Manning Up or Wimping Out: Men Don’t Exist to Serve Women’s Desires
BRAVO. I have been preaching this exact same thing for YEARS, and I always get the same reaction. “Oh, M, you’re over-reacting.” No, I’m not. Men are treated like second class citizens today. Why do we expect our boys and young men to grow and thrive when every man on television is treated like a fat buffoon or a sexist pig? When the “smart” character is so often a woman, while the “dumb” character is usually a man?
We have scholarships up the ying yang for women to attend college, but scholarships for men? Find me one that isn’t contingent on some other demographic — African-American men, for example. Just a scholarship for MEN. Good luck.
We have research dollars poured into breast cancer research. We have NFL players wearing pink on the playing field in support of breast cancer research. We have pink ribbons of every description for sale in every store across the country for breast cancer research. All of these things are laudable, but I have to ask: where is the corresponding fervor for prostate cancer research? For testicular cancer research? For men’s health issues, period?
Drug and alcohol use continues to rise in the female population, and this has caused a lot of chatter in scientific and government circles. “We have to find out why women are drinking and drugging more. We have to stop this.” Yet male rates of drinking and drugs are ALWAYS higher than female rates, and they’re ignored. “That’s what men do,” seems to be the attitude.
Young men are infinitely more likely to be victims of homicide, but that statistic is dismissed. “As you can see, the rate of death from heart disease is creeping up among women. And men, too, but look at the women! Oh, and most young men — particularly young black men — die from homicide. But whatever, WOMEN ARE DYING FROM HEART ATTACKS!”
Women have WIC (“Women, Infants and Children”). There’s no program like that directed at men.
Women have shelters to escape abusive homes. Men are much less likely to seek help, and less likely to find safe harbor if they DO go looking. More likely they’ll be laughed at for not being “man enough” to take care of the situation themselves, or they won’t be believed at all.
All of this makes me sick. I’m a woman, and the treatment of men in our society absolutely disgusts me. But I’m even MORE upset by the seeming ambivalence of other women about this issue. They don’t see the problem. That’s why I was so grateful to see this article, Ms. Smith. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.
