Tedx Talk: Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates

I found this unconvincing and many of the points she made strangely irrelevant. I speak as someone that has never been sexist toward women but, rather, the type of guy that will hold a door open for women etc.

 

Well, one example: she put up some examples of trolling and mentioned some of the type of things they would say. Well, trolls infect virtually every comment section open to them. If the person they are targeting is a guy they will make male sexist references. Sometimes trolls are ageist, or discriminate on the basis of religion, disability or mental health issues (and more). Because there was no comparison made of these other discriminatory posts, reading out two or three examples that happen to be disgracefully sexist to women has no point of reference whatsoever. That is the kind of thing I mean.

 

Well, I'm not entirely sure how to express my views on this without creating a vast debate and a potentially frenzied thread... BUT, I find this revolting.

I'm all for gender equality. One shouldn't be considered less because of gender, nor should opportunities and progress be defined by your sex. However this is sickening because it's a double standard. Laura goes on to describe how a couple of gents said "look at the tits on that". Now I'm thinking to myself: what if a group of girls were staring at a guy while he walked by, and one of them pronounced "look at the muscles on that". Would a guy care? Why not? Would a guy go as far as to make a deal out of it? I'd beg to differ and say no.

You know she then goes on to say how various professions are dominated by men. Well yes, there's no denying that. BUT: the exact same can be said for women. Engineering is a male dominated profession. It has been for years. More men like it. Would it not be equal to say that (at least where I'm from) nursing is a female dominated profession? Does anyone say anything about that? I don't think so.

Anyhow, groping is completely unjustifiable on many levels, but for me, this entire sexist/feminist movement is nauseating because it's a complete and utter double standard.

 

Well, men and women are inherently different. And that's something people, more so feminists, need to keep in mind. Women will never be the same as men. And vice versa. We are different creatures, operating under different hormones and social classifications. It's just irritating when a woman gets angry when men objectify her breasts (which is naturally desirable) and instead of of taking it as a compliment, they turn it into a whole schpeal about how women are inferior to men. If a woman said "look at the arse on that one", would a man get all wound up and begin a rant about how men are treated differently? Hell no. And that's where the whole double- standard comes in that really bothers me. It really does.

How to mitigate unacceptable behaviour such as sexual harassment? I'm not entirely sure. However to immediately pinpoint men as the perpetrators is vexing. Men are raped, abused and sexually harassed by women as well. Yet absolutely nobody talks and brings those issues forth. And that's the problem with this double-standard.

Where I'm from, women are not in any means treated inferior to men. Heck there are more women at my university than there are men. Yet feminists everywhere push for so-called equality. I guess in certain parts of the world this is an issue. Where I live it sure as hell isn't. Where will it end?

 

I agree beauty. Feminism isn't about equality. It is about superiority.

Almost all of the work categories she listed in her opening gambit are simply a matter of preference. For example, there are far more top quality chefs that are men. You could probably find some figures saying that the ratio is similar to other professions she picked out. But why? The reason that relates most directly to these things is that most women do not want to work as politicians, chefs etc because of the long hours involved. That is pragmatism, not sexism.

Let me give you a slice of real life: I was sexually assaulted by a fellow patient in a mental health unit. I informed the staff and they took no action at all (apart from giving me 2 tranquilizers and telling me to go to my room and to try and relax). They wouldn't even allow me to use the phone on the ward to report the offence. Naturally, I was intimidated by his presence and asked that he be moved to another ward. They said no, but said I could go to another ward if I wanted! The next day he sexually assaulted a female patient. He was removed from the ward in a matter of minutes!

You see if you are a bloke you are told: "oh, get over it and stop making such a fuss".

 

Well there's the problem: men are objectified by women. I have numerous girls whom are friends, and let me be the first to say that some of the comments they make about different blokes are eye-brow raising! I'm not going to go into detail for the sake of time, but this whole objectification thing is a little one-sided to me. Sure porn is usually objectifying a woman. However when women watch porn, what do they look at? The guy's junk. His body. His facial features. Wouldn't that be classified as objectification just as much?

That's the problem I have with this whole thing. I think feminists are seeking a so-called equality wherein the inequality doesn't even exist. I'm not sure.

Feminists are pretty good at picking out the sliver in my eye, but they fail to notice the log in their own!

 

Not only that beauty, but people speak as if women are the only 'victims' in porn. How about all the men and boys that get exploited in regular porn and in gay porn. Whose heart bleeds for them? Who advocates for their rights or against male sexism. OK, so there are loads of sites advertising [NSFW]big boobs[/NSFW] but there are also loads of sites advertising [NSFW]big cocks[/NSFW]. Also, bear in mind that a lot of so called gay sights are regular used by women and men who are not gay. It is also why teenagers grow up with a complex about the size of their genitals - because the sexual objectification of men.

My point is not about whether there is more of one type of sexism over another. My point is that there is sexism across the genders. There are also numerous factors why there is a disparity between the ratio of women to men in certain professions. That might include sexism, but it is by no means the only factor. She implied the sole reason for all the ills she presented was only the sexism of women. Consequently, her argument was simply not credibile. I don't wish to engage in a virtually endless back and forth about her video because I think it is intentionally misleading and narrow.

 

Having just said to beauty that - I don't wish to engage in a virtually endless back and forth about her video because I think it is intentionally misleading and narrow - I fell it is only fair to conclude my contribution to this thread by responding to your last messages to me and because you started this topic...

Thank you for your sympathy for the sexual assault I experienced on 15 February 2006. I had to borrow someone's phone to contact the police as the staff were trying to get me to forget about it. Two officers came. They didn't question what had happened (it was witnesses after all), but they, too, tried to get me to drop the charges on the pretext that it was in my best interests as I would find it too difficult to face him in court! Do you ever hear the countless stories of men who find themselves as the victims of sexual crimes. No. Why, because it is not as newsworthy as when it happens to a woman. Fact!

It is not unjustified, sadly. She is British and muddled her statistics a bit but, politicians, to take one example. This has been discussed countless times in the UK media. The fact is that women have called for crèche's for children in the Houses of Parliament (the legislative body), flexible hours so that they can juggle pregnancies, child care and child rearing. However, in the absence of these special dispensations, there are few women who are prepared to prioritise their political career or to pursue it when their children are older, as did our female prime minister for 10 years in the 1980s.

There can be very few things in life that turn on just one factor. This presentation was completely unbalanced and put none of what was being said in any kind of context. A blizzard of information was blurted out at such a speed for the purpose that people wouldn't have time to thoughtfully consider the points being made and there would be a sort of clumsy bludgeoning by extremely selective statistics.

However, I will reiterate. I am against all sexism in whatever form it takes. I now bow out gracefully

 

http://thoughtcatalog.com/tara-kenn...n-and-i-cannot-and-will-not-support-feminism/