There's a video in Lebanon that went viral by a man saying that he'll offer self-defense classes to women to fight against sexual assault. He was criticized by a woman who said that men should talk to men first. He went on to rant about that woman in multiple insta stories

Trigger warning: rape and sexual assault

In these stories, the guy, who is a Lebanese director, complains that this woman is a snowflake, that woman are biologically weaker, that it's human nature (coz evolution and stuff) for men to be like this etc. He insults her dozens of times throughout the rant.

He complains that the Lebanese woman who criticised him has been in the US for too long (hence the 'snowflake' accusation) and that, therefore, she doesn't understand Lebanon anymore. That she should just grow up. The world's a tough place missie. Trust me, I'm a manly man man

He actually says it in a much stupider way. He claims that rape and sexual assaults are much worse in America. This coming from a hyper-patriarchal country ruled by male warlords and where 'honor crimes' and underage marriages of girls to men are still a thing.

From the country where razors are subsidised but pads aren't. Where the minister for women's affairs was a cis dude. Where our warlord resident make us call him everyone's daddy. Where migrant domestic working women are sold into slavery.

Where every 10m is plastered with the face of a sectarian phallus. Where women can't pass on the nationality. Where migrant women are deported for being pregnant. Where religious courts still control women's bodies. Where women's bodies are subject to nationalist fantasies.

Let's put aside the fact that he's complaining about her being too American while using American far right talking points like 'snowflakes' and the fact that half of that rant is in English

Or that complaining about snowflakery while snowflaking the snowflake shit out of a woman criticising you is rather snowflake-ish, according to snowflake science

Or the irony of a man insulting a woman in several videos because she complained that men should be talking to men instead of telling women what to do

The blatant toxicity of having a dude just repeatedly insult a woman who dared have a different opinion is like he was just expecting a shower of praise for being a man offering self-defense classes to women instead of a man who is a physical threat

Subtext: "Come on females and girls [he uses both terms in addition to women interchangeably, which already says a lot] shouldn't you just be grateful that I'm not one of them? Because you know, I could be. I could be dangerous, but I choose not do. Be grateful I choose not to"

Apologies for the plug, but it's ridiculously relevant to this. This is why Chuck Derry argued that cis men should be talking to cis men more, cis men should be confronting cis men more, cis men should be recognising their role in upholding patriarchy. http://Tinyurl.com/ydyt5pu9 

Remember how during the feminist march in Beirut protesters started chanting that they know that rapists are among us in that march? Ya think they were just confused about good guys vs bad guys? Or that there have also been a lot of 'allies' who ended up being not quite

He could have just replied by saying that he believes self-defense classes are important tools but that obviously they're not enough on their own. Instead, he resorted to misogynistic attacks and literally prove how even 'allies' can be toxic and part of the problem.

Sorry to burst my dude's bubble, but nothing is inevitable. We're not naturally wired to just do whatever and life isn't just a battle against our supposed instincts. We're also social creatures, and the hierachies we've built can be unbuilt.

I know these are uncomfortable facts to learn, or rather unlearn, since we do not have to constantly obsess about how patriarchal structures are gonna ruin our day and our lives today and tomorrow and in ten years. That's the cis-male privilege part of the equation.

If you've benefited from such hierarchies the least you can do is be aware of them. The absolute least. There are entire books written by women about the history of rape. It's not just a constant in world history. It reveals a lot. And a lot of it is recent history.