The downsides of being a man

[Snowfluke]

Apologies if this has been posted already. I can't see it if it has.

To answer what is probably your first question: this is here because of a quote from the article, " the male equivalent of feminism should also be called feminism "

My first thought, and I say this as a CM fan, was that this was probably a 'trick' question designed to highlight privilege. Actually, it isn't. And I'm now thinking how many of these downsides are actually combated by feminism.

Which kinda begs the question: should it be a bit more about da menz?

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/caitlin-moran-twitter-downsides-man-toxic-masculinity-feminism-reactions-a8593471.html

I am with MagicMix. Changing existing power structures, does not make everyone a winner. Men will lose power and they won't like it.

Of course there are downsides to power. It is a burden to carry and some men can't handle it which creates mental health issues and suicides. But men most men don't like to give up power even if it damaging their health.

I would say the main downside to being a man is that women gatekeep your access to sex and reproduction.

Men as a class could have gone two ways in handling this. Respect women, or don't respect women. They went with don't, and they're sticking to it.

socially castrated WonderFluid?

It didn't stop a "patriarchal man" becoming POTUS did it?

amandadecabernet
'Dismantle existing existing toxic power structure ('patriarchy').' Is that over then? I've got so much stuff I could be doing instead, I had no idea.

"- Weakened patriarchy no longer capable of enforcing biological sex roles."

If you're going to a pedant at least read past the first sentence. That aside, you should be so lucky. It's only going to get worse

At the current rate of social progress the best you can hope for is that you don't find yourself in the same shower room as the one of the future Hannah Mouncey's, when they ask if anyone would like to see their.. how do I phrase this... 'integral strap-on'.

If men can liberate themselves from slavery then they can liberate themselves from the patriarchy, strict gender norms and the MRAs.

The downsides of being a man?
Ooh, let me see.
The embarrassment of automatically having a higher salary than your female colleagues.

Risking being reported to HR when you grope the staff.
Not being able to suffer labour pain or periods.
Being annoyed that your wife prioritises your baby and sometimes doesn’t have your dinner ready on time.
Having to consider whether a woman actually consents before you pressure her into sex.
The inconvenience of marital rape now being illegal, so you have to go to the bother of an affair to get your sexual demands met.
The physical effort of having to punch people who disagree with you.
You mean those sort of downsides, OP?!

Erm... Ok Babdoc.

@Snowfluke
So nothing has dramatically changed socially for the average man and woman in Western nations over the last hundred years because Trump has been the POTUS for a little over 18 months. Oh, how things would have been different if America had voted for Hillary. It would have been a great feminist leap forward, just like Margaret Thatcher was, or Marine Le Pen would be. Because everyone knows it's only male politicians who are typically self-serving bastards who care little for the rest of humanity.

Ahem... any other ridiculous non sequiturs you'd like to throw in my direction?

Well, I'm obviously not possessed of your remarkable intellect Wonderfluid. Perhaps stop being so polite and explain how, with patriarchal men being socially castrated n all, one ended up as POTUS. Cos, you know, if he was socially castrated, then he wouldn't have had so many people voting for him would he?

Nah, I'm clearly being thick. But, seeing as you're not averse to lengthy paragraphs, I'm hopeful you'll take the time to explain it.

One problem IMO is that until we can dismantle toxic masculinity across the entire world there is necessarily a 'fight fire with fire' situation.

Military force is likely all that defends our way of life from the many nutters/despots out there who are currently deterred by our bigger firepower - ISIS, Kim Yong, etc.

Didnr Churchill with something like "the average person sleeps soundly because of the rough men ready to commit violence on their behalf."

I'm sorry if reading more than four sentences per paragraph is an effort for you. Maybe you should stick to twitter. Still, I'll try:

American and European politics are becoming increasingly unstable to a shift in economic power from the west to east. Everyone wants to hang their ideological hat off his victory but as always people just want to be richer, or least as rich as the previous generation.Trump promised the population of America economic improvement. That's why he was narrowly elected over Hillary. 'I'm with Her' does not sell that promise; economically she promised more of the same. Bye bye White House. It had little to nothing do with gender.

But if your logic is sound then by comparison British men have been emasculated; there's another women in No. 10. The 'calm down dear' days of Dave are rapidly fading; now biological men from the UK are trying to run around in womens' showers, because they think they are women. Clearly it's all Theresa May's fault.

I suspect you'll agree that's bullshit.

In short, apart from unadulterated billionaire opportunists, Trump does not in reality represent the average anything unless you're trying to hang a very weak argument off him. For example:

The idea that a 72 year old man, POTUS or not, represents the 30 year old male who for a significant part of their adult life has been exposed to the concept, if not the exact term, of 'toxic masculinity' and the increasing social promotion of gender fluidity.

Pure sophistry.

Your ideas are actually rather simple - i.e. elections are won by whomever promises the most cash. Strip away the pontificating (and frankly pathetic attempts to patronise) and they're not just narrow and naive, but clearly an attempt to justify some suspect and curmudgeonly opinions.