men’s unsupported overconfidence “…his scorn was so withering, his confidence so aggressive, that arguing with him seemed a scary exercise in futility and an invitation to more insult.”
I think that’s about the particular man, the individual. The weakest and least secure men (usually ignorant, too boot) seem to need to find targets to bully or to patronize. And that target is frequently a woman. Or a pet. Or a child.
You shouldn’t take it personally or waste energy arguing with it. Just remove yourself from it. As far away from it you can get.
Resistance that doesn’t engage is a far more potent weapon than getting all worked up or feeling “put down”. After all, the point was to make you feel “put down”, thus puffing up the bully.
“where women’s testimony has no legal standing; so that a woman can’t testify that she was raped without a male witness to counter the male rapist.”
I think the ruling is that a (Muslim) woman’s testimony is weighted 1/2 that of a man’s. And she needs something like 4 witnesses to “prove” rape, good luck with that.
Despite all the progress in recent years, there’s still truth in this observation…
A big problem for women is …the double bind that tells a girl she is equal, but inferior, that her parameter of self-esteem is the approval of others and not the cultivation of self.
