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Monday, January 30, 2017

Sexist equality

Traditionally, men were portrayed as people who affect their surroundings and make their own choices. Women were portrayed as people who lean more toward just going along with things. This double standard has been transferred over to the way society evaluates issues of gender equality. 

For example, the issue of men having shorter life spans. The common response is to blame men. “They are abusing their own health.” The responder doesn’t speculate on how much protection men are given to prevent their deaths, whether the culture channels men into the more dangerous jobs, or even whether men are taught their bodies are not worth caring for.

This is very unfortunate because males are no less socialized than females. They are not even made aware of how gender-based issues hurt them. And efforts to teach them are usually attacked. Yet none of this seems to matter. Men are expected to transform themselves and mitigate all the pressures that surround them. And this expectation is no different from traditional sexism.

So what I often see is traditional double standards used to define liberation. And this gets us nowhere. It shuts down discussion. It kills compassion. It harms men.