks to skill when hiring, you are stupid to close your eyes to the fact that this guy is hiring with the aim of having workplace affairs. It has nothing to do with his patients.

11:17 AM  
Blogger Mana G said...

I have a feeling Lynn's going to leave out the bit where Elly compliments the new hygienist, which, to me, was the most important part of these series of strips. Elly conceding that the new woman was, (I believe), "warm and witty," indicated to me that, perhaps, John made the choice for reasons other than either skill or appearance. Since, as qnjones mentions, dental work is a highly uncomfortable procedure, John may have thought that the less qualified woman, as she was "warm" and "witty," might have made things more relaxing for his patients than the "career-oriented" and "organized" (read: potentially stern) hygienist. That is so far from a line of thinking that we'd ever be shown from John, however.
Nonetheless, I agree with qnjones' opinions in many ways. I know that I, for one, am so used to viewing Elly as an unreasonable person, that I was rather taken aback by the thought that Elly has a legitimate complaint, even if the manner in which she makes the complaint is so irritating. I do think there's something chauvinistic in John's hiring the prettier hygienist, and especially in the reasons he gives for the hiring. (Which are, basically, "she's pretty," and "she's not as likely to get a job with her skills any other way.")

12:04 PM  
Blogger howard said...

qnjones,

Have you ever had a clumsy/unskilled/rough hygienist work on you? I have. It is sheer torture.

I can’t say I have had a clumsy/unskilled/rough hygienist work on me. However, I have had a clumsy/unskilled/rough dentist work on me in a town where he was the only dentist in the town. The experience did make me reluctant to go back to the dentist, but I was young and had no choice in the matter. This dentist was fairly old, preferred old school practices (i.e. painful) and retired not long after I had to deal with him. Then the young, inexperienced dentist came in. My youngest sister got to deal with him. Although he was inexperienced, he knew new techniques designed to make the dental experience not as painful. My sister’s experience was quite a bit more pleasant than mine, which is to say, not like my experience at all.

One bad visit with a clumsy hygienist would likely make them not come back.

I will grant you that. However, there is no indication that the Cheryl Ladd hygienist is a clumsy/unskilled/rough hygienist. All we know is that the other hygienist has great references, loads of experience, and is making a career of her work. For all I know, the Cheryl Ladd hygienist could be fresh out of hygienist school. However, that does not make her clumsy or rough.

I had one brief moment with a hygienist similar to that which you describe. The dentist’s office had this water pressure device used to clean teeth, where you didn’t have to use the old “sharp metal object scraping against your gums” method for dental hygiene. One older, more experienced hygienist in this office didn’t know how to use the water pressure device because they didn’t have those when she was in school, and she resorted to the old-style method she knew. She did not last long, and was replaced by a younger hygienist who did.

Everett/Elliott was obviously not hired based on looks, because that guy is ugly.

The “morsel”? Surely you jest. Even if Lynn did not draw Everett/Elliott to please your eyes, from April’s comments, he was clearly intended to be attractive (at least to April).

He is portrayed as having enthusiasm and skill in dentistry.

Enthusiasm I will grant you. Skill is unknown. If the monthly letters and the strips are any indication, Everett/Elliott bows down to great John when it comes to skill. Remember this dialogue?:

I’m so glad I was able to join your practice, John. These past few months have been incredible. You can only learn so much in school. The rest comes with hands-on experience-and you’ve taught me a lot, man! I mean, the way you carve anatomy on a filling? Too cool! And you’ve got some totally top-of-the-line equipment! The place is well-organized, in a good location, good patient list…this clinic rocks!

Between April’s statement and Dr. Everett / Elliott Callahan’s own words, it seemed like John was hiring a Keanu Reeves eye-candy kind of dentist to me. His hiring practices seem consistent from male to female. The difference is that John is not specifically telling Elly, “I had a choice between 2 dentists. One was experienced and the other one looked like Keanu Reeves. He looked too yummy not to hire.”

If you are the wife of a dentist who hires only gorgeous babes, especially in a town where they are hard to come by, and who tells you that he prefers looks to skill when hiring, you are stupid to close your eyes to the fact that this guy is hiring with the aim of having workplace affairs. It has nothing to do with his patients.

As it is portrayed in the strip, this is exactly what Dr. John Patterson is doing. He expressly calls out that the hygienist looks like Shania Twain / Cheryl Ladd without saying anything else about her skills. At the same time, when he tells Elly this, he is sweating and pulling on his collar as if he has been caught in some wrongdoing. He even has the lame excuse that he has to hire pretty people because no one else will. There is nothing in there that shows any consideration for his patients or the woman’s skill. If I were Elly, that is exactly what I would believe.

The follow-up strip to this one, has Elly Patterson giving her approval of the Cheryl Ladd hygienist to John, after having met her. The unstated reason for this can easily be inferred: Elly is checking out the Cheryl Ladd hygienist to see if she is an incompetent hired for no other reason than for John to have an affair. Elly gave her approval of her. Judging from the Macleans article, clearly Lynn Johnston did not, at least not on the inside.

