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This graphic from Imgur shows how deeply sexism stings both men and women and offers a path towards more respectful relations.
Top photo—Andy Bullock/Flickr
Graphic—Imgur
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53 Comments on "Do Men Feel the Sting of Sexism? You Bet We Do."
Both sexes are image bearers of God and therefore deserve respect not only as males or females but as unique individuals. I do want to point out that many of the “insults” directed toward men (weak, pussy, emotional) are at their core attacks on feminine sexuality. That doesn’t mean they don’t hurt men, but it does mean it comes back at females x2.
Sexual dimorphism still exists though.
I meant he wasn’t my hubby at the time
Sorry three yr old climbing on me!
Our ex friends who loved belittling everyone told me my husband (wasn’t at the time) was gay because they saw him cleaning the kitchen with a gay friend. My husband isn’t a big man, he’s quite skinny. He is better at cooking than me, he is tidier than me. The way they associated him cleaning with being gay is ridiculous and small minded. it angers me that we have to label people
I’ve also had strangers belittle my parenting skills as I let my 5 yr old boy wear nail polish. What is wrong with people
Our ex friends who loved belittling everyone told me my husband (wasn’t at the time) was gay because they saw him cleaning the kitchen with a gay friend. My husband isn’t a big man, he’s quite skinny. He is better at cooking than me, he is tidier than me. The way they associated him cleaning with being gay is ridiculous and small minded. it angers me that we have to label people
I’ve also had strangers belittle my parenting skills as I let my 5 yr old boy wear nail polish. What is wrong with people
There are always somebody who jump in with some taurine excrement on whos to blame, who has to get all the attention and the usual ‘ man up’ and ‘ suck it up’ written between the lines. Ending with the egocentric ‘ I dont care ‘ and the tyrannical ‘ I tell you what to do ‘. In heavens name, so arrogant that is boring. Old trick to alleviate a attention deficit from childhood. Kenneth please….this is not facebook, this is the GMP. Dont forget that
There is nothing wrong with men and women who identify with classic gender roles either! My husband is happy with providing and fighting and he is not afraid to share his feelings. He is very well rounded. I am very emotional and very feminine. I love being a stay at home mama and I love serving my man. We take care of eachother in the ways that are natural for us.
the boy’s ‘er, whoops caught’ face in the ‘girly interests’ cartoon, always me chuckle.
caught his expression so perfectly
Maybe this toon will help me sort things out because I believe in feminist ideals (that gender roles need to be done away with) but then again, I have a problem with words like “male privilege”, “patriarchy” or even “feminism” itself; it assumes that sexism is a situation where someone wins and someone else loses while in fact everyone loses.
Those words have become counter-productive to the very causess they want to further. Think for one second; if you tell half the World that what oppresses you is their privilege, then why would they want to lose the said “privilege”?
@ Erin
For a while there I thought you were going to take Kenneth McGrath to task for bringing up female victimization on an article about sexism against men. I forgot that was OK because it brought up women.
John Anderson: I forgot that was OK because it brought up women.
—
Try to keep up.
Because boys are made of “snips and snails and puppy-dog tails.” When my sisters told me that as a kid it made me ashamed of my gender. Boys are made of nice things too.
Yeah, so we’ve been oppressing and marginalizing women in everything from religion, politics, business sports, since pretty much the beginning of time but we should feel stung because of some backlash? I don’t think so. We don’t need a men’s “movement” unless that’s focused on improving things for women and the planet we live on. I don’t feel like an apologist for being honest with myself about it either.
Believing that men have real, significant problems doesn’t make you a misogynistic MRA, as long you understand that what is causing these problems is patriarchal gender roles, and you’re willing to work with feminists to help break them down.
Hold up.
Why is “willing to work with feminists” a requirement for not being a misogynist?
“Believing that men have real, significant problems doesn’t make you a misogynistic MRA, as long you understand that what is causing these problems is patriarchal gender roles, and you’re willing to work with feminists to help break them down.”
Some male issues are created or maintained by feminists – the fact that we still get treated as “success objects” for example. You don’t need to be a misogynistic MRA to see and appreciate that.
