All right I'm gonna have to draw the line here and say that yeah okay, men do face problems for being men, but believe me when I say it is NOTHING compared to being a woman.
"You may think you've come a long way, baby, but let me tell you how oppressed you
really are."
I don't know,
men having higher suicide rates by a 4:1 ratio,
men making up 77% of homicide victims,
men serving longer prison sentences for the same crime, men being forced to sign up for the draft and potentially die for their country (at least in the US), etc. all sound like very legitimate issues.
This isn't a genitalia-measuring contest, and I'm not saying one group has it better or worse than another. Sure, women have a unique set of challenges, but it's ridiculous to claim that men have automatically got it easy in life. Both genders face their own sets of problems and issues, and the sooner we put aside the pointless oppression olympics, the more progress can be made on resolving those issues.
Furthermore the problems that men face are a RESULT of the woman-hating (dare I say the word-) patriarchy. E.g. men aren't allowed to show emotion and have to behave in a tough/strong manner so as to not look like a "weak woman". The pressure on them to hide emotion out of fear of not looking like a woman is the cause of the heightened suicide rate. Men cannot behave in a feminine manner as per society's standards without getting thrown at with words like "gay", "faggot", etc. Femininity, or the likeness of being a woman is so looked down upon amongst men.
Amazing how men's problems and homophobia were really just women's problems all along, isn't it? What an interesting way to reframe the issue. (Also, isn't it homophobic to say that gays are just feminine? Just because you like a firm dicking doesn't mean you're a mincing Queer Eye host. Plus, this is ignoring the fact that plenty of women are homophobic. Have they just "internalized" misogyny now?)
This is such an exaggerated mischaracterization of masculinity and manhood that it borders on caricature. Generally speaking, men don't express their emotions in the same ways that women do, but that doesn't mean we've been trained to "suppress" our emotions. Men express themselves through different, but just as valid means; we tend to process it through activity and action, along with healthy amounts of introspection. Your viewpoint holds the female standard as the be-all, end-all and deems the male equivalent as inferior and defective because it's different; that's pretty sexist, man.
And what, are women who are criticized for being masculine or mannish actually suffering the effects of man-hating? Or is it the dastardly patriarchy at work again?
On that note, the idea that society is patriarchal in nature, devised to advance men at all times, while at the same time damaging men is on the same level of conspiracy delusion that leads people to believe that Jews are both secretly controlling the world and stupid, pathetic vermin. It's working backwards from a presupposition to justify itself when the obvious flaws in the logic pop up.
It's not that X% of men commit mass shootings, it's that every time there has been a shooting, it's been done by a dude. In other words it's way too statistically significant to just shrug it off and say that it's only been done by men all these times by complete coincidence. Though I wouldn't say it's "by virtue of them being men" in and of themselves, but rather by virtue of how men are brought up as these macho, butch, tough-guy figures in modern society. And so when they lash out or react to an urge or a mental ailment, they do so more violently. (See: percentage of rapes committed by men vs. women, percentage of murders committed by men vs. women, etc.)
And? Let's say there's been 100 shooters over the past decade or two, and let's be generous and assume they were all men. 100/160,000,000 does not a trend make. You might as well tie the shootings to what shoes they wore, whether or not they sliced the crusts off of their PB&Js, or which violent video games they played for all the difference it makes. You know what all these shooters also have in common? Including those women that commit shootings? Mental health and instability problems. Maybe we should pursue that actual problem instead of using the victims of horrific tragedies as a podium for pointless identity politics.
Also... If this "macho culture" is so critical to this, why aren't more men involved in these sorts of crimes? I mean, like the crime rate in general? I mean, you'd think so, but crime rates have been falling since the 90's, and the vast majority of men are not committing violent crimes, let alone crimes in general. Also, are you really arguing that our modern society now, of all times, in the epoch of the hipsters, is when we suffer from masculinity overdose? Forgive me for being skeptical.
The most common misconception is that modern feminism is inherently about throwing men under the bus. It's not (though I agree so many ill-advised Tumblrites make it seem so), it's about throwing the gender-based hierarchal system under the bus, getting rid of "men>women", so that both sides benefit.
When masculinity, and the mere act of being a man, is labeled as toxic, and when men's problems are marginalized and dismissed as really being about women, is it so hard to see why people see the movement as negative towards men?
The overwhelming majority of people agree that women and men are equal, and our institutions reflect that. Any woman can make it just as far as any man through the same hard work, ingenuity, and fortune. Not only can women vote, women can serve in all branches and facets of the government, from Congress to the courts to Presidency itself. That's not to say that there aren't individual cases of discrimination against women, or that all issues have been resolved (abortion rights will likely always remain a contested matter), but to try and convince women that they're helpless victims or chattel is to spit in the face of all that's been achieved. That is where the heart of the matter lies.
If a movement truly is to help both men and women, than it shouldn't solely be focused on one side of the equation.
