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What sexist behaviour would be the most shocking if reversed?

416 replies

GrumpyOldNag · 06/06/2014 17:05

I was thinking feminist thoughts to myself (as you do Grin ), and I was thinking about how this belief that sexism doesn't exist anymore creates a huge backlash against anyone who speaks out against it, which in turn makes people who do in fact believe in equal rights for men and women try to distance themselves from feminism because it's perceived as crazy and unreasonable. The problem is that a lot of it is so ingrained in our culture and society that it is completely normalised, and the majority of people don't even notice it anymore.

So what would be the most obvious, outrageous sexist behaviour, if we swapped the genders? Would it be men being followed, harassed and intimidated in the street, or on the music channel men gyrating and grinding dressed increasingly revealing clothing while women are all fully clothed? Men dancing in the windows of the red light district, or the overwhelming majority of politicians and CEOs being female?

What in your opinion would bring about the most uproar if one day sexism suddenly switched genders?

Sorry if any part of this doesn't make sense, I had a beautifully written OP all typed out and then my iPad lost it all for no apparent reason... Angry

OP posts:
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TheSameBoat · 07/06/2014 23:04

Yes and when a male model is murdered by their super famous athlete girlfriend we would shake our heads and bemoan the loss of her talent to the world.

RidgyTipper · 07/06/2014 23:04

Men changing their names on marriage. Women congratulating each other on the birth of a daughter to 'carry on the family name'. All woman being referred to as Ms. Unmarried men being referred to as Master so society could see who was still available for the plucking.

NotAgainTrevor · 07/06/2014 23:00

Yes, we would need a whole new lexicon. I suggest testerical and testeria for a start.

We would need to euphemistically rename all the nasty things that women do so as not to upset them.

The men getting murdered each week by their female partners wouldn't be mentioned. We might mention the odd real murder i.e. One that wasn't caused by the man getting a big uppity and probably not knowing his place. But only if he was young and conventially attractive.

kim147 · 07/06/2014 22:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NotAgainTrevor · 07/06/2014 22:42

Actually the Daily Mail internet page really would be the most mind bending of all, every hateful message handily in one place. What the hell would Rachel Littlejohn and Les Jones columns be like Shock

JapaneseMargaret · 07/06/2014 22:35

In households where both partners work, men ensuring that the mundane tasks that are required to be done on a daily basis, just to keep the house ticking over, are done.

Ensuring the family laundry moves through the chain of cleaning - washing it, hanging it out, drying it, sorting and folding it up.

Keeping a constant eye on pantry, bathroom and cleaning cupboard stores, to make sure the household basics are always in stock.

Meal planning.

Meal cooking.

Wiping down bathrooms surfaces and cleaning the loo each day.

Checking school notices, getting school kit ready, making packed lunches, knowing what's needed for each child on each day, etc, ad nauseum.

Men constantly doing the sorts of things around the house that are barely noticeable when done quietly and efficiently, but everyone is highly inconvenienced by, when not done.

NotAgainTrevor · 07/06/2014 22:33

Don't forget the sixty trillion 'stories' on Kevin and Keith Kardashian Kim

Any TV programmes about straight, white, males would be labeled as special interest, cos after all why would anyone else care. Quite like the idea of that one! Grin

OutsSelf · 07/06/2014 22:31

In public space, except t those associated with dating, women would generally only speak to other women, they would habitually interrupt and talk over men. All people walking into a room full of strangers would instantly defer to any female.present before addressing any man in the room. Any man objecting to or.pointing this out would reveal themselves to be difficult and unmaly. Women would be leading men around everywhere, hands on the small of backs, back of necks, leading by the hand. Being handled everywhere in this manner would be framed to men as romantic.

Jokes about women trying to stay free and men trying to get them to commit would be mirrored by endless agony columns where men dissected every aspect of their relationship and their lover to figure out why she wouldn't commit. There would be legion of.middle aged men with flawed careers from child rearing left as LP while women enough masse hooked up with younger partners. There'd be films like The First Husbands' Club in which men so treated were shown to lose weight and sort out their wardrobe, some of them might even attract another woman. This would be marketed as empowering.