Poor dear Kenneth. You didn’t understand one word of this piece did you? It’s not a “backlash,” it’s from the root of the exact same oppression, and it didn’t just happen. “Sexism” is a system that has had the benefit of both women and men supporting it, largely because it maintained a status quo that benefitted both men and women, usually at the expense of men who couldn’t fit into the box. Don’t worry about being “an apologist” for anything—you’re nowhere near being qualified.
@ Kenneth McGrath
And yet, how many women today have benefited from past male violence? Nearly everybody who owns property in the U.S. if history is to be believed. How many feminists would return that to the Native American? Men are overwhelmingly the casualties of war. Women got the benefit without the cost. Darn oppression.
Too Bad that in those instances you are talking about women weren’t allowed to be in the military. Men complain that women never fought for their country or had to deal with the draft, but you can blame law makers who created the draft for men (and not for women). Those law makers were mostly men so don’t blame women for not being included in the draft, or historically their lack of military service .
Lady nut, except that most men, in times of conscription and the draft, weren’t allowed to be OUT of the military. They had no choice: It was IN the military, or in PRISON. Avoiding the draft was, and I think still is, a crime. To me, that’s not really fair on the many men who actually don’t want to die prematurely as a result of having the government use them to fight its wars. Not all men want to be fighter droids.
Just because something benefits women doesn’t mean its the fault of women that its happening. There are male privileges that benefit men but were not the fault of men.
@ Lady nut
Women are 53% of the electorate, they haven’t as yet voted en masse for politicians who would make women eligible for the draft. Women aren’t restricted from joining the military nor now participating in combat. I don’t see feminists demanding reduced physical standards for women in combat as they had for police departments. Probably something about the military not paying as much as the police. Funny how that works.
And if you look at most of those sources that oppress and margnalize women you’ll see similar treatment to men as well.
Thinking that all men need to do is work on helping women is a great disservice to men.
And in addition to what Thomas points out silencing male rape victims isn’t “backlash” its something that has gone on for a very long time for its own reasons.
Kenneth, Insulting a man’s masculinity isn’t backlash from feminists. It’s something women to do men and men do to each other. Also, I believe a positive, constructive movement supporting women is not one that puts down men.
Thank you for this article. I’m sort-of a tomboy and a lot of my friends men and I feel like this isn’t addressed as often as it should be. Sexism is a disease to be stomped out thoroughly and I am grateful that you would come forward and speak out about it.
Kashmir, Thanks for your comment. I hope this article helps eradicate the disease.
*are men. Me and my un-coordinated fingers. Lol.
Richard, Thanks for sharing your insight and experience. I’m glad you get that we’re not apologists, and that we’re about fostering dialogue and equality.
My pleasure, sir. It’s part of the reason I read so many articles on this site (and feel obligated to comment on them as well, lol).
You forgot to mention men being considered appliances whose only value is by what they can provide for others. Or to be sacrificed in war.
Because patriarchy has influenced men to believe they must be providers and fighters. The ideas of men from warring cultures on what it means to be masculine has been passed down for thousands of years. Men teach their sons this and girls are taught they can not be fighters or providers, then the cycle perpetuates with men thinking this is their worth and women expecting this display of “masculinity”
The one mistake Feminism made was buying into the same lies men have all their lives. Unless you are at the top of the pyramid like a CEO or politician, everyone else male or female is just a resource
to be used or sacrificed in war. A female President could just as easily send kids off to war. A female CEO could just as easily lay off workers or outsource jobs for profit.
Les you might need to re-read the last 4 panels of the comic. Not sure why you need to bring feminism into this – unless you’re saying that feminism benefits men too by dismantling traditional gender roles.
Margret Thatcher didn’t think twice.
Neither would Hillary Clinton, if given the chance. Or Janet Reno, Janet Neopolitano or Dianne Feinstein.
Allurielle, I think the roles are evolving and more fluid than ever before. That’s what a lot of the conversation here is about.
“the gynocentric grasp of the feminist movement” ????
Feminism arose because of patriarchy, because women are much more oppressed by the culture than men are. So feminism is focused on freeing women from this oppression. Is that a problem?
Sorry, I meant UNDENIABLE!