Marginalizing Men in society

Have us, Men, lost our edge?

I saw this story today in the news
www.dailymail.co.uk... .html
It basically says how Men have been disproportionately negatively affected by the "Great Recession". Due to the fact most of the hardest hit labor markets are dominated by Men, like construction and local governments (police, etc.).

I studied history in school so I always put things in a historical context in my mind. The plight of men is rarely talked about today, but during other hard times would of been a huge cause for concern. During the Great Depression, nothing made the government more fearful than having a large amount of younger men out of work. Young men with time on their hands are the engine of revolution. FDR didn't come up with the CCC and public works programs as much for economic reasons, but for social reasons. He was scared of millions of young men with no jobs marching on DC. The same could be said for China today. The Chinese government is extremely worried about the vast numbers of young men (due to their one child policy) should their economy ever slow down.

But in today's recession these fears seem nonexistent. If you were listening to the news you would think every man has a great job and not a worry in the world. After all, your constantly hearing about the "war on women", "equal pay for women", "war on birth control" but never a single word on the plight of men. And even more astonishingly, there seems zero concern that the hoards of unemployed men might make trouble.

Some conclusions I came up with, which ones are true guys?:
1. The male species has been pacified by horrible world wars
2. Men, like society at large, care more about whats on TV than social upheaval
3. Men have been castrated by feminism, the special place of Men in society has been removed
4. Revolution just isn't worth getting off the couch for
5. Men aren't as bad off as they could be

What else?

reply to post by KnawLick


I would say all five of your conclusions are accurate.

I wouldn't say feminism is always the cause that castrates men, I'm seeing it being done to young male children. This is usually caused by overbearing mothers, who are stripping away boyhood, because everything is some danger. These kids are growing up now, and they are beat down, some probably wouldn't toss a pea in a food fight.

I honestly think those five points, are everything in a nutshell

reply to post by kat2684


It seems to mainly be a western problem. I think we have tried to make the sexes so equal it has begun to backfire.

It's a simple fact of life that men are better at some things and women at others.

What is the need to make no distinctions between the sexes?

I've been watching since before the recession started where men have been ridiculed for doing things that I was taught to do without thinking. I was always taught to open doors, and pull out chairs for women. For the last few years if you tried to do that, if you were LUCKY, you only got weird looks. If you weren't, then the woman went off on you. I think that it's been slowly building steam for a long time now, but the recession has made it worse.

Hilarious! I must have missed the "plight of men" in my history courses. Centuries and centuries of men and their history, while women were merely the things that gave birth to more men.

reply to post by trysts


Did you actually read the thread? Or are you just reciting what you heard in liberal class today?

The thread is about why men are so pacified these days compared to men in our past....

reply to post by KnawLick


I read the thread. It's still funny.

reply to post by Zaphod58


I agree. What I have been trying to decide is 'is this a good thing'?

I can see it on both levels. Men seem to be less eager to fight and go to war. They much rather just watch football than be involved in world affairs.

But it also stifles innovation, some of our best inventions were made because of male competitiveness. Be it in times of war or just to show up another man. I think this free thinking has gone wayward with "manliness"

reply to post by KnawLick


Knawluck,

Its my impression that men lead unfufilling lives. My husband and I talked about this, he was depressed working a dead end job, but more depressed I had to take on extra work because he felt he wasn't providing good enough. I was ok, but his manhood was a little crushed. The lives we lead in the west are so far from our roots, that there is a bit of a longing for simplicity, atleast how I see it.

Now we see many women raising children alone, the father is gone or always working and women have to be mom and dad. I have difficulty trying to be there for my son, when he needs his dad, who works 6 to 7 days a week mandatory overtime.

Another thing, womens bodies are so different from mens, women are not equal physically. I spent sometime in the US Army, and try doing a 10 mile, 15 mile marches in 100lbs of gear, it was very rough. It seems society is constantly trying to 'one up' men, (anything you can do, I can do better song comes to mind) I feel sorry for the guys.

reply to post by Zaphod58


I have seen this too, women are so equal now, that 20 something males wouldn't bother to help a 40 year old female to carry a heavy box, they sit and watch. I know women wanted equality in the workplace, but that doesn't bar them from all the bad that goes with it.

It's called Misandry:

mis·an·dry/misˈandrē/Noun: The hatred of men by women: "her feminism is just poorly disguised misandry".

It's FAR more prevelant in society than we would like to admit.

~Tenth

reply to post by tothetenthpower


To what end though? The origins of feminism are noble enough. Fighting for equal pay or the right to vote etc.

Maybe I'm being to extreme but my view of feminism today is a movement dedicated to stopping procreation...

It seems feminist are subtly trying to convince women not to have babies? Am I way off base?

reply to post by KnawLick


Eh, I don't really know about that. In my view feminism has been hijacked, twisted into this weird cult of women who think they should be on top as opposed to side by side with men as it should have been since society began.

