SlowlyISigh I feel you. I really do. I never used to feel threatened or demeaned by men because the only men in my life growing up were completely accepting of women and treated us equally to other men. My dad, my brother, all my male relatives loved and valued me and made me feel like I was worth spending time with and worth talking to. Now I have men in my life, my boyfriend, and other male friends who make me feel like I should do the housework and be quiet when they're having important man conversations. When I'm with my bf and my male friends I don't feel like a valued friend anymore, I feel like the accessory girlfriend. My bf also remarkably often talks about girls as 'dumb *****es' and loves to point out how the girls in his uni course are all stupid and bound to fail or never get a job. It makes me feel stupid even though I know there are a lot of really smart girls out there, even if i'm not one of them. I feel exremely bitter about being a girl, I feel angry that i can't represent my sex better by being smarter and more confident. But you know, I think that all men are different in the way they view women. A lot of men degrade us but a lot also see us as entirely equal, having precious gifts of kindness, compassion, tenderness, hospitality that they love and admire and are greatful for. I think often men who degrade women have their own issues, possibly low self esteem that makes them want to put women down to feel more importantly and powerful and manly. They don't understand how disordered this is and they may not be aware of why they do it, it may not even be their fault. So the best thing we can do is find confidence in ourselves, whatever our strengths are. Don't try to be manly or compete with men where we find it difficult to do so. be confident in what we're best at, whether that is in our study/work or if it's in domestic, typically feminine areas. There's nothing wrong with being a good housewife/mother as long as we take pride in it, do it well and show no signs of weakness or submission. Surround yourself with men who value you nd you will gain confidence in yourself. I hope i can do this too because as much as i love my boyfriend, he makes me feel worthless sometimes and it makes life hard.

Sorry for such a rant, good luck with this x