I think feminism will make things better for boys/men

Great idea for a thread Trillian :)

An interesting question, MoreBeta. Its very true that right from the earliest days the union movement has been (was? hopefully not so much now?) very ambivalent in its support for women workers for exactly that reason.

I'm not sure that in practice women workers have actually depressed male wages. Of course relative wages have fallen in jobs that have moved from 'male' to 'female' (bank clerks and secretaries are two particular examples that come to mind). But male workers in 'female' jobs tend to rapidly get promoted & move up the pay scales (eg male primary school teachers are more likely to become HTs).

I think that a far bigger influence has been the fall in the number of manufacturing jobs. Its not that men are earning less for the same job because employers could hire cheaper women, but that those relatively well paid lower end jobs no longer exist.

all the dolls houses ended up in my son's room! I picked them all up quite cheaply at school sales. My son dressed up as a female nursery rhyme character at hallowe'en. I know my X wouldn't approve, but he is not around which has allowed my son much more freedom to play with ovens, dress up as a fairy, wear red shoes, pearls....! He probably won't want to for very much longer but at least he had the chance to experiment without a Dad saying [cough ahem] are you taking a handbag with you son?
I know some men are fine about this stuff.

mine had to invent teleport because we didn't want to cut doors in the sides of the shoeboxes they were living in

I think the biggest thing that feminism could give men is the freedom to make more choices about their lives. Even now most men (and most women) are still heavily circumscribed by economic and social pressure to conform to the norms that were accepted in the 1950s.

I have been able to make more choices than my father about how I live my life but only because my wife was able to have a well paid job. The freedom my wife enjoyed to pursue a well paid career gave me freedom to enjoy our children more than I otherwise would.

That said, I wonder if some men at the bottom of the economic scale have lost out to feminism as many more women entering the worklforce have competed away their earning power down to minimum wage level. Just a thought. The union movement has never been an avid supporter of equal pay on a practical level due to this erosion of the 'working man's economic power.

Lovely thread Trillian, I totally agree. I think a lot of fathers miss out horribly in their relationships with their children, just for example.

Separately, Lenin, would a Playmobil house hit the spot for your DS? Looking at completed listings on ebay, it looks like with a bit of waiting and watching you could probably get one for £30 - £40 including figures/furniture.

DD has a 'proper' dolls house (made for me by my dad when I was little) but I have to say it doesn't get a fraction of the play time of her playmobil stuff - she doesn't have a house, but often makes house set ups in cardboard boxes.

Cleverything - I just smiled and told her we don't assign gender to toys in our house, because we want our children to grow up without the restrictions of gender stereotyping. She just smiled and changed the subject.

I think this may be why she hasn't invited herself around again.

Yes. Agreed.

As a mother of 2 boys as well as a girl, that is one of the the main reason I am a feminist.

A few weeks ago, a new neighbour invited herself round, as her DS and DD are similar ages to my youngest DS and DD. When the children were playing, my DS was making cups of tea an dmy DD was playing with cars, and this neighbour actually said, "doesn't it concern you that your children are playing with WRONG gender toys, my husband would never allow it?!"

It taught me that we still have a way to go.

its really nice thread OP not

I actually saw a post saying 'we all know most men rape'

nice to see a rational thought out response. you can't tar all with the same brush

My ds wore a tutu until he was four and carried a sparkly wand, whilst playing with his trucks in the mud

Fewer people muttering that my DS is a wimp if he cries or wants to cuddle his friends/hold hands.

From my DH's perspective, he would like it if he could live in a world where his manliness isn't questioned because he is not interested in any form of media that objectifies women such as porn, lad mags and page 3.

Were feminism to successfully put a stop to the objectification of women, that in turn would benefit men like my DH, who are 'feminist allies' but are sometimes ridiculed for it.

Lenin is it really more expensive than you can afford? I think a lot of feminists who wouldn't hesitate to buy their son girly stuff that doesn't cost much, are a bit scared of anything that is a big commitment; eg a friend of mine had a ds that really wanted his room painted pink but she didn't want to because she was worried he would change his mind.
our dollshouse was around £100 and that's a pretty high quality wooden one but we're making/gradually buying the furniture; you can get much cheaper ones, too.