The emasculation of men

Reading Time: 2 minutes In the feminist movement, men are being downplayed and seemingly castrated.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

By: Bryce Jolley

I am all about progress. I like the progress that society has made for the equality of women in a historically predominant male hierarchy. I think the sexes should be given equal opportunity and power. However, with that being said, there is another problem beginning to lurk in the doorways of social structure. With women on the rise, men are being emasculated.

Where I felt there was inequality before, there is inequality again. But it has just flip-flopped positions. Media, especially TV and movies, depicts men as incompetent, self-absorbed and immature. It hasn’t been enough for women to be on an equal plane as men. Society takes one step more and puts down. For example, it’s not enough for women to join the workplace as equal career partners being mothers. They have to make men seem incapable of performing their former duties in the home.

In March, there was a Huggies commercial that caused a lot of controversy for this very reason. Men were portrayed as being incompetent at raising children, particularly at changing diapers. They were also shown as self-absorbed, consumed with watching sports and neglecting their babies. Why can men and women have equal place in the workforce, but only women can be good at raising children? Why is a father’s role being downplayed and degraded to make women feel more equal? Both sexes should be viewed as being competent in both work and parent roles. That would be true equality.

However, society has the notion that for women to achieve true equality with men, they must be one step ahead, slightly raised on the pedestal of power. In a recent speech, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke to men and encouraged them to not give themselves an excuse to mold into these portrayals incompetent, self-absorbed or weak men.

“In their zeal to promote opportunity for women, something we applaud, there are those that denigrate men and their contributions. They seem to think as life as a competition between male and female. That one must dominate the other. And now it’s the women’s turn . . . this cultural emasculation of men is having a damaging effect,” Elder D. Todd Christofferson said.

Think of your favorite movies or TV shows. In shows like “King of Queens,” “Two and a Half Men” and “How I Met Your Mother,” men are portrayed as lazy, unintelligent womanizers. This is a gross stereotype creeping into our society and could have a lasting effect for years to come.

I am all about equality and having women run right along with men, but women, don’t trample us while you are at it.