Comments on: The emasculation of men

By: Stephen

Stephen — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:11:28 +0000

True this !

And just wait until you go to court for not only
divorce but any other man vs woman.

Justice is not blind.
It has a heavy hand on the scale favoring women.

A woman can be so lazy that she never works yet
she is protected by laws which ignore the fact
that she is a gold digger or just plain nuts.

The legislature has determined that she has monetary compensation value even if she has
not produced any offspring.

This man v women meme is pandemic.
Art imitates life.
What you see on TV is not the representation of a counter-culture but a reflection of current beliefs.

By: Francois T.

Francois T. — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 02:46:39 +0000

Levi, I completely agree with you, especially the part about lifting constraints traditionally attributed to my gender. As a man, in the past my gender might have obliged to provide and care for a woman, and contribute to housing and child-rearing and so on. But for a few years now, I have taken the feminist teachings as my own. Instead of buying a house, a buddy and I bought revenue property. Instead of going for a family, I’m working on my second graduate degree. Instead of settling down, I’ve kept in shape and enjoy casual sex. I’ve become selfish to the needs of the other gender. And you know what? It worked: Behaving like this in my thirties has gotten me plenty of opportunity and lots of attention from beautiful women. I can choose to settle on my own time and terms now. The future looks good.

If all men could simply learn to do the same, men too would all discover our…

By: Alex P

Alex P — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 07:16:11 +0000

What male priveledges are you referring to, exactly?

My biggest concern with the feminist movement is that instead of working together, men and women now compete with one another. They compete in the workplace, they compete for control in relationships, and the end result is a +50% divorce rate.

The fact that men are portrayed and perceived by society as expendable and useless (especially in the media) DOES NOT help any kind of reconciliation between genders.

As for the difference in wages, men also take on the hardest, most dangerous and physically demanding jobs on the market. Firefighters, Oil riggers, miners, construction, etc.

The idea that genders are equal, is in itself sexist… it does not acknowledge that there are in fact biological differences between us.

WE ARE EQUAL IN WORTH, NOT EQUAL IN FUNCTION.

By: Meg N

Meg N — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 09:50:41 +0000

Chad, with all due respect, I’d like to point out that the LDS Church holding women, arguably, above men and as “angels” is an example of something called benevolent sexism. From a Science Daily article (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111004121314.htm): [There are] “negative consequences [to] attitudes that idealize women as pure, moral, pedestal-worthy objects of men’s adoration, protection, and provision. People who endorse benevolent sexism feel positively toward women, but only when women conform to highly traditional ideals about ‘how women should be.’”

From your comment, it seems that the LDS Church praises women highly for being mothers—or, in other words, conforming to a traditional standard—but what about women who choose not to be mothers? Even saying that being a wife and mother is the crowning aspect of a woman’s existence is extremely limiting…

By: Jessica Squires

Jessica Squires — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 12:05:04 +0000

Really great points about emasculation and how it is a sexist term in and of itself!

By: Chad

Chad — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:57:10 +0000

I myself am a member of the LDS Church. Jessica, J,Dominic, I’m sorry that you believe this religious institution is degrading to women. Bryce Jolley probably should have clarified Elder Christofferson’s statement in a more detailed manner. I can’t speak for the Church itself, but being a devoted member of its congregation know for a fact that it does not degrade women. In fact, it constantly refers to women as being “angels” who bless the lives of others and family. We believe that one of the worst things we can do is take a life, and one of the best things we can do is give life. You may look at our belief of women being the lifeblood of the home as degrading, but we see it as being the best thing anyone can do on this earth; giving life and raising the future leaders of tomorrow to have morals and full of good character. The family IS the answer to most issues we as a society…

By: Meg N

Meg N — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 06:47:29 +0000

Like the posters above, I do agree that media portrays of men can be unfair—just as they can be toward women.

To be “emasculated,” you must define what it means to be “masculine.” If you’re defining “masculine” as “adhering to traditional gender roles, where the man is the financial provider, the decision maker, and the overall leader,” then sure, you’re being emasculated. Why does being emasculated based on those standards have to be a negative thing, though? The very concept of emasculation is sexist—because it defines certain roles (such as leadership positions) as masculine. If men are being emasculated, that would mean that women are being “masculated,” which means they are gaining more power and influence—so having power and influence is what it means to be male? Emasculation seems to entail giving up exclusive power and influence, which doesn’t seem like a…

By: Levi Taylor

Levi Taylor — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 20:29:41 +0000

I admire you for airing some very personal grievances about the changing roles of men. Indeed, change is hard, even when it’s for the best, and I understand your frustration. It’s important to remember that feminism is about the right of all people to define their identities free of the constraints traditionally attributed to them because of their gender. Picking on either gender is certainly an ever-growing theme in popular media that indulge us in our prejudices, but it goes both ways. You make some great observations about sitcoms and advertisements that misrepresent men, but you should be careful not to turn a blind eye toward misrepresentations of women (all three of your examples have them), or to blame bitterness on the feminist movement. Feminism attempts to end the power struggle and let people be people regardless of their gender, not to fan the flames that keep them apart.

By: Dominic Delgado

Dominic Delgado — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 06:04:37 +0000

Even from my perspective I just find this idea to be just plain silly. Men aren’t being emasculated and honestly women go through much worse than us. At least we aren’t repressed for looks, and other issues that women go through that we don’t. I don’t even watch much of the media today since it’s already just garbage to begin with why are you bothering with it? Why care what the media has to say? Plus don’t use the church as an example that’s only shooting yourself in the foot seeing that the establishment is already demeaning to women enough as it is. Plus men have been overpowering women for a very very very long time why are you surprised that women are fighting back and giving back a taste of our own medicine? My advice: quit your whining, get over it, and ignore the negative stereotypes. Everyone goes through those and they learn to ignore it or fight back like women are now.

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 04:27:23 +0000

Wait a second, your last sentence doesn’t concord with anything you said before. This was an article about how women are progressing in their empowerment, but now men are being affected by media which is limiting their potential.

And then, somehow it ends with women being the subject of this. When did you establish the connection between this new trend in media, and women being directly responsible? How does the progress of woman directly cause media institutions to create limiting stereotypes of men?

Post hoc ergo propter hoc?
non sequitur?