Why are women so demeaned?

Woops, still not safe on the interwebs yet ...

there is a concept called "the Infantilization of Women",,, it might even be a book. it talks about how, from infancy, girls are disempowered socially, never seen as "grown up", and if one does somehow manage to mature, is denigrated as being 'Butch' , or crude, grasping, and worse. this is why i refuse to stand by and say nothing when women are called "girls" and worse: "chicks".

change only comes when the balance of power is tipped. the feminist movement in the 60's and 70's resulted in major changes in the Law and social practice. but with time we are sliding back into the horrors of ownership and domination of women. if you agree that women have many superior social qualities, say so~! any study of biology will show that women are better equipped for survival, more able to tolerate stress, less aggressive and combative... let us celebrate these things, and focus on the positive~!

No one deserves to be demeaned in life, men or women. I think that regardless of how any of us were brought up and the social acceptance of women should be barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen and men should be the sole breadwinner and dealing with the bills and running the family, we each have our own ideas of how we wish to be treated and what is acceptable to us and what isn't.

I find though, to make such sweeping statements that all women are demeaned comes from a lack of knowledge and some insight. I also find that such sweeping comments are demeaning as well. These kinds of things can bring out some very strong opinions, which is fine as we all have them, but can be taken to another level of disrespect on either side.

My first husband was an abusive, demeaning alcoholic. We were married for 14 years and had 2 children. I was never so happy to get out of that horrible relationship but I have to say, it did not turn me against men. It did not make me think that "all" men were the way he was. It was one experience and there are millions of men and women in the world. How could I possibly believe that everyone was like him?

We, as women have the ability to decide what we find acceptable or not acceptable in another individual. From there, we either form a relationship or not. We also are responsible for our own reactions to things that we find demeaning. We can pick up and move on away from those individuals who would try to keep us under their thumbs if that's what we want to do.

I think the best way to combat things we find demeaning is to be accepting of ourselves, our beliefs and yes, even accepting of the person who is demeaning. It doesn't mean we have to have a relationship of any kind with them, it doesn't mean we have to like their behavior, it's knowing who they are, who we are and to stand strong for ourselves. Being true to ourselves is the best way to live in my book.

I do believe women are demeaned at some point. There is always points in a female's life when she is treated bad because her gender. It might just be mild stuff like "Oh, you can't change tires, you're a GIRL" to have a male and yourself applying for a job and the male gets it because "at least he won't get pregnant and quit after all the training".

Also I would say, most females have been sexually harassed, and a lo of males have not. Sure, there are always cases of most things when badness happens no matter gender, but if we see a pattern... I think it is rather clear.

Since I started being on the Internet I have seen much more demeaning behavior than ever before, or told about it. I actually think it is because the spot in Europe where I live is not as bad as some other places that are totally backwards and still in he 1800s.

I'm not saying men are bad. They are also slaves under the current order in many cases. Good guys that actually have done nothing wrong. I'm saying there are some bad men and the current structure where males are valued higher makes those bad guys worse.

You don't like feminism, I am assuming, because it makes you realize what a cow you sound like, right? Because clearly women love to be used and dehumanized by men like you. I'd avoid you at all costs, and I am not even a woman.

Some replies here are brilliant. Some make me want to shove some of you back into school until you can pass sociology with an A+ and nothing less. Women are demeaned in this society because of gender stereotypes. Men are seen as the "stronger" gender. Women are seen as weak, needy, whiny, etc. It's all fake, doesn't anyone realize that? This is what advertising, abuse, media wants you to believe.

Someone stated here that men, in terms of science and natural progression, were and are the stronger gender. This is simple untrue. No matter the sex or gender, every human was a hunter and a gatherer. One just happened to have children while the other didn't. There were warriors who were women. But, thanks to all the masculinity in science, male scientist tried everything to prove that the skeletons they found were men. Though the pelvis was clearly a women's pelvis. This was recent, and when I can, I will post the link here.

Women are not demeaned because they are weaker, or deserve it, or it's just "natural". Women are demeaned because of systemic, institutionalized sexism that has plagued society for years. If people disagree with this statement, you need to do further readings and educate yourself about the world you are living in, because to disagree based on hurt-man-feelings just means you're a part of the problem.

I respect your opinion but you are wrong. Biologically speaking, men and women are physically different. Men are designed to be the hunters and women are designed for childbirth. Women have strengths in different areas than men. Most women but not all women are naturally physically weaker than men. It doesn't make them the weaker sex because strength can't be decided by physical strength alone, but does mean that they for the most part can be overpowered by men.

Sexism isn't institutionalized. I do not believe that all or even most men go out of their ways to intentionally be sexist or cruel to women. Some definitely do but even if this were true, it's not fair to say that only women are the victims of sexism. Men are too. Men aren't allowed to express their emotions without being mocked and that's fair or okay. Men need to be able to cry and express the full range of emotions if they want.

