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Men on Strike-Read it!!! by Dr. Helen Smith

Discussion in 'Off-topic Discussion' started by KoalaDude, Nov 13, 2014.

  1. KoalaDude

    KoalaDude Fapstronaut

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    Overview

    American society has become anti-male. Men are sensing the backlash and are consciously and unconsciously going “on strike.” They are dropping out of college, leaving the workforce and avoiding marriage and fatherhood at alarming rates. The trend is so pronounced that a number of books have been written about this “man-child” phenomenon, concluding that men have taken a vacation from responsibility simply because they can. But why should men participate in a system that seems to be increasingly stacked against them?


    This new book I picked up called "Men on Strike" delves into a lot of modern issues and specifically how our society has become anti-men.

    From how men are scrutinized by the media and how laws favor women, this book is a great read!

    There's been many books about how men are being childish and not manning up, but this book says that men are actually being rational in times where everything is stacked up against them.

    The author says that feminism despite what it stands for, it gives privilege to women instead of equality today.

    We live in difficult times men! but I think somehow PMO is hugely related to our loss of manhood. Let's kick the habit and retake our manhood!
     
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  2. ds112358

    ds112358 Fapstronaut

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    I haven't seen enough of life to speak for the society, but in my humble opinion, women are fighting for their rights, for equality, and men seem to think that women are somehow "taking over their territory". And let's face it, women deserve privilege over men, given the sad history that goes back thousands of years. And whatever society thinks, if you look at the population in an objective sense, women still don't have the same freedom men do. This is far worse in countries which aren't as developed as the US. I'm originally from India, I should know.

    Giving up PMO might mean "retaking manhood", but true men are those who respect women for who they are. We must build ourselves by simultaneously building everything around us.

    This is not a post against you, as I don't know your opinions. But if men don't realise this, there is no point for them giving up porn. Feminism is necessary in this world, but not the extreme kind everyone seems to think it is.

    I'm a guy too, by the way.
     
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  3. Gilbert

    Gilbert Fapstronaut

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    I agree on some level with ds. Woman are fighting for equality more than ever now, and heck we all deserve it. I do believe porn on some level affects men's attitudes for definite, but hey internet pornography hasn't been around forever, and how you are as a person is an important factor as well.
     
  4. ftmboygenius

    ftmboygenius Fapstronaut

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  5. NoBrainer

    NoBrainer Distinguished Fapstronaut

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    Sorry, but it sounds like a load of shit to me. :(
     
  6. KoalaDude

    KoalaDude Fapstronaut

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    hmm I see your reasons ds112358

    However about "And let's face it, women deserve privilege over men, given the sad history that goes back thousands of years"
    Why should men and boys who are growing up today pay for what their ancestors did in the past? We don't owe women anything. Women don't owe anything to us. Should little boys in school feel bad and give privilege to girls because they need to repay them for something they never did?

    The same thing with black slavery in america. Haven't the white folks paid enough from the outrage of blacks for the last 20-30 years? They dominate the athletics, music, culture, and now presidency. But they still make those Slavery movies to make people feel bad for them.

    I don't hate women, but I don't agree with how our culture is bowing down and bending over to female's every rights and whim.
    Biggest problem right now is of how how much women issues are getting attention, while nobody pays attention to men's needs and their justice.

    I get it, this is a very unpopular view. It's uncool and even "wimpy" to think that men are the ones that need help. But this is so true when men today are getting brainwashed from the get-go. As children they are constantly reminded that they are stupid, lazy, that they have commitment issues, and women are some how superior in every way.

    If you cannot see that, you need open your eyes to popular culture, news, and modern law systems. Almost all of them stacked against men.
     
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  7. KoalaDude

    KoalaDude Fapstronaut

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    Please explain.

    you think the messages in the book is full of shit or my personal views, or what?
     
  8. NoBrainer

    NoBrainer Distinguished Fapstronaut

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    Sorry to put it in such harsh terms. I have not read the book. Could you quote specific examples from the book which as you say, explains how our society has become "anti-men"?

    There is an ongoing argument on many issues of the value of equity versus equality. I agree that men and women should exist in equality under equal rights. However, in our society there is an imbalance between the rights of men and the rights of women. Therefore to achieve balance, personally I favour equity over equality.

    The problem with an equalitative argument is that current problems can often be ignored. Examples include rape culture, domestic violence against women, unequal pay, etc. Although issues towards men, are theoretically equally as important as issues towards women, because of an imbalance in social equity, I believe more focus should be placed on areas of social justice which require improvement.

    It sounds like the book favours equality over equity. However I haven't read the book, so it's open to interpretation.

    I agree with ds112358, I think feminism should be embraced. And it's not rooted in the sort of extremism people think it is.
     
  9. KoalaDude

    KoalaDude Fapstronaut

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    Hmmm. The thing is in today's society everything seems to favor women.

