Why are men the punching bags of society?

In any TV commercial it's always the man who is the fool and has to be told how to operate the airconditioner for example. In another commercial I saw on TV recently, a man's wife openly ridicules him by photographing him with face cream and sending pictures to her friends.

Watched a recent episode of the Simpsons. It was about fighting. Marge was to fight a man. She was hit once, but it wasn't shown. She then wins the fight against this man. Then Bart and Lisa fight and Lisa punches Bart in the face. It seems men are always written as the losers in these things.

Men are always the butt of jokes and insults in the media (Judge Judy recently told Shatner about how men are a pack of dysfunctional children).

These are only examples, of course.

I honestly don't know what the deal with this is anymore. Maybe in the 80s when feminism was still new and we didn't want jokes to be taken the wrong way.

Although I'm not sure the Judge Judy comment was a joke. Maybe it was, I have no idea.

Well, I am with you in that I cannot stand male-bashing and I don't understand why it is socially acceptable. I also can't understand why seemingly intelligent women would take part in it. Equality is equality and superiority is superiority. Having come out from under the oppressive rule of the males doesn't make us superior, but I suppose it does make for a lingering resentment or a fear of losing what we have gained, and that could account for some of the attitude.

Good for you for speaking out about something that seems unfair and cruel to you!

I think men bashing is as abhorrent as women bashing. Why anyone has to bash anyone is beyond me! Don't we have enough war and bullying going on without adding to it via the media and popular shows? Good for you for venting and I'm in total agreement ... it's just rediculous in this century to behave like cave people .... Kerry xxx

I agree with all of you above...

Any bashing, whether male or female is not appropriate.

We had a discussion about this in a Sociology class I took once. Everyones understanding was that Male bashing definitely existed in our culture and the general understanding of why is that Women, coming out from under the oppressive thumb of patriarchal society have found their freedom and now the pendulum has broken free and is swinging more so in the opposite direction. It is again out of balance.

I also notice that a lot of this bashing comes from the media. It is played into commercials, TV shows, news paper ads, billboards, etc.... I have an opinion that it is similar to psychological warfare.

I am hopeful that at some point the pendulum will swing back again and not swing so wild. Then we could have a more neutral society.

Did I miss something or when did we start believing that TV was real life?

I think we are talking about tv/media...emails...etc

Its all for LAUGHS..... just like they use SEX to SELL (no biggy)

WHAT............

TV's not real life!?!

Oh. That makes it okay then.

Male bashing does exist's whether in tv, media, e-mail, ect.....
I worked in a office dominated by women, and these had Rosie the riveter posters all over the place.
Talk about feeling like a worm. I just wanted to crawl into my cubicle and die.
Office politics right, or is it?

I agree BiscuitTin -it's not fair that men are made to look ridiculous or bashed like that. I think those commercials at geared towards women because the majority of the purchasing power is by women now.

Another thing that's not fair is when you see an arguing scene on tv/movies and the lady's mad and she slaps the man across the face - this has been shown as acceptable since they first started making movies. No one seems to recognize this as unacceptable violence - that she's somehow justified because the man did something wrong.

I didn't think I'd get so much support for this thread.

I agree with your point about face slapping too, lynn.

That is totally inappropriate and should not have been allowed. It is also illegal. If it causes a hostile or intimidating environment, it is illegal, according to the antidiscrimination laws.

I'm not a fan of bashing, and I don't think it's funny (unless it's be a comedian ). I cringe when I see those kinds of male bashing commercials because I can just imagine the outrage it would cause if the roles were reversed and it was a guy bashing a girl.

I can't stand hearing or seeing one sex bashing the other. I grew up with this kind of crap. It's ridculous if you ask me. This scenerio really plays out in divorce. You know that I have meet some people who have been divorced for over thirty years, and they still bash one another. IMO if you don't like someone, then cut all ties with them, and move on from it. Why make yourself miserable. What is also sad is that you often see this in the work place.

You know that Cheerios commercial where the husband, in passing, asks his wife if she's dieting b/c she's eating this 'whole grain' cereal which somehow makes you lose weight.

"No", she answers snippily. "Why do you say that?! (nag nag nag)."

"Be-because of what the box says, dear, (blah blah about diet)" snivel snivel.

"What does the box say now?" she demands. Whip cracks!

"It says 'shut up Steve'" he says obediently. She smiles approvingly.

Oh, I'd love to inhabit the commercial universe and be that husband for once! I'd tell her that I thought she was dieting because she was fat, and could she get me some orange juice? Mike

I didn't know Rosie the Riveter posters were offensive. I thought Rosie the Riveter was a symbol of how women stepped up to the plate during WWII to work in factories for the war effort. A lot of the male employees had gone to fight in the war, so women (who couldn't fight in the war) did their part for the war effort in this way. Why did these posters make you feel like a worm? Do you think the women were using these posters to remind men that they were expendable ("you can be replaced")? If so, I do take offense that people might take an honorable symbol, like Rosie, and try to turn it into something entirely different. Yuck.

Besides TV, commercials, etc., another place I see offensive stereotypes said about the sexes in greeting cards. I sometimes have a hard time finding a decent greeting card because so many are offensive. I always wonder, who buys these cards? Once I was at a family gathering of in-laws and a card was given to one of them. He opened it up and it was one of these yucky cards. The family all thought it was hilarious!

Recently, I was at a formal dinner to recognize someone's achievements and award him a prize. The MC, a male, told a number of jokes to get the crowd relaxed and enjoying themselves. A few of the jokes were told from a decidely male point of view (about 2/3 of the audience was male), and could just not be "appreciated" in the same way by females. There was a similarly "teetering on the edge of acceptable" joke with a racial context. I hate this stuff. Why do these people think they are funny? And if you protest, they say, "lighten up, you have no sense of humor."