What I do know is that there is a concentrated efford by feminists to create a society of hatred against men. A society that does not respect them, who takes them for granted and does not treat them as women would like to be treated.

This is all part of the dividie and conquer strategy of our slave drivers. They want men and women fighting amongst each other, just like they want liberals and conservatives fighting amongst each other.

It makes it very difficult to see what's really going on when we have all these superficial issues being waived around like they are more important.

~Tenth

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Touche. I guess its not really its own issue even. The "woosification" (think there is a new book that argues this point) of men is just 1 fight in the battle to change the way our society functions in a fundamental way.

For living in a "global" world its hard to believe men, or anybody, doesn't just look next door as a comparison and see what is being done to them... Guess you actually have to pay attention to the world then....

Originally posted by KnawLick


Some conclusions I came up with, which ones are true guys?:
1. The male species has been pacified by horrible world wars

Doubtful imo. Maybe the human species has just been dumbed down so much that they just dont care about politics?

2. Men, like society at large, care more about whats on TV than social upheaval

Much more likely, ties in with the whole "consumerism" culture. There is much more in modern times to occupy a man, the internet for example.

3. Men have been castrated by feminism, the special place of Men in society has been removed

Not at all, Feminism has not removed men from the workplace or devalued them in anyway. Feminism simply gave more women access into better paid jobs while opening the door of opportunity for women to move up the ladder. Although i would agree that there has been a major decline in traditional male occupied jobs, such as construction etc.

4. Revolution just isn't worth getting off the couch for

I think this mentality is not just in the minds of men but women too. Materialism has rotted the brains of millions.

5. Men aren't as bad off as they could be

Agreed, with access to food, shelter, entertainment (TV as standard) the modern male has little to worry over it seems.

What else?

Personally, with the decline in traditional masculine jobs over the past 60+ years, some men are kinda displaced in society. I mean in the sense that they haven't been able to adapt to the changes in job rolls. For example, 20-30 years ago Britain was still manufacturing goods however today, Britain is more in a tertiary industry - call centre's and retail work seem to be the largest employers. There is no "gender separation via job roles" and i cant help but wonder if men have lost their identity though this time span.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
It's called Misandry:

mis·an·dry/misˈandrē/Noun: The hatred of men by women: "her feminism is just poorly disguised misandry".

It's FAR more prevelant in society than we would like to admit.

~Tenth

edit on 6/18/2012 by tothetenthpower because: (no reason given)

Would care to provide an example of misandry?

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I have seen it alot, a womans scorn is no joke. lol

Many women think any help a man offers is a sexual advance. I have been at jobs where men litterally had to tip toe and be extra careful because some woman would run off to HR.

A perfect example, when I was a squad leader in basic, we were standing in chow line at parade rest. A guy in my squad was chatting and moving around he hit a girl on her hip with his elbow. She came to me wanting to accuse him of Sexual Harrassment, I wouldn't do it. When I told him, what she was accusing him of, he was distraught, and afraid his military career was over, the girl was 17 he was 20. Had I not worked with this guy, and knew his character as opposed to hers, he wouldn't be there now.

reply to post by SearchLightsInc


Sure, here are examples of how in the media Misandry is used against men on a daily basis.

www.pellebilling.com...

And an article regarding Misandry.

www.singularity2050.com...

www.freewilliamsburg.com...
~Tenth

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
reply to post by SearchLightsInc

 

Sure, here are examples of how in the media Misandry is used against men on a daily basis.

www.pellebilling.com...

This one is just having a go at advertising. I can see why men have a problem with this but you need only to look back as far as the 80's to see the same kind of offensive adverts that target women as being thick and incapable. Is it really misandry or just a way to play the sexes off against each other in order to sell products?

And an article regarding Misandry.

www.singularity2050.com...

This article seems to lack specific details regarding misandry. Im reading the same stuff over and over "Men are hated, men have problems to..." but no one is actually going into detail about what bugs these men so much, neither are they suggesting a solution to the "problems" they're highlighting. I dont understand exactly how men feel "hated" or "disregarded"

www.freewilliamsburg.com...
~Tenth

edit on 6/18/2012 by tothetenthpower because: (no reason given)

edit on 6/18/2012 by tothetenthpower because: (no reason given)

Again, just another article using "Misandry" to attack feminism without due cause.

I would really like to understand the plight of men because it seems to be a growing issue, all ive gathered so far is that men are pissed about the law courts and how the media portrays them from time to time (Btw, both sexes have to deal with adverts that generalise there stupidity because of their gender)

reply to post by SearchLightsInc


I can't do the research for you. I wish I could, but I've looked into this for years now and it's a growing trend. If you look at things on Tumblr like " I Need Feminism Because" and things like that it becomes very apparent.

Problem is contemporary research on the issue is stark, because it's been mostly overlooked and considered a myth by most.

All I can do is open your eyes to it being an actual thing, as most people don't believe it is and send you off to the mighty interwebs to figure it out for yourself .

~Tenth