Men's physical education and experience would be neglected and gentrified, with an absolute emphasis on appearing both beautiful and.petite. Women would be taken to the park by their mum's from a young age and engaged in active and strength building activities. The emphasis on women's fitness would be the development of strength and capacity; men would be actively discouraged from 'bulking up' and instead encouraged to aim for BMIs which left them technically underweight and undernourished. Men would be sold clothes modelled on fourteen year old boys, many of them with eating disorders. Women's innately superior stamina, capacity for physical plasticity, their ability to incubate and give birth to babies, ability to maintain subcutaneous fat and ability to resist malnutrition, would be narrativised as the basis of their physical superiority. Men would be regarded as fundamentally incapacitated by their testicles and discouraged from physical activity that could be a risk to them. Schools and other public institutions doing risk assessments would assess any contact sport or.any involving bats or balls a risk to testicles, and softened versions of each sport would be practiced by boys, segregated for their own safety.

joanofarchitrave · 07/06/2014 22:26

University students receiving their Spinster of Science degrees after three years' study.

calmet · 07/06/2014 22:26

There would be lots of TV programmes made about the experiences of FtoM's and MtoF's would be largely ignored by the media.

kim147 · 07/06/2014 22:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CaptChaos · 07/06/2014 22:02

Or if the token male was in some way not sexually desirable by women, then he must have got there some other underhand way. Maybe because he is also the token homosexual the company needs, so they can tick the 'equality' box.

grimbletart · 07/06/2014 21:57

The token male who got on the company board would be the subject of gossip that he only got there by sleeping with the boss.

enderwoman · 07/06/2014 21:25

I'm also imagining Sky Sports making male footballers wear skimpy women's beach volleyball type clothes. Match of the Day not discussing goals but showing lingering shots of ass and crotch.

enderwoman · 07/06/2014 21:18

I've been imagining men wearing Spanx, getting hair extensions and dying their hair. Ha ha!!

Contraception that could lower libido, make you fat, feel blergh because of hormones.... Yeah right!! If men took The Pill it would somehow make their cock longer, burn fat and irresistible to all and sundry.

almondcakes · 07/06/2014 20:32

Most of the novels taught in schools would be written by women about women, and progressive male teachers would do half a lesson a year on how the male characters (who gets murdered, raped or commits suicide as a plot point to explore the feelings of the female characters) in the book were written in a sexist way.

The male teacher would be considered a little strident and the half lesson would be considered to be 'making the course all about girls.'

There would be one set text on the list that was about a minority ethnic character who was also poor, gay and a man, so that the exam board could claim its chosen novels covered a diverse range of groups. Almost no schools would actually teach that novel.

When the virtually untaught book was removed from the book list by Margaret Gove, nobody would notice but various national newspapers would have articles complaining that the book where the woman gets murdered as a plot point has been removed from the book list. There would be a twitter storm to reinstate 'Of Weasels and Women.'

Scarletohello · 07/06/2014 19:43

If a young woman couldn't get a boyfriend, posted on hate filled sites with other young women who hated men, posted a video on YouTube saying how she was entitled to sleep with hot young men and to get her revenge, went out and shot 6 people. And then people were saying it wasn't cos she hated men, it was because she had mental health issues.

BillnTedsMostFeministAdventure · 07/06/2014 19:29

"Ms May, tell us more about Home Office policy on sentencing guidelines?"

"Mr Cameron, brown brogues for the Tory party conference?"

BriarRainbowshimmer · 07/06/2014 19:25
Twobusyboys · 07/06/2014 19:24

Samantha jones. I so know what you mean about male collegues sitting with legs apart. Its so offensive anf unnecessary. When i started work in a male dominated industry 10 years ago all the men in the office i worked in had calenders with topless women pinned up by their desks. These calenders were supplied by the subcontractors as gifts. I remember thinking it was outrageous and feeling annoyed but didnt think i could complain as it was just how it was.

kickassangel · 07/06/2014 19:14

Teenage boys sitting in class and saying 'well I can always marry a rich guy. I just need to get some pec. implants and I won't bother with a degree.'

Pec. implants being a thing

DoctorTwo · 07/06/2014 19:10

A male blogger who posts a masculinist point of view is freaked out at receiving rape and death threats from WRAs. Like Mark Beard, the famous historian, or Laurence Penny, the leftish writer.

BalloonSlayer · 07/06/2014 19:02

Yeah, enderwoman Grin "Brad Pitt, 40-32-5½-38 poses for the cameras."

calmet · 07/06/2014 18:58

TV shows where a lesbian presenter tells men how to make themselves more sexually attractive to their female partners.

enderwoman · 07/06/2014 18:53

Instead of female labels like "Katie Price 30FF", we'd hear about male celebrity dick size or chest circumference.

Men would be wondering how to juggle career and family. They would know about basic childhood illnesses like conjunctivitis and following a BRAT diet after vomiting. They would be baking cakes for cake sales and trying to find a green stripy t-shirt for the dressing up day that was announced the day before.

There would be more news coverage about important men's fashion sense and red circles showing the moment that David Cameron's hair blew in the wind and he looked less than perfect for a moment.

Men would be told that they need fillers, lotions and potions to look acceptable once they were past the age of 20. Young boys would feel like they should show as much skin as possible and dress to satisfy the insatiable sexual appetites of girls.