    Women has final say is in almost everything: from dating, to weddings, to having sex and babies, we men have to initiate, keep the conversation, propose, provide and take care. We put so much effort into satisfying women and they just demand more.

    Currently in the workforce every single HR recruiter I came across was women. They basically control who goes into the company. I don't know where people get these ideas that women somehow have a disadvantage in getting a job they want.
    In every company I worked there were always equal amount of women in varying positions.

    Take a look at media and news topics. The reason why people think rape violence is so common is because they are the hot topics people pay attention to. Somehow anything bad done to a women is 10times worse and that is why people think women are always victims.

    There was a recent statistic of young suicides in america and I think the number came around 34,000, and 30,000 were men. But of course that is not worthy enough news since the main topic is not about women.

    When you get down to it, men just want a pretty face you share a commonality with, Women want money, status, connections, and good looks.
    And guess which traits you have to work for instead being born with?

    See the point? men have to work for everything while women has privilege for just being a woman.
    Embrace feminism? really? They don't know what they have. what more do they want from men?
     
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  10. ponderingwonder

    ponderingwonder Fapstronaut

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    Men need to maintain their dominance in society. The more you get trampled on and led the less attractive you will be to the opposite sex. Women are attracted to confident, dominent men who lead them and take responsibility.

    I agree that men are increasingly giving up the battle of trying to be everything to a woman. Modern life is demanding and time consuming enough as it is. Life is ever more competetive if you want to get your head above water and earn a decent wage and not have to worry how you're going to pay the bills.

    I believe feminists have long ago reached equality, women are valued more highly in western society. They have achieved the same rights without accepting the same responsibility which as a man can be infuriating. It takes a lot of emotional effort to approach women, secure a date and lead the whole thing, whilst the woman just has to sit back and enjoy the ride.

    Porn is the natural fall back for guys, its the easy to go to social sedative like methadone for the mind. Who cares about going out there in the world and putting your time and emotions on the line when you can take the satisfying easy option. And it's not just us, women these days have easy access to sex toys which offer better than the real thing, no strings pleasure to drown out the lack of satisfaction in finding their 'prince or knight in shining armour'. Womens bodies are capable of near endless satisfaction from multiple orgasms. Masterbation with better than the real thing sex toys does not hurt them, whereas men can succumb to mental addiction to porn which reduces their masculinity to almost nothing and renders them ever more unatttractive to the opposite sex and with each orgasm taking huge chunks out of our testosterone stores they effect our ability to function and succeed in a competative world.

    Since my attemps started to quit porn for good about 6 months ago, I am convinced it is the only way to succeed in life. I'm not doing it for the good of women but for my own health.

    As you can probably tell I feel very strongly about this topic, so any comments appreciated!
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2014
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  11. Rewired

    Rewired Fapstronaut

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    I'm sorry you feel the world is working against you.

    1. In the dating game, in the back of our minds, women worry whether the guy will reveal himself to be a rapist or abusive in any other way. In Australia, statistically, some guy kills his girlfriend/wife/ex every week, and most women know what it's like to be with a guy who won't take no for an answer. I can only think that this 'controlling' you speak of comes from a sense of fear, and that if the girl you liked felt safe enough, it wouldn't be an issue. It saddens me that you can't see the effort women put toward satisfying men - i love to look nice and cook and be physically attentive and pay my way.

    2. Women have mostly lower level roles, and very few CEO positions. Also, women in HR discriminate against women who are prettier than them. We are still paid less for the same work. Who says women can't be managers and CEOs? Patriarchy.

    3. The world needs less rape, regardless of whether the rapist is a man or a woman, whether the survivor is a man or a woman. The more people aware of it, the more likelihood there is of facing it and dealing with it. I would be happy for people to see rape as not just a crime that men commit against women, but until people accept that it is common we can't look at the emotional intention behind rape and see how it applies to both genders, and work at eliminating it. Who says you can't rape your wife because you own her? Patriarchy.

    4. If this statistic wasn't newsworthy, how did you find out about it? I'm aware more men suicide than women. I'm aware more men are in prison than women. I'm aware more men rape than women. I'm aware men aren't allowed to express emotion or show fear and I believe that emotional repression has a lot to do with negatively acting out. Who says men must always be strong and capable? Patriarchy.

    5. Which trait lasts longer, provides more security in life, and isn't subjective to personal opinion? And yes, you can be born with status, money and connections. Why do you think women want that? Because we don't earn equal pay, and having a baby economically disadvantages us. Who says women should just be mothers? Patriarchy.

    Feminism isn't about wanting stuff from men. It's about creating change in society. What are feminists against? Patriarchy.

    I for one accept our new overlords.

