Nick Offerman (AKA Ron Swanson) Is A Sly Clit Conscious Feminist
If you don't watch Parks and Recreation already, I kinda think you're missing out. Start from the beginning and power through the first 3 or 4 episodes. They did take a minute to get their groove, but then you'll probably be hooked...or maybe you'll hate it. I don't know - I think it's a pretty hilarious ensemble comedy. Plus, it's got this surprisingly fresh, gentle, all-encompassing feminist mojo to it. Where other shows that are supposed to be all feminist and strong woman oriented just punch you in the face randomly with a 20 year old hard-cover feminist manifesta and then go status quo the rest of the time; this show sets you in your comfiest chair, hands you a beer, massages your shoulders and then continuously whispers sweet contemporary feminist musings in your ear until you drift off to quiet slumber, dreaming about depth filled men who are friends with and mutually inspired by depth filled women.
Sage advice from Ron Swanson
Oh and the super duper bonus! It's set in an Indiana town, which is pretty sweet because, as you know, I am a Hoosier born an raised. I know all you people from New York and LA and Chicago, are like "big deal, every show ever takes place in my actual city." Well you can all kiss my ass because it's super exciting to see anything on TV or movies that are involved with anything, anywhere in my entire state. I was at an arts theater here in Indy many years back watching The Brown Bunny (which could possibly be described as the slowest, saddest porno ever created), and there was a shot of a familiar Indianapolis interstate sign from the intersection of I70 and I65. I mean literally it was the sign that said like - "I70 East to Columbus OH." Anyway, the crowd cheered, so yeah - I'm excited to have an awesome show set here in Indiana.
Okay, that was a long road to get to my point. My friend Jake sent me a link to a MensHealth.com article where Nick Offerman (AKA Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec) gives his 9 Man Rules. As expected, ol' Ron Swanson pulls through with some good, non-sexist rules for being a good and happy person. I can't speak on the listening to Tom Waites and reading Wendall Berry stuff, but I trust Ron Swanson, so I'll go with it. Where the subject of this blog comes in is #9.
9. Listen to Your Wife
I’ve been married for 13 years. The main piece of advice on making any relationship work is this: pay attention to it and nurture it. That’s the priority. If you have a shrub and you want it to flourish, you have to water it and prune it and talk nice to it and pay attention to its clitoris, which is a horticultural term you can look up.
That's right, Nick Offerman/Ron Swanson knows the importance of the clit. He didn't say vagina. He said clit. Just saying that word gets points from me, but I think there is something more important here. I used the slash for Nick Offerman/Ron Swanson here because the man is often seen as the character and vice versa - and for some good reason. Both do woodwork pretty seriously. Both spent/spend time married to Megan Mullally. Both have a butch style and sport the thick facial hair. They have a similar demeanor, a woodsy, work with your hands ruggedness, an unpolished non-Hollywood feel. In a lot of ways, Nick Offerman/Ron Swanson has become the newest man's man, an example of masculinity that both hipsters and Tea-Partiers could find little fault in. Yet, like the show as a whole, he's always feeding you a spoonful of sugar with a side of feminism - with his unending respect for good character qualities in women and his marked lack of lame sexist remarks for laugh points.
So, I think it's no small thing to hear the beacon of modern manliness not go for some joke about doing what your wife says (cause she'll get what she wants in the end anyway - ha ha!) but to instead say something so simple, universal, and true - that part of nurturing one's relationship with his wife is to pay attention to the relationship and also to her clitoris.
Amen, Ron, Amen.