The Cigar Smoking Old (White) Men Offensive

As we cast off the oppressive chains of the patriarchy and make room for a future filled with histrionic, authoritarian women (and histrionic, authoritarian men who identify as women), we also have to remove every single offending item in our culture that reminds us of the good old days.

I mean the bad old days.

I mean…

Well, you know what I mean.

From Dutch News:

A painting of ‘cigar smoking old men’ at the centre of a row at Leiden University has been restored to its former place amid a row over its relevance.

The painting, a depiction of the 1974 university board, had been removed after a number of female staff had objected to its presence because it represented male dominance and showed smoking. ‘I hate the smoke, even if it’s only painted,’ law dean Joanna van Leun said on Twitter.

The move divided staff, with some saying artist Rein Dool’s depiction has an element of mockery of the men’s importance in it, and others siding with Van Leun.

The row created a stir outside the university walls as well. ‘Are depictions of men now banned?’ VVD MP Hatte van der Woude asked, while former Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen, son of the one of the offending board members, offered to do ‘a short lecture’ on the painting and its context.

Rein Dool’s painting of the board is ‘dominates the small meeting space’, a spokesman for the university told the Volkskrant. ‘You can almost feel those men looking over your shoulder. It’s no longer relevant to today and is a source of irritation for some members of staff.’

Meanwhile the university, which called the spat ‘the starting point for a discussion’ about whether art that offends some modern sensibilities should be removed, has put the painting back on the wall.

You’ll have to click over to see the actual painting but trust me when I say it’s everything they accuse it of being and more. Except they left out the part about the cigar smoking men being white, which is the worst crime against humanity. I suppose the Dutch have yet to get offended over that since I’m pretty sure 99.99994% of them are still white.

Still, give it time. Soon enough it will be a problem to fix. Then they’ll have fun tearing down every other old, Dutch, white guy related painting, statue and memorial. Whether they smoke cigars or not.

Ah, good times ahead.

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