The reason to try to project this situation into real-life is because of the CBC documentary. We can see the real-life Cheryl Ladd dental assistant Dr. Rod Johnston hired, so we know that this storyline is taken directly from Lynn and Rod’s own life at that time. Assuming Dr. Rod Johnston did have a choice between 2 women, did he really choose the Cheryl Ladd woman because of her looks? Or did it just appear to Lynn that was what he did? Did Rod choose her because he was thinking affair or thinking good business? If you remove the idea that just because the Cheryl Ladd woman was pretty and inexperienced she was also clumsy/unskilled/rough, would patients prefer the experienced hygienist or the pretty hygienist?

1:16 PM  
Blogger howard said...

Mana G,

I have a feeling Lynn's going to leave out the bit where Elly compliments the new hygienist, which, to me, was the most important part of these series of strips.

We will see tomorrow, but I also have the same feeling. I expect a new-run that makes John look even worse, if the new-runs interspersed with the reprints continue their current trend. That seems to be their main reason for being.

Since, as qnjones mentions, dental work is a highly uncomfortable procedure, John may have thought that the less qualified woman, as she was "warm" and "witty," might have made things more relaxing for his patients than the "career-oriented" and "organized" (read: potentially stern) hygienist. That is so far from a line of thinking that we'd ever be shown from John, however.

Exactly. It is difficult to tell what John’s motivations are. He is practically telling Elly that he chose a woman just because of her looks, and there is no indication of how that would contribute to his business. He does not even disagree with Elly’s idea that the woman is like a decoration in his office and not like a real person.

I do think there's something chauvinistic in John's hiring the prettier hygienist, and especially in the reasons he gives for the hiring. (Which are, basically, "she's pretty," and "she's not as likely to get a job with her skills any other way.")

I don’t think this meets the definition of chauvinistic since there is no male / female comparison; however, I will agree that it is wrong for John to hire a woman for the reasons he gave Elly. If I take what he said purely at face value, then he has damaged his marriage and his business and his reputation, and he is making jokes about it as if he doesn’t care. It is indefensible, and easy to side with Elly.

1:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

howard,

I don’t think this meets the definition of chauvinistic since there is no male / female comparison; however, I will agree that it is wrong for John to hire a woman for the reasons he gave Elly. If I take what he said purely at face value, then he has damaged his marriage and his business and his reputation, and he is making jokes about it as if he doesn’t care. It is indefensible, and easy to side with Elly.

This is, I believe, the point of this sequence. IF Rod were so unprofessional as to think like John then we must forgive Lynn her excesses.

2:20 PM  
Blogger howard said...

dreadedcandiru2,

This is, I believe, the point of this sequence. IF Rod were so unprofessional as to think like John then we must forgive Lynn her excesses.

The point and the difficulty. When Lynn writes up poor Elly who doesn't have time to read a newspaper, I should think "poor Elly". Instead I think "She obviously does have time to read a paper. She's lying." Likewise in this sequence with the hygienist, John admits he hired a woman just for her looks and is completely unrepentant about it. I should think, "Divorce him now, Elly. He plans to mess around with her." Instead I think, "There's no way he would be so stupid. There has to be more to it."

It's an odd thing. The more Lynn Johnston picks on John Patterson, the more I want to defend him.

2:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah. I will agree that it is hard to know how much to trust Lynn's portrayal. Did she turn into a psycho over the years, after years of a lying cheating spouse and the drug of fame and fortune worked on her? Or was she crazy back when she married Rod, driving Rod to cheat? And how much of a cheater was he anyway? We can't know.

I have my suspicions, as I'm sure others do as well. My suspicion is that Lynn has always been a nut, and got worse with time and money. Likewise, Rod was always a cheating jerk, who got worse/more obvious over time. I think they probably both deserve(d) each other.

BTW, I feel John is strongly suggesting the Cheryl/Shania hygienist has no skills and is stupid. This may be altered by later strips, but I'm basing this on what I've seen so far.

6:01 PM  
Blogger howard said...

Anonymous,

I will agree that it is hard to know how much to trust Lynn's portrayal.

I never questioned what Lynn Johnston said in her interviews until the recent years, when she started to tell obvious lies and contradicted stories she had told before with huge whoppers. That made me consider that maybe some of the things she had said before were questionable, but I had no basis by which to judge them.

Did she turn into a psycho over the years, after years of a lying cheating spouse and the drug of fame and fortune worked on her?

When I re-examine old interviews with the perspective that Lynn might be stretching the truth in order to get sympathy for herself, I can see a lack of credibility in some of her old interviews too.

Or was she crazy back when she married Rod, driving Rod to cheat?

Driving Rod to cheat? Doubtful. He made that choice himself. Helping to destroy her relationship with Rod is pretty likely. She has acknowledged in an interview she knew that her marriage had problems, and she was postponing working on them until she was retired.

And how much of a cheater was he anyway? We can't know.

We know at least one woman for sure. Beyond that, Lynn has alluded there might have been others, because he had an attractive dental staff and they lived in Lynn Lake, hotbed of adultery. However, it should be noted that the woman rumoured for the acknowledged affair came from Lynn’s staff, not Rod’s.

BTW, I feel John is strongly suggesting the Cheryl/Shania hygienist has no skills and is stupid. This may be altered by later strips, but I'm basing this on what I've seen so far.

When Elly describes his hiree as beautiful and dumb, John does not deny it and instead makes a joke about it. However, in the next strip, Elly describes her as interesting, intelligent, witty and nice.

9:07 PM  

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