I don't like feminism. I am a woman. I think it is ridiculous to side with only one gender and not the other. I don't think that all men are inherently evil. Many parts of moderate feminism I definitely agree with. Women are way too frequently the victims of crime and sexism and something needs to change.

I respect your opinion, but I am curious if you studied biology extensively. I have (as it was my major). Men have the ability to grow muscle due to testosterone. Men also do not have the burden of breasts (which, as many people know, takes quite a lot of strength), wider set bones, and a uterus that makes gaining muscle as men do difficult. No one sex was designed to be anything, and this is where people mistake "i'm taking a scientific idea and saying it's fact by putting SCIENCE at the end of it. That is not how it works.

Yes, sexism is institutionalized. Like racism, etc. Here are some readings so if you feel inclined to educate yourself, you may do so.
Institutional Sexism - The Cynical Girl ? The Cynical Girl
Institutional sexism is closer to home than you think - Comment - Voices - The Independent
(more to be found if you google "institutionalized sexism")

"I don't like feminism. I am a woman. I think it is ridiculous to side with only one gender and not the other." Well! If you knew what real feminism was instead of blindly hating it, you'd know that feminism is FOR ALL GENDER BASED EQUALITY! You know how men feel the need to hide emotions? That is from gender roles. Gender roles are based on sexism. You know how men get laughed at when they enjoy fashion/certain music/etc? That is based from sexism! Feminism isn't women wanting to rule the world. Feminism is wanting all genders to be free and safe with who they are. Not every feminist is the "trope" created to scare people off feminism.

I, also, do not think that men are inherently evil. I don't think anything or anyone is. Males do have privilege (employment, you don't see men walking home alone with mace from fear of sexual assault, higher pay for same work, etc). Does that make the men evil? No! It simply means, within a privileged based system, they got the upper hand whether they asked for it or not. Feminism has nothing to do with hating men. It has to do creating bridges instead of walls. I don't honestly believe you have read far enough into feminism to even denote what is "moderate" feminism, since... I have never known any other feminism than the one I practice.

Well, Growlithing...I think we have moved well past "hunting and gathering" in the western world, so it's a bit disingenuous to refer back to those old divisive phantoms from human evolution. No one is really living that life anymore, even the last tribal humans are touched by technology. We are different creatures entirely from our distant ancestors that roamed the jungles in search of trees to rest in for the night and seeking wildfires because we did not know how to make our own. You can see yourself how you will, but since I identify as a feminist, I do not see myself in any way 'less' than any man. I deserve as full and good of a life as any man, and no one (male or female) deserves special benefits based on what they have in their underwear. Some men are weaker than other men (and women), yet, they are MEN. Should they be treated with the indignity that women are treated with in many places in the world based on their physical state? It sounds like so many still subscribe to the might makes right view of life, where just because this one has more muscles or more this, they get to lord over the other group. How lame, and how tiresome. I hope as a species we will continue to progress beyond this for all of our sakes.

Scratch mace, I am not playing with a 'would be' attacker. I has bear spray and I am not afraid to use it! I go where I please.

My friend was just raped at a party we both went to this last weekend...its been hard on both of us. I used to think people were inherently good when i was younger. Maybe I'm jaded, maybe college has done a number on me, but it's difficult to distinguish good people from the bad, benevolent motives from dark ones. And I'm done trying anymore.

Feminism has been shamed because feminism is dangerous. It tells that WE ALL have worth, and the same to boot. This is not something you want in a society built on many hierarchies, so of course the word feminism will be changed so people will stop knowing what it is. It seems like in most America this has succeeded and it is going the same way in Europe just not with the same speed.

The people wanting people to believe we are not of the same worth truly wants us to believe feminism is females that think they are better than men and want to grab power, and that feminists are ugly and man hating. Of course no one will want to be a feminist if you are told feminists are ugly and hate half the population!!!

But mainstream feminism is not striving towards a matriarchal structure, it is solely against the patriarchal one and wants a balanced structure where everyone is their own person and not oppressed based on gender. Most feminists want to release what unfair power they have towards men. They want the father to be seen as much of a parent as mother, both in marriage and in cases of divorce. They do not want lenient penalty for female criminals solely because they are women.

We could call it equalism or something, BUT the problem with a shamed name is that the next name for something some people see as unwanted, if it is changed, the new name will be shamed too! It has happened many times in history. Some people dislike retarded people, so they make the word retarded sound bad, so now they change it to mentally challenged or special, and now special has a bad ring to it. Homosexuals wanted to be called gay and now the word gay is shamed, everyone knows what "That is soo gay" means. It's not good, LOL. In some parts of Scandinavia, gays did the opposite, they claimed a shamed name for homosexual, equally to f*g, and instead of it turning even worse, it turned into a normal and descriptive word. That tells me it is wrong to change shamed words, we need to reclaim them.

Of course men and women are not the same, and sure muscular growth and childbirth sets us apart.... but.... that is on a GENERAL level. If we separate women and men into groups made from the most extreme men and women, both genders often have to make themselves strive towards something that is not natural for them because we don't allow a spectrum. We also don't allow easily men closer to women in traits and vice versa.

