Feminism: How has it affected men?

[Secret Chief]

Are we emasculated?
Liberated?
Educated?
Confused?
Reconstructed?
Are we better for it?
Worse for it?
Changed?
No different?

As an individual? And as a male society...

 

[Curious George]

Better.

 

[Me Myself]

Having our daughters and friends and wives and mothers being able to vote is a great plus IMHO.

 

[Sunstone]

I don't think you can put a price on having a genuine partner in life, rather than a second class servant.

 

[Revoltingest]

Having a wife who makes more than I do, & supports my habits.....great!

 

[Rakhel]

In some ways, I think it helped. It made realize that their assumed rights were just that, assumed. And made them realize that there were rights they never had, as well as, rights they should have had.

 

[Alceste]

I think it must be nice not to have the whole of society hold you solely responsible for your entire family's material situation and prospects.

 

[InformedIgnorance]

Bother better and worse

In terms of material benefit, better off than before despite the effects of various 'positive discrimination' initiatives usually aimed at diminishing male roles in various fields.

In terms of non material effects, many issues such as confusion over expectations and gender roles, double standards, sustained stereotyping as being the villains responsible for most problems in society... not so well off.

As for the balance... probably a little worse off; but the resulting gain for women was immense in comparison. I presume it will see-saw until we reach a point of relative equity or else that we will go through periods where various gender affirmation movements are necessary as one gender empowerment movement over steps (such as seems to be the case in some areas atm)

 

[freethinker44]

I think it must be nice not to have the whole of society hold you solely responsible for your entire family's material situation and prospects.

That's not fully in the past yet. I wish it was, my life would be a little bit easier right now.

 

[Alceste]

That's not fully in the past yet. I wish it was, my life would be a little bit easier right now.

No, it's true. There are still pockets of resistance, but a large majority of women (at least in my country) now contribute to the household budget by working for pay. Might not be half and half yet, but at least it's not 100% to zero.

Granted, now that we have jobs outside the home we're less willing to work for free, so you might have to wipe a few bums and wash a dish or two.

 

[Kerr]

Better. I would honestly be a horrible "traditional male" and its good that society allows men to be untraditional .

 

[freethinker44]

Granted, now that we have jobs outside the home we're less willing to work for free, so you might have to wipe a few bums and wash a dish or two.

I would gladly do that if my wife would work. She has never lived poor before, but she is going to figure it out real quickly because I am not going to drop out of college and destroy our long term plans because she won't work. It is a good life lesson anyways, everyone should live poor at least once.

 

[badger]

I'm afraid I've always been a 'traditional male', mainly because the significant women in my life (mother and wife - both old skool - and five daughters) have decreed it thus.

There's a rigid heirarchy in my establishment - I run the farm, daughter #3 runs the riding school and stables, daughter #4 manages the farm shop and dear ol Mrs.Badger is in overall charge (and runling with an iron fist, I might add!) I think that'll do.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Granted, now that we have jobs outside the home we're less willing to work for free, so you might have to wipe a few bums and wash a dish or two.

Well, washing the dishes has always been mostly my job. I'm not really sure I like the idea of wiping my own bum now though...

 

[Secret Chief]

It's a better society in the UK but with the loss of old, not always appropriate, certainties, I think there is still some confusion over roles and behaviours for men, and of course women.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

- More, easier, dirtier sex.
- Less pressure to marry and have kids.
- Less pressure to make money and be successful.
- You can get away with doing nothing since women think we're all incapable of doing even the simplest things.

I don't see any downside.

 

[Alceste]

- More, easier, dirtier sex.
- Less pressure to marry and have kids.
- Less pressure to make money and be successful.
- You can get away with doing nothing since women think we're all incapable of doing even the simplest things.

I don't see any downside.

Lol. Oh my god, so true.

In fairness, though, that's how it's always been. I've been reading the memoirs of pioneer women. Men pretty much just chilled whenever they weren't actually at work. Kicked their feet up. Smoked a pipe. Read a book. Waited for dinner to appear. I don't think my great grandfather ever fed himself, cleaned up after himself or washed his own clothes - not even once - in his entire life. Even when I was a kid, which was not that long ago, all the people at family gatherings who had penises were expected to chill out at the end of the day - even after a day of doing nothing - and do more nothing while those of us without penises made dinner for everyone and cleaned it up.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Lol. Oh my god, so true.

In fairness, though, that's how it's always been. I've been reading the memoirs of pioneer women. Men pretty much just chilled whenever they weren't actually at work. Kicked their feet up. Smoked a pipe. Read a book. Waited for dinner to appear. I don't think my great grandfather ever fed himself, cleaned up after himself or washed his own clothes - not even once - in his entire life. Even when I was a kid, which was not that long ago, all the people at family gatherings who had penises were expected to chill out at the end of the day and do nothing while those of us without penises made dinner for everyone and cleaned it up.

I'd say that sounds good accept that I'm the best cook I know - other than my father-in-law who is a French, master chef.

But yeah, I suppose there's always been an element of that. I suppose the difference is that I think it used to be more a matter of segregating "women's work" and "men's work," and less a matter that men weren't capable of doing it. Now, there's less separation of the types of work, and more expectation that everyone will do everything, but both men and women have seemed to absorb this idea that women have to end up doing everything anyway because men are lazy and incapable. I suspect it's a broadly accepted paradigm because it suits both men's and women's psychology and aims.

 

[moodys]

Lol. Oh my god, so true.

In fairness, though, that's how it's always been. I've been reading the memoirs of pioneer women. Men pretty much just chilled whenever they weren't actually at work. Kicked their feet up. Smoked a pipe. Read a book. Waited for dinner to appear. I don't think my great grandfather ever fed himself, cleaned up after himself or washed his own clothes - not even once - in his entire life. Even when I was a kid, which was not that long ago, all the people at family gatherings who had penises were expected to chill out at the end of the day and do nothing while those of us without penises made dinner for everyone and cleaned it up.

That's a little too vulgar but I see the point. Personally I see the same thing with me, all my buddies, work colleagues etc. I don't think it's a big commotion the fact that we are cooked dinner, the house is clean once we go home, kids are looked after, and various other things. There are many perhaps most households whose modus operandi is still on the so-called traditional side. Feminism has advanced and built upon the relationship between wife and husband to empower the both of them, but it hasn't revolutionized that relationship to the nth degree.

 

[Me Myself]

Lol. Oh my god, so true.

In fairness, though, that's how it's always been. I've been reading the memoirs of pioneer women. Men pretty much just chilled whenever they weren't actually at work. Kicked their feet up. Smoked a pipe. Read a book. Waited for dinner to appear. I don't think my great grandfather ever fed himself, cleaned up after himself or washed his own clothes - not even once - in his entire life. Even when I was a kid, which was not that long ago, all the people at family gatherings who had penises were expected to chill out at the end of the day - even after a day of doing nothing - and do more nothing while those of us without penises made dinner for everyone and cleaned it up.

That made sense in a time when he was forced to work and she was forced to house work.