    Srsly tho, we won't have this equality you speak of until there is a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry built on the (violent) sexual exploitation of men.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2014
  12. beauty

    beauty Fapstronaut

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    Rewired: I just thought I'd let you know that it has been statistically proven that women in fact do not earn less than men for a said profession (at least where I come from). It is a common misconception that feminists everywhere pick up and run miles with because it helps promotes an apparent "inequality". I'm tired of hearing all this feminist propaganda. It's a huge double standard.
     
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  13. Rewired

    Rewired Fapstronaut

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    Guess I'm moving to Canada! How many female CEOs do you have there, ay?
     
  14. beauty

    beauty Fapstronaut

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    I'm not sure how many female CEO's are currently employed. However that is slightly irrelevant from my original comment.
     
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  15. Rewired

    Rewired Fapstronaut

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    Yes, I see. One of my original comments was that women hold mostly lower-level roles and are discriminated against moving higher, so are likely to be paid less - that's why I made the connection.

    To be honest, the last place i'd expect to find acceptance for feminism would be on a forum for wankers and porn addicts (and I'm including myself in those labels). I'm not surprised you're tired of hearing about feminism! If anything the internet has given men the opportunity to see life from women's perspectives - before, it was male journalists making news stories for male media tycoons and an assumed male readership, 'women's interests' were clearly separate. So now you know what it's like to be female and faced with media, pre-internet ;)

    I also think guys are sick of feminism because it must feel like losing (and from what I understand about men, nothing beats the feeling of dominating someone, it's the only reason why I can comprehend violent porn). But you could win too. For example, there's paternity leave and sexual liberation ;)
    I reckon if men had more outlets to deal with stuff that troubled them there'd be less violent crime. I reckon if there were less rapes, then we'd all be Sweden, where women do the initiating (so I hear).
    I reckon if women could comfortably afford to raise children, then they wouldn't be concerned with what a guy makes. It might wipe out the need for alimony/child support. Personally, I've married a bankrupt, and started a relationship with a guy who lived in a car, so the amount of money is less important to me than the way you manage it. And smart money management is a sign of having your shit together.

    But I might bow out of this conversation now, as I don't want to dominate it any more than I have or risk it degenerating into a forum-fight ;)

    (wait, is that a cop out?)
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2014
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  16. Squeaky Soul

    Squeaky Soul Fapstronaut

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  17. beauty

    beauty Fapstronaut

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    I understand. I just wanted to point out that women aren't being paid less. It's just a common misconception oblivious pro-feminist advocates try and labor. I'm not sick of feminism because I think men are losing, it's a gross double-standard, that's why. I mean I'm all for equal opportunities, equal rights and so on with both genders, but I think all the feminism nowadays is over the top. Women aren't being raped left and right. And quite honestly, men are raped and find themselves in abusive relationships as well but nobody ever talks about that, right? However I do agree though, women often have a hell of a lot more work to do to move up the social rank comparatively to men.

    I didn't intend to create a forum-fight, I just wanted to point out a common misconception, that's all. I hope you understand where I'm coming from.

    (Not all guys like dominating things, like you said, which is a slight generalization ;))
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2014
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  18. Rewired

    Rewired Fapstronaut

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    I stopped at the bit about female doctors working less hours than male doctors to explain the pay gap. Women work less hours because kids and sick or old family members can't look after themselves.


    I personally work less hours so I can waste time on forums ;)

    I do agree that Western women are more privileged. I met an Arabic woman recently - aged 34 - who couldn't ride a bike, and asked for permission to tidy her hair in our living room mirror, while she was in my living room, standing in front of the mirror. I'm not going to judge an entire race based on that, but i have heard arguments from Arabic men that women there should be allowed to drive, and allowed in public without male chaperones, as it will free up the men's time.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2014
  19. Rewired

    Rewired Fapstronaut

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    Love this :)
    Yup, I think I understand. You say that particular statement (about equal pay) is wrong, and basing other arguments on it is equally stoopid. And I didn't think you were creating a forum-fight :) I just know how these things start - people are pretty passionate!

    I think men should be talking about their rape experiences. I think we need to create a society that makes this acceptable. It will create a whole lot more understanding about how and why it happens, and provide information on how to prevent it. It's sad that men can't talk about this stuff. Really sad.

    (And thank you for clarifying the domination thing :) I read it in a book on the male brain. It does make me feel better about violent porn though, otherwise it's really upsetting to feel that so many men around me get off on watching women hurting)
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2014
  20. Rewired

    Rewired Fapstronaut

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    Well, my mum is already angling toward me looking after her when she is old. My brother? Nope. Not at all. So I don't believe women are eager to care for others, I believe it's expected of us because vaginas.

    We can also examine role models for women in areas of science and medicine and see that they're really thin on the ground for higher-paying roles. (The only industries that have high-paying roles for women and not men are fashion and sex.) Women simply don't know how to get into those areas because no older women are showing us how it's done. We have to figure it out. It'll happen eventually.

    (Of course, I've forgotten that programs now exist that introduce young girls to STEM)
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2014

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