Jennie Young: Dating in a Patriarchy

Statistically, dating men in a patriarchy remains the most dangerous thing a woman can do. Patriarchy is deeply committed to shepherding us into romantic relationships because of the control these relationships exert—and because patriarchy wants to give every man a woman-appliance.

This does not change the reality that many women want relationships with men—and that healthy relationships are possible, if improbable, even in a patriarchy.

Jennie Young understands this tension, and is on a mission to protect as many women from abusive relationships as she can. She acknowledges that men are dangerous, and uses this insight to help women filter potential date partners as quickly as possible. Some of the topics we talk about include:

• The dating apocalypse, and why dating is such a nightmare

• The rhetorical patterns that flag for misogyny

• Empowering women to judge men harshly

• The role of pornography in online misogyny

• Jennie’s own experiences dating

• The rhetorical trends sweeping the dating apps, and what they reveal about men

About Jennie Young

Jennie Young is a professor of writing and rhetoric at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, specializing in applied rhetoric, humor, and feminism. She holds a Ph.D. in rhetoric and discourse studies from Case Western Reserve University and a satire writing certificate from Second City Chicago. Her work has been published in McSweeney’s, Ms. Magazine, HuffPost, and others and covered by major media outlets such as The New York Times, RollingStone, Washington Post, Newsweek, and Wall Street Journal.

Visit Jennie at her website here, and be sure to check out her Substack. You can join her man-free support group on Facebook.

You can preorder her book, Burn the Haystack, here.

Find all books referenced on the podcast, as well as additional book recommendations, here.