Okay, tumblr, let's get a few things clear.
Men have a lot advantages. Women do have some advantages, too, although they’re far fewer and less practical. But are men systematically oppressed by a patriarchal culture? Nope. Women are. So even though there may be certain benefits across the board, men have privilege, and women do not. The terminology is very important.
A good way to look at this is through the lens of androcentrism. That means that in our society, masculinity is favored over femininity, rather than men are favored over women. Keeping androcentrism in mind, it’s easier to see why there are some advantages and disadvantages for everyone. It’s also easier to see that men are punished for failing to be masculine, and women are also punished for failing to be masculine—however, women are also expected to be the less desirable feminine in the first place. That’s why institutional misandry isn’t really a thing, but institutional misogyny is. Sure, misandristic events can occur, but they’re actually often a product of misogyny.
And let’s not forget, non-binary and trans* people are usually completely left out of this conversation. This debate over which gender struggles the most is still framed against a normalized, dichotomy view of gender. That’s a really big problem, especially since our culture offers no benefits for permanently identifying as a gender that wasn’t assigned at birth and/or not falling into one of the preferred ‘masculine man’ or ‘feminine woman’ categories. Including people of all genders in this discussion is vital, and also offers quite a bit of clarity to the discussion itself.
To be clear, this isn’t ‘man-hating’ whatsoever. As a feminist, I care about the well-being of anyone and everyone (yep, even white cis hetero manly men). But I also care about assessing matters of gender realistically so that everyone can eventually be cared for equally. And that’s all, folks.
if you really think femininity is something men made up, that says a lot about you. for example: that you believe femininity is inferior to masculinity, or, in other words, that men ARE superior to women, and the only way for women to become equal is to behave exactly like men. i really think you should see a therapist about all that internalised misogyny, because it's painfully obvious that you're privileging masculine presentations, however begrudgingly.
funny you equate
femininity’s absence
to being like men
“The final case also reveals the importance of intersectionality, or the way that different identities come together in complicated ways. Landrum claims that an ostensibly heterosexual boy was allowed to wear punk-style make-up to school on the same day. So breaking gender rules is apparently okay if you affirm that you’re heterosexual, and maybe being gay is okay if you don’t break any gender rules, but doing both is going too far.”
—Boys, Social Control, And School Dress Codes by Gwen SharpWhen women don´t all have the same (or any) problems during menstruation
My main problem during menstruation is that society makes me feel bad about it.
Studies show that people who perceive their menstruation as disgusting or embarrassing and who are insecure about their body image are more likely to experience menstrual cramps
Some people feel more emotionally sensitive during menstruation. That is not necessarily a bad thing! Emotional does not mean irrational!
Try accepting your emotions as part of the cognitive process! Physical and emotional discomfort can by an indicator of cultural discomfort!
What is more annoying: tampons or worrying about who may notice your menstruation?
Politicize your body by refusing to see menstruation as something shameful, dirty and disturbing and appreciate it as a sign of an active female body whose strength can be projected on the female gender.
(This is not to say that all people who menstruate are women or that all women menstruate or that only people who menstruate are “real women”. That would be essentialist crap! But shaming and discrediting menstruation - and emotions! - is part of the hierarchical binary gender system and of patriarchy.)
