Walt Whitman

This morning I picked up Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.  I haven't gotten very far, but I'm not sure I would have liked him as a person.  Sure, his 'When lilacs last in the dooryard bloomed' is suberb, but he seems like kinda an arrogant jerk when it comes to women.  Some passages to consider:

"A woman waits for me, she contains all, nothing is lacking,
Yet all were lacking if sex were lacking.................
...........I see that they understand me and do not deny me,
I see that they are worthy of me, I will be the robust husband of those women............
...........I am for you, and you are for me, not only for our own sake,
but for others' sake,
Envelop'd in you sleep greater heros and bards,
They refuse to awake at the touch of any man but me.
It is I, you women, I make my way,
I am stern, acrid, large, undissuadable, but I love you,
I do not hurt you any more than is necessary for you,
I pour the stuff to start sons and daughters fit for these States,
I press with slow rude muscle,
I brace myself effectually, I listen to no entreaties,
I dare not withdraw myself till I deposit what has so long accumulated within me."

Now, I'm no raging feminest or anything, but that kinda taints the book for me.  Thoughts?