Thanks for the advice Gene Simmons, but we promise, we’re good

Gene Simmons, he of KISS bassist fame, recently decided to dole out some advice to the ladies of the world. While discussing his new book, Me, Inc.: Build an Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win in Life and Business with Fox News host Andrea Tantaros, Simmons broke down his sensible money advice for women in a convenient misogynist sound bite. In the book, Simmons suggested that too many women “become housewives” and therefore become overly dependent on men, who inevitably run out on them. And then, on Fox, he doubled down on his bizarre idea of gender relations.

“What I’m here to say is women think differently than men. Men must work for a living. Women have the option of becoming the housewife, which is respectable and it’s wonderful, but what happens when the man runs away?”

So essentially he wants to be supportive of women (and yay, Gene, this is progress), but he also assumes that all women want to get married and have kids and that eventually all our husbands will leave us, because that’s just what husbands do.

In the interview Simmons also suggests that women should quit their careers when they have kids and says that women making their own money is akin to the way cars have a spare (fifth) tire, as if our money is a wobbly donut that’ll take you three miles to the mechanic.

Oh, gee, thanks Gene.

There are a hundred ridiculous assumptions about Simmons’ statement, which is as offensive as it is vapid, starting with the idea that women in relationships don’t or can’t make their own money and have their own careers, and ending with the idea that men aren’t ever dependent on women, a thing Simmons also insists. Real human relationships are complex and odd and multifaceted, and real human women have ambitions that can include but are not limited to children and marriage. The idea of women all seeking out caretakers, rather than, say, partners, is just kind of insulting, not just to women but to everyone.

And it’s also inaccurate. Women are now more likely than ever to be the primary breadwinner in a family. A recent Pew study showed that in four in every ten households with children under the age of 18, women are either the sole or primary providers. Dependent, are we?

So Gene, buddy, maybe stick to wearing facepaint and singing? Gender politics, it’s just not your thing.

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