I agree - to put anyone else down means there is something wrong with the person who is doing it. We are here to support each other and lift each other up. The sickness of putting anyone down - male or female - is childish.

Sardean,

I'm not sure why Rosie the Riveter makes you feel bashed. Rosie was used during WWII to motivate women and encourage them to take on traditionally male jobs, since many men were away at war. They needed the women to join the work force that they'd been discouraged from working in for so long. The posters were supposed to be inspiring and supportive of women, encouraging them to help out by taking work outside of the home. To my knowledge, the figure was never meant to bash men. There is a difference between supporting women and bashing men. Just because a woman is supportive of other women, proud of her own gender, and supports women's rights, doesn't mean she wants to dominate men, nor does it mean that she hates them. Real feminism is about equality, not about superiority. I don't know how the women in your office act, however, so the individuals might be male bashers. I don't have enough info. here to go on. But you shouldn't feel like a worm just because you are surrounded by working women who like Rosie. If the women are actually bashing you, however, you have a right to report it, and to be respected as an equal. I don't deny that male bashing happens- it does- but the poster alone shouldn't be offensive, if you understand the meaning of it. If they are truly being disrespectful of you, however, you should report it- you should never feel harassed at the work place.

I understand entirely what Rosie the riveter represented during WW11. And Use of such a poster during WW11 was definately appropriate. However, as I said I worked in an office dominated by women. They used the poster as a show of solidarity against the men working there. Believe me, when I brought it to management's attention, the posters were removed, and the main person behind them was fired.
When women try to dominate male figures in a work setting, it is discrimination. I'm glad she was fired. She hated men, and made it known all the time. I hope that answers all the questions about why it made me feel like a worm. It was not just the poster, but the women involved.

Excellent point.

while male-bashing is not right at all i'd hardly make the leap in thinking to "men are the punching bags of society". i don't know if you know anything about male privilege but you might want to read up about it if you don't:

here are some examples from the male privilege checklist that i just came across yesterday. i haven't read anything else on this site so please don't make assumptions about my beliefs as i am sure i don't agree with everything there.

the male privilege checklist:

1. My odds of being hired for a job, when competing against female applicants, are probably skewed in my favor. The more prestigious the job, the larger the odds are skewed.

5. I am far less likely to face sexual harassment at work than my female co-workers are.

7. If I’m a teen or adult, and if I can stay out of prison, my odds of being raped are relatively low.

9. If I choose not to have children, my masculinity will not be called into question.

10. If I have children but do not provide primary care for them, my masculinity will not be called into question.

11. If I have children and provide primary care for them, I’ll be praised for extraordinary parenting if I’m even marginally competent.

12. If I have children and a career, no one will think I’m selfish for not staying at home.

14. My elected representatives are mostly people of my own sex. The more prestigious and powerful the elected position, the more this is true.

21. If I’m careless with my financial affairs it won’t be attributed to my sex.

22. If I’m careless with my driving it won’t be attributed to my sex.

24. Even if I sleep with a lot of women, there is no chance that I will be seriously labeled a “slut,” nor is there any male counterpart to “slut-bashing.”

25. I do not have to worry about the message my wardrobe sends about my sexual availability or my gender conformity.

28. If I buy a new car, chances are I’ll be offered a better price than a woman buying the same car.

30. I can be loud with no fear of being called a shrew. I can be aggressive with no fear of being called a *****.

31. I can ask for legal protection from violence that happens mostly to men without being seen as a selfish special interest, since that kind of violence is called “crime” and is a general social concern. (Violence that happens mostly to women is usually called “domestic violence” or “acquaintance rape,” and is seen as a special interest issue.)

33. My ability to make important decisions and my capability in general will never be questioned depending on what time of the month it is.

34. I will never be expected to change my name upon marriage or questioned if I don’t change my name.

35. The decision to hire me will never be based on assumptions about whether or not I might choose to have a family sometime soon.

36. Every major religion in the world is led primarily by people of my own sex. Even God, in most major religions, is pictured as male.

38. If I have a wife or live-in girlfriend, chances are we’ll divide up household chores so that she does most of the labor, and in particular the most repetitive and unrewarding tasks.

39. If I have children with a wife or girlfriend, chances are she’ll do most of the childrearing, and in particular the most dirty, repetitive and unrewarding parts of childrearing.

40. If I have children with a wife or girlfriend, and it turns out that one of us needs to make career sacrifices to raise the kids, chances are we’ll both assume the career sacrificed should be hers.

41. Magazines, billboards, television, movies, pornography, and virtually all of media is filled with images of scantily-clad women intended to appeal to me sexually. Such images of men exist, but are rarer.

42. In general, I am under much less pressure to be thin than my female counterparts are. (More). If I am fat, I probably suffer fewer social and economic consequences for being fat than fat women do.

46. I have the privilege of being unaware of my male privilege.

that above list was really quite lacking as far as issues of violence against women so here are some more reasons why i'm taking issue with your view of men being "the punching bags of society". feminism is not just for the benefit of women, it is also very much for the benefit of men to eradicate the negative stereotyping you have mentioned against men in the media. let's not kid ourselves, men being seen as stupid does not endanger your safety while the rampant sexual exploitation of women by the media very much does.

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Ah, that makes more sense. When you originally said "dominated by women" I had no idea how dominated. I thought you meant there were simply more women there than men.

These two struck me less as a matter of it being less likely, but more along the lines of being reported less because a man's masculinity will be questioned if he reports being raped, sexually harassed, or abused. Women receive a lot of support if they are abused because they are traditionally seen as being more fragile then men, if men are being abused are being forced by society to just bear it. ("boys don't cry") That really isn't a privilege, more like evidence of something that is actually quite harmful.

I just felt the need to point that out