Just think about how tall we are. You can claim women are shorter than men and be correct. Does that mean all women are shorter than all men???? HECK NO!! There are plenty of women that are taller than men. So in that sense men and women are not that different, there is always a clustering in the middle without much difference, and that has to matter more than we make it matter. But people think in black and white. They cannot accept this kind of spectrum even if mentally it is very much proven true.

So I find it very harmful to push someone to "have" traits they might not have because of gender. That means we should not push a tomboy into a stereotypical gender roll. But also, something that follows and some feminists miss, is that it follows logically that if someone is naturally girly they have the right to be that as well! Same with men we have to accept all kinds of men from soft men to geeks to what is now seen as manly men.

Try to argue with me.... :P I know I'm right. He he.

Been reading this thread for a while. It's a broad generalization to imply that ALL women are demeaned. It would be similar to stating that ALL men are Emasculated.

Can it happen? Yes! It can happen. Women, can be treated in a demeaning manner. On the flip side, Men, can me treated in a emasculating manner.

Gender wars...meh!

There is no gender war? It is a bunch of people finding a common ground that feminism does not equate "men bad, women good" but rather "everyone deserves to be who they are safely despite societies ridiculous gender roles".

There are gender wars, hence...meh! Ugh...enough

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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

Woops, Interwebs still isn't safe.

I recently came across a book called the man whisperer. The cover is a cartoon of a man on his knees before his wife, who is praising him for his latest act of obedience.

The blurb claims that if we have dog whispering and baby whispering, then naturally man whispering follows. It also claims the book will teach women how to make their man do whatever they want.

The contents of the book might be fine, but the presentation of it is very sexist and degrading.

They even have a website now.

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...61725948,d.dGI

I agree with u 100%.about men cares for his wife.and real men..dont HAVE to show they are men.to be men.I also think women.Should stop trying to be a woman so much.And just be a woman.Your wife must be very proud of you.And i cant speak for All women,or men.But this sounds just sooo very right. men are men.women are women.There is a difference for goodness sake.That is how we were made.Bless you and your wife.Sounds like you both have it right.

Feminism is all about making everyone 100% equal. Not only is it a nonsense it's also an impossibility. Aside from the fact that in case you didn't know, men and woman brains structure is slightly different. in general, men are better at certain jobs then women and vice versa. Women on average have sightly higher empathy then men.

Men and woman are different. Not one is better then the other but we are different but feminists do not want to accept this. We actually different due the hormones testosterone and estrogen. Much of how we act and feel are based on hormones and not due to societal stereotypes which is actually a lie.

The point of feminism is to have equal opportunity in jobs and whatnot. To know that there's ACTUALLY a fair chance at a job.

I took a 'business and society" course when I was in uni...I think it was 2004? My professor let us know this one point that's really stuck with me: most promotions in business happens when you're in the 25-30 age range. Women get passed over due to maternity leaves quite frequently due to this. I don't know the statistics fully because it was so long ago, but that piece of knowledge stuck with me - women get punished for doing what society expects them to. It would also explain why women are waiting longer to have children, despite the health risks associated with waiting longer.

Yes, men have the ability to grow muscle due to testosterone. Should we perhaps deliberately lower mans testosterone by putting soya in food and estrogen in tapwater?

Men are more likely to be violently assaulted by other men. Women are more likely to be sexually assaulted because the majority of rapists and sexual abusers are male and heterosexual. However the latter is nothing to do with society stereotypes and more to do with biology. Rapists have always existed. Rape happens with an animals. Does feminism exist in animals? Are female animals being suppressed by the male of the species. Why are the male lions sitting on their *** whilst the lioness go out and hunt? How about insects and arachnids? Are male spiders and preying mantis being unfairly treated by the female of the species who often consumes the male after copulation.

The reason why the majority of men are in positions of power is because men are on average, fueled with 10 times more testosterone then women. Ironically, when a female does make it to the top, she often shows many masculine traits which are assertiveness, dominance and aggression. I would even argue confidence. Since testosterone is a natural confidence booster.

Yes there is. Being Masculine is being considered fake. We're hearing it more and more from feminists that masculinity is a man made concept. It isn't, gender roles are biological. The same with animals. If you had a male lion doing the hunting and the lioness sleeping and lazing about the pride would stave to death.

Society is treading on dangerous water when it wants to make man and woman 100% equal on everything. Man and woman are different, men are providers and woman are nurturers in general. There are the odd exceptions but that's average for both sex. Feminism isn't helping women, all it's doing is blaming men for women not being good enough to get to the top in politics, business etc... Many of the most successful women despised feminism and Margaret thatcher was one for example.

Oopsie, still not safe ...

Look how some women act - Beyonce, Madonna, Miley Cyrus. Acting like a slut draws the wrong kind of attention. The objectification of women is no mystery.

Women can stop it if they want to, but apparently they don't want to.

And Beyonce has said she is a feminist.