It was inspired by something I saw on Facebook today:
It is hard to be a woman. If this came from a Muslim country or India or somewhere else where women are genuinely oppressed, I would agree, But this is a bad case of Modern, Western, White People's Problems. Here, we have women taking a victim mentality in a culture where they are as far from victims as is humanly possible.
For years, I have seen post after post complaining about how hard our world is on women. The first and most obvious problem with this can be seen in the fact that I, as a woman, can make this post while a man could not.
If I were to write on how men are better off than women, my article would be embraced. In fact, that is what most of the posts I have seen were: Women saying that men have it way easier than we do.
Now if a man were to assert that women have better lives than men, he would be called a chauvinist pig and unceremoniously blocked from several portions of social media. Far be it from a man to be anti-women, yet society insist that a woman ought to be anti-men.
And if you are rising up in arm saying "To be pro-women is not anti-men!", I must ask what war you are fighting. Why do you need to be pro-women if you have no enemy?
The direst manifestation of this anti-men sentiment is the pillaging of masculinity. Gender roles, an essential for the survival of society as a whole, are being broken down and destroyed. Women expect men to be the tender, delicate ones. The whole idea of fatherhood is viciously assaulted as a thing of time past. The bread-winner and the protector are demonized in preference of the gamer and the sissified mommy's-boy. The woman fights to be the boss, the tough one, and the head of the family while the man quietly sinks into the background.
Thus, I would argue that being a woman is easy. A woman can speak her mind. A woman can pull the oppression card whenever things don't go her way. A woman can manipulate without being seen as evil. A woman can be whatever she wants to be, at home and at work.
It's the men who are in trouble. Men must filter their speech for the feminists' sake. A man is always the one labeled the oppressor. A manipulative man is the evil of all evils. A man must watch his words and moves wherever he goes.
Thus, though I have no experience, I suspect it is considerably harder to be a man today--a real man, who stands up when others fall, who protects and provides, who leads by example. This is not the oppressive patriarchy. This is what we need today--this may be society's only hope.
So, ladies, do not look at yourself as oppressed and a victim of chivalry. You are a woman. Embrace that--you do not have to strive to be the "empowered woman".
Secondly, challenge the men in your life. Don't push them down and let them fall. Be the helper you were designed to be and help them rise. End this assault on manhood.
And if this made you mad, please take a deep breath and count to ten before commenting.
And if you are rising up in arm saying "To be pro-women is not anti-men!", I must ask what war you are fighting. Why do you need to be pro-women if you have no enemy?
The direst manifestation of this anti-men sentiment is the pillaging of masculinity. Gender roles, an essential for the survival of society as a whole, are being broken down and destroyed. Women expect men to be the tender, delicate ones. The whole idea of fatherhood is viciously assaulted as a thing of time past. The bread-winner and the protector are demonized in preference of the gamer and the sissified mommy's-boy. The woman fights to be the boss, the tough one, and the head of the family while the man quietly sinks into the background.
Thus, I would argue that being a woman is easy. A woman can speak her mind. A woman can pull the oppression card whenever things don't go her way. A woman can manipulate without being seen as evil. A woman can be whatever she wants to be, at home and at work.
It's the men who are in trouble. Men must filter their speech for the feminists' sake. A man is always the one labeled the oppressor. A manipulative man is the evil of all evils. A man must watch his words and moves wherever he goes.
Thus, though I have no experience, I suspect it is considerably harder to be a man today--a real man, who stands up when others fall, who protects and provides, who leads by example. This is not the oppressive patriarchy. This is what we need today--this may be society's only hope.
So, ladies, do not look at yourself as oppressed and a victim of chivalry. You are a woman. Embrace that--you do not have to strive to be the "empowered woman".
Secondly, challenge the men in your life. Don't push them down and let them fall. Be the helper you were designed to be and help them rise. End this assault on manhood.
And if this made you mad, please take a deep breath and count to ten before commenting.
Speaking as a male, I'm genuinely glad to know that there are still women out there who support a biblical interpretation of gender roles. It takes courage to share such "outdated" views on a subject that is under constant redevelopment as society continues to devolve deeper into the void of individual satisfaction and self-obsession.
ReplyDeleteHonestly though, I'm not sure which gender has it harder today. Asking that question feels much like asking which of us is more important; it's missing the point. We're different, but both absolutely vital. If one sex was perfect and the other was not, humanity would still be facing a disaster. We need both genders to fulfill their roles and functions in society, less we face a total collapse of western civilization as we know it (I refuse to say Christian societal collapse, because that happened a long time ago).
We hear a lot about women's rights today, but most of the "rights" in demand are simply desires for a superior place in the societal hierarchy. Likewise, as you so rightly stated in your post, the world's advice of who and what they ought to be is drastically wrong. Quite frankly, I feel badly for the women of our generation. You're right, Robyn: They're told to be men, assert their dominance, and be "empowered" (I'm still trying to figure out what's empowering about living with a guy who is just using you for his own satisfaction, but feminists tell me it's a pretty good gig...).
Meanwhile, the men are told to be something else; I won't call it being a woman. Lazy, timid, fragile, indecisive, submissive, weak: neither gender is inherently cursed with such traits...
But they do describe what it means to be a selfish coward.
From the guys end, we're told to mind our own business and stay under the covers of their bed in mommy's basement. Ironically, it seems that men have been all-to-willing to hand over the roles of protector, supporter, and leader with little more than a few muttered protests. They've been trained to view the world and the people in it as little more than objects for their own amusement. Society has produced, and is actively condoning, a male lifestyle where women are viewed as nothing more than vehicles for their own advancement or pleasure.
That statement probably caused some strokes upon reading it, but it's true. We, the men, are encouraged to sit down, sit back, and let life come to us. And it is hard not to accept such an offer; I mean, why not? If we can get financial support without working and companionship/sex without commitment, what guy in his right mind would refuse? I speak from a non-Christian point of view, here; I'm constantly exposed to such philosophies in both the working and academic worlds.
A fellow engineering student once commented that, "By the year 2100, cloning and artificial reproduction procedures will have rendered men completely obsolete; women will run the entire world, and the human male will slowly vanish from existence altogether." He said that in complete seriousness. While I largely doubt the scientific accuracy of his statement, his underlying point was spot-on. Men aren't being turned into women; they're being deconstructed to a lower life-form, nothing more than a necessary tool for continuing the propagation of the human race.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're right: men need to be men, and women need to be women. Our world will fall apart without both sexes properly functioning, and I think it's time that the gender-factions in North America stopped arguing about which of them is more important and start figuring out what in the world their "oppressed" gender is supposed to be doing anyway!
Your dad told me something last summer that I don't think I'll ever forget. It's hard to be a man, and it's hard to be a woman, because that means we will have to fight all those temptations within us that try to lure us away from being a man or woman the biblical way. :)
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I don't think "feminists" mean it that way.