Men's Rights

[jessica r]

(without any idea of how I got there) I recently read about Men's Rights and some of the issues for which men fight. I will be honest, as a woman I was shocked and then somewhat amused and slightly annoyed that some men felt the need to define their rights, when "rights"-particularly in the US, were written for men and then women and other minorities had to step up and define and claim those rights. But after I opened my mind to these issues I found that some are very interesting and relevant. So I wanted to post to see what other people think. Here are some of the issues, in no particular order. Men, feel free to correct me if I state something the wrong way or to add something to the list:

1) Men have responsibility to children they father without a choice in the matter of abortion
2) Men make the same amount of money for physical labor as a woman who cannot perform the same physical tasks
3) Men are still expected to "court" women and pay for items on dates, etc
4)Men are required to register for the draft while women are not
5)Men often lose custody of children in divorce and rarely receive child support when they do win custody
6)Violence against men committed by women isnt taken seriously (rape, spousal abuse)
7) Men dont have the creative freedom in their dress codes that women do
8)Men often do not get paid paternity leave
9) The preference of women and children over men in emergency situations
10) Men receive harsher punishments for crime

All of these issues are based on trending data. There are also some issues about men dying sooner than women, girls performing better than boys in school, more money and attention being given to breast cancer research than prostate cancer research.......

[Übereil]

Don't you start!

[Megan]

Thanks Adam. :)

[AntiChr1st]

It`s not true that girls work harder and are more mature.

But since you stated that belief. I feel the need to point out that I grew up with the girls being told they`re more mature and more adult. and the boys where told that they where immature and should grow up.

when the fact was, overall. the boys where the ones with the best grades and the boys where the once who where responsible and actually took their schooling seriously, we just got the immature stamp because we goofed of alot when we weren`t working.
While the girls where, for the lack of a better way of saying it, stupid and irresponsible.
(no offense ment to anyone. it`s just the way it was in my class)

[Übereil]

So because it wasn't true in your class(es?) it's not true anywhere?

[asano_man]

I think he's saying that it's more psychological. I think.

AntiChr1st, what are you getting at?

[AntiChr1st]

I`m just saying that it`s not right to label any gender as irresponsible or stupid or immature.

Every person is his/her own. And develop into a person over time. A large part of who we are comes from who we spend time with.
people grow up together and usually there`s similarities between people who have been friends since childhood. because they grew up in a very similar fashion, doing the same things and getting the same experiences.

The way it was in my class is just an example to show that the stereotype of boys being immature and girls being responsible adults is not always right. and to start labeling one sex as the "good one". is wrong.

the reason it was that way for us. Was because the boys grew up taking responsibility for their actions, while the girls grew up doing whatever they pleased. never facing consequences. (Until a couple of `em ended up pregnant at 15 years old)

everyone has to be jugded as themselves and not just put in the "irresponsible" category because he was born a he.

If a 17 year old boy watch a cartoon regularly, simply because he enjoys it. people just assume he`s an immature idiot. nobody even cares to check that he actually has the best grades in the school and works for his own money. (a friend of mine)

I think the "mature" stamp girls get is more damaging than what they may gain. Because girls like to use it as an excuse to why they`re better than boys. and they start emulating adults. And they rarely do it with taking responsibility for their actions. usually, they emulate adults with smoking,drinking,sex and other things that are fun but not exactly smart to start doing at 13 years old.


Anyway, my point is that assuming a girl is more responsible and mature than a boy. simply because she`s a girl. Is just stupid. everyone has to be judged on their own. and not as part of a group.

[sabelmouse]

female drivers get usually a better insurance rate than male drivers because on the whole females are more responsible, better and more sensible drivers.
not all of course, i have seen shocking instances of women driving like men.

[Chris]

How funny. In America, women have the reputation of driving... well... like men, in your country I guess.

[sabelmouse]

men saying bad things about women drivers is not new.
statistics however at least in europe comfirm that women drive safer and have fewer accidents.
at my age the insurance is really low, as old women are the carefullest drivers of all.

[Übereil]

I agree, to a degree. The part I don't agree about is that this means that you can't draw any general conclusions about big groups as a whole. If girls have much better grades up until a certain age, then all of a sudden boys start getting equal grades then what does that tell you? Sure, that might not be due to maturity, but it's due to something. Let's call the reason X. Girls are generally more X than men, therefore they get good grades. Up until a certain age, where men all of a sudden catches up on X. Does this mean we can assume what level of X any person we meet have based on their gender? Of course not. We can guess, but we have to be aware that guessing is usually highly inaccurate.

It doesn't really matter if X is maturity or social pressure to preform well in school.

[Gabrielle]

If a 17 year old boy watch a cartoon regularly, simply because he enjoys it. people just assume he`s an immature idiot. nobody even cares to check that he actually has the best grades in the school and works for his own money. (a friend of mine)

It's fine to watch cartoons, be seventeen, have good grades, and hold down a job- but no combination of these factors guarantees maturity, nor does it disallow for it, either. Hobbies/pleasures/etc., age, academics, and performance at work may sometimes overlap, but they can be and often are mutually exclusive. Think of it like a ven-diagram.

[Übereil]

I know a 40 year old guy who reads comics and watches cartoons based on said comic (...well, in a way). So yeah, you can't draw any conclusions based on stuff like that.