NOTE: No super angry debates, I implore ye all. :'c Plz? Okay, I'll assume you're thinking okay. I've just been thinking about something lately. Sure, I do get and agree that women have a harder time when it comes to discrimination based on gender. Sexism hits harder at women. But I also think that we, as a society, be we identified as feminists or not, aren't talking about men's rights enough. It seems to me like it's basically seen as a non-issue. Now, I'm not talking about the Men's Rights Movement or any of that crap (there's some severe misogyny and other funky stuff going on inside that group), but about men's rights. For example, men are expected to not show weakness, be vulnerable, cry, or show emotion. They're expected by society to be stone-cold, icy-hearted, muscled-up... you get the point. I could go on about this, but I'll just leave it there. What do you think? Also, below is a video on the topic. [YOUTUBE]iwQBlNVqL-E[/YOUTUBE]
Personally, I don't want to get into a martyrdom competition by arguing which sex has it worse as there really is no objective standard for that. However, I do agree that certain role and gender expectations harm men as well as women and those that constrict the lives of men go often ignored. Men have very few socially acceptable ways of dealing and expressing their emotions. Failure to adhere to the standards either gets you wimpy gay or sociopath label. Basically the problem is that adult men are not supposed to openly deal with their emotions and it's the wife or GF who is just about the only person who they can talk to and even that is complicated. Other big restriction is on friendships. Until about 150 years ago men were much more affectionate and emotional with each other in friendships but today such behavior is often shunned as "gay" although it used to be the norm. Even with friends it's the norm that guys want to maintain certain "toughness" and avoid unmanly topics. Girls don't really face similar outside expectations based on friendship. When talking about legal issues courts nearly always side with the women in custody cases. Or at least the mother is the default option and the father must prove that he would be a better parent than mom if he wants to get the custody. Violence against women is a serious issue but less discussed topic is the fact that in absolute numbers men face much more violence than women and men are much more likely to die as a result of a violent crime than women. Furthermore, the education system is geared more towards the needs of girls than boys. When it comes to reproductive rights men don't really have them. If a women becomes pregnant even despite use of contraception the man has no say in if he wants to keep the child. I'm not saying that he should be able to prevent or force an abortion but if he doesn't want the child the woman can refuse abortion and forcefully extract child support from him through the legal system. In my opinion men should have the right to a virtual abortion where he gives up any right to the child and avoids the child support payments if the woman wants to keep the baby while the man doesn't. The sad thing is there are a lot of people who either play down these issues or don't even see them.
