Gender

**VaeVictis** · 10-24-2013, 10:26 AM

(10-24-2013, 09:29 AM)Bridge Wrote:
(10-24-2013, 03:40 AM)Abraxas Wrote: I never said those things happened to me. I also never called you sexist.
I was giving you examples of things almost every woman out there faces EVERY DAY just by leaving the house (see everydaysexism). This isn't just a woman's problem, it's also a man's problem. It's a societal problem that we can all do something about instead of belittling each others problems.
So, you expected me not to react to being implied about being over-emotional and obviously from a bad neighborhood? I'm not resentful towards men, thankyouverymuch for putting words in my mouth. But I acknowledge the inherent dangers that come with simply being female. I'm also not complacent enough to accept that as normal. I know men are better than the animalistic sex fiends that I know are out there. Despite my, and every other woman's experiences, I choose to think men are better than that.
If we question the everyday assumptions we make about the genders (which there are more than two of, by the way), we can help end this stupid war.

The problem is you choosing to bring up those issues in the first place. The very first post you made on the topic of feminism was an incredibly irrelevant defense of women's rights, when absolutely nobody had suggested in any way that women's rights were not important. We were discussing the dangers of feminist extremism, which Paddy put quite eloquently in his "wall of text". To recapitulate: When you make the issue about recovering rights that you feel were forcibly taken from you, obviously somebody needs to be at fault, right? The classic scapegoat is "men", and sooner or later at least one person chooses to make the issue an emotional one, about bitter revenge rather than simply achieving a necessary goal. It is much better to strive for equality, which places no undue emphasis on either sex, and can truly ensure that eventually both sexes will be regarded as totally equal. Now, of course not all gender-related issues are merely political, I would say the most severe ones in the Western world are social ones, which can be corrected overtime by bringing up children in an environment where neither sex is discriminated against. As I already said, you cannot force somebody to think a certain way, which makes this very difficult. The very best I can do is continue to not discriminate, harshly criticize people who do, and if I ever have children raise them to not be bigots.

Do you see now why some of us are irritated that you choose to bring up emotionally fueled arguments about women having it bad? We know, it just wasn't what was being discussed at the time and there is very little we can do about it.

I brought up the issue because it indicates a broken system. And I'm arguing that our inequality is NOT equal. I bring up these things because pretending like men and women are suffering the same things in the same way is naive.
Where did I ever imply 'bitter revenge'? Where did I blame every man ever? I'm not out to get you. I swear. Heck, I'm not even out to get all mankind, either!
I never even accused you of sexism. And you're right, I can't force anyone to accept their own privilege (there's that scary 'p' word again!'). It's entirely in your court.
The issues men and women face are both unfortunate, but they are not equal. The average heterosexual male is not likely to be a victim of domestic violence. Every 9 seconds in the U.S.A., a women is beaten by her spouse.
The average heterosexual male is far more concerned about being 'friend zoned', while the average heterosexual female is fearing being raped and killed by that guy who won't leave her alone at the bar.
The average heterosexual male is NOT marginalized in mainstream media, business, or in the military. Women are far more likely to sexually assaulted the in military then die as a result of military conflict. Women are constantly barraged with degrading imagery.
To offset ANY emotion you may read into this:

Spoiler below!

I'm not blaming men, I'm blaming the system that was built by them and allows it happen. This system also makes male victims of assault hesitant to come forward because of the masculinism it values, and makes it especially hard for those with alternative sexualities to be seen as equals. It hurts everyone, but it disproportionately hurts women. That discrepancy means that men have privilege. NOT that your lives are carefree, far from it, but you simply aren't likely to have to worry about these things.
You can't solve a problem until you see it for what it is. It is NOT equal inequality.
Men are rational, intelligent people who can help change a broken system. You're not helpless, you CAN help change this system. But only once you forfeit the idea that da womenz are out to get you.