Gender

[Alardem]

Doesn't jive with the fact that women are more liable to sexual assault and violence from their partners. I know that many abused guys keep silent about being abused by their girlfriends, and that problem is exacerbated by the cultural norms about male strength. Sexist assumptions here hurt people of both genders, and thus is to blame.

"Seven people burned to death last night in a blaze which engulfed most of down town New York. Two of the victims were men."

Yeah, that knot you felt in your stomach as you read the second version is quite illustrative of the point.

Are you serious? I'm not affected by either. :p

What you've said effectively highlights one of feminism's issues - how "valuing" women as much as children under a pretext of benevolence actually prevents them from being considered the equal of men. It's what's churned out to prevent women from taking on risky jobs that men are allowed to do. I, too, roll my eyes at the 'women and children' cliche in news reports about battles or massacres, because it implies that the death and maiming of men is normal and to be expected.

And this is the crux: this assumption is unhealthy and we will be better off valuing all lives equally. If we are to use history/'biology' as a precedent for rationalizing current things, we may as well say that xenophobia, classism and other prejudices have served our "species" well in the past and therefore shouldn't be questioned. I say nuts to that.