View Full Version : Man or woman, who has it easier?
All Good Things
08-16-2007, 11:20 PM
^ This is exactly right.
In my younger years (barely 19), working as a researcher at the Wilson Center of the Smithsonian Institution, we would have the opportunity, if invited, to have lunch with the guest scholars. There are so many wonderful stories from those years, but a very memorable one was the day I was invited to have lunch with Gloria Steinem, who was a short-term guest scholar. During the course of the conversation, she said, "so, (TOO), do you know why social radicals are always young men and older women?" Well, I was a 19-year-old male, naive, idealistic, foolish, admittedly wickedly cute (not my description), multilingual, dark and intense, dating a young Russian girl who had the propensity to cause car accidents when she walked down the street. What in God's name did I know? Not very much.
What was I going to say? Duh? She said, "the reason is power. Young women hold all the sexual power and older men hold all the resource power. Radicals rebel against that, so the overwhelming majority of radicals are young men with limited resources and older women with limited sexual power."
I was so shocked that she actually said that, given her public reputation, I was totally unable to reflect on the insight of the comment itself. It's not really clear or evident until you study sociobiology or the intricacies of natural selection, but in the context of our current understanding of those disciplines, she had it exactly right.
Alia_of_the_Knife
08-17-2007, 11:10 PM
I would like to clarify this situation by asking how many women have used the phrase "If only I were a man..."
Vs. how many men would use the phrase "If only I were a woman..."
Regularly one will hear men bragging about how great it is to not have to indulge in the grooming upkeep, menstrual cycles, childbirth or high heels.
Regularly you will hear women wishing for those exact same things that men brag about.
I've never heard a (straight) man say how he wished he could spend two hours a day just putting on his makeup and fixing his hair.
I've never heard of a man wish that he could flirt with his (unappealing) boss to get a raise not based on merit but based on his sex appeal to her.
I've never heard a man say that he wished he had periods and PMS and menopause.
I've often heard women use the phrase "If I were a man, this would be a non-issue."
Women not only have to be smart and competent and hard working to get ahead, they also must be physically attractive in today's video focused world.
A female equivalent of Marilyn Manson, no matter how talented an artist, would never make it in the music industry. He is ugly as hell, but that is part of what makes him so interesting.
What if she was the greatest song writer ever?
http://www.grimmemennesker.dk/data/media/2/nice-makeup.jpg
Janis Joplin was one of the greatest female singers and songwriters of the 20th century and was not considered an attractive woman. I think it's kind of sad that 40 years from the time of Joplin we are now a more superficial society. Joplin would not be able to get a recording contract today.
Alia_of_the_Knife
08-17-2007, 11:18 PM
What was I going to say? Duh? She said, "the reason is power. Young women hold all the sexual power and older men hold all the resource power. Radicals rebel against that, so the overwhelming majority of radicals are young men with limited resources and older women with limited sexual power."
I'm not sure if I entirely agree with this statement. Older women simply don't loose their power simply by getting older. There is still child support and alimony hanging over the heads of many wealthy men. I went to a private prep school as a child. The mothers there would make the women of Desperate Housewives seem like Girlscouts. One of the middle aged moms proudly proclaimed to the other moms "It would be too expensive for him to divorce me!" Women gain a LOT of power simply by having children (the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.) These women exert much more power, socially, politically, and economically, than a spry, young, nubile girl. These older women are die-hard members of the establishment.
And many radicals back in the day (it's hard for me to say that there are any radicals left among us besides my self) were hot young chicks.
Casual Observer
08-18-2007, 04:27 AM
I think this is a stupid, immature debate. There is just no way for our emotions to not get in the way. I want to say men have it easier, but its not always the case.
So separate it out in a more basic, clinical fashion:
Men really have only three distinct, innate advantages given to them:
--Greater physical strength
--Greater appreciation and acceptance of risk
--Greater understanding of spatial concepts
That's about it. Now admittedly, men do pretty well considering vis a vis women:
--Men historically (and presently) do almost all of the killing and a huge preponderance of the violent dying in societies
--Men have weaker immune systems (damn Y chromosome)
--Men have reduced verbal and emotional communication skills
--Men have shorter lifespans
It's really about playing the hand you're dealt, and some of us have better hands than others.
Two good examples would be:
1. Banking. Up until the 1960's the majority of bank employees were men. the wages were respectable middle class wages. Today the industry is dominated by women and the average starting wage for a bank teller is near or at Minimum wage.
2. Nursing. Traditionally nurses have been female. More men have entered the field since the 1970's to the point that a full third of new nursing students are male. the wages have climbed quite bit in recent years, as well.
Actually, these examples prove the opposite--that the market dictates wage levels not some unseen gender conspiracy. Banking has become a highly computerized job and most people don't ever set foot in a bank anymore; low-skill tellers are another form of early 20th century switchboard operators, but they don't know it yet.
Nursing is a booming industry, as our population ages. Thusly, as the demand for nurses increases, the salaries increase and draw more people of both genders to the industry.
Women will never have half of the CEO positions in any country. People don't want to hear it, but the lack of risk-taking in the broader spectrum of business women almost guarantees that--and anyone in a corporate environment today knows why. Plain and simple, women are more risk-averse, and they tend to prefer child-rearing duties to corporate responsibilities. If you think that untrue or sexist, get the opinions of any single or childless coworkers of either gender in an environment where parents take time off, leave early and arrive late. If you can't put in 60-80 hours a week with the right people, it's pretty hard to make CEO, male or female.
The woman who started the first all-women's college once said, "Women can have it all; they just can't have it all at once." Turns out she was right--though increasingly, the same is true for men as well as you really can't serve two masters. Recognizing that is progress.
Joplin would not be able to get a recording contract today.
Blame MTV and its banal fans, where image trumps talent every time; "Yes, you're a smoking hot chick who can't sing, but we can fix that with a pitch shifter...now spread those legs a little wider for this subway promotional, honey."