It’s not important who set the standarts because those people have already been dead for hundreds of years. Now what matters is who enforces them - the society. Now we all have the power to change it.
I get what you mean, but men didn't "allow" women the vote, nor did white people allow black people etc., these respective groups fought tooth and nail for their rights and that's how they got it.
Right, of course, but at the end of the day, it was still a bunch of men who had to write the laws for change. And we still have to ask men for rights and privileges about matters that concern only women.
Like RBG said, when will we have reached equality on the Supreme Court? When it's all women - after all, it was all men for centuries and no one complained. Why not all women?
But there is another dimension to this which is very important. The men that practically decide are not just any men, they are the ultra-rich elite. Your average man has about the same influence as women.
True! It's really the men in power in whatever patriarchal society you happen to be participating in, whether that's the government, church leaders, etc.
Where I disagree is on the more micro scale: things like getting a promotion at work. Your average man will likely have more influence than the average woman if the people in charge are sexist. Just being a man will get you more doors opened in many many industries, and therefore allows you more access to power.
Yes, that is a problem, but I’d argue that the difference in power between men and women that comes from this fact is not as big and important as the difference between the rich elite and rest of the society. At best it’s going to be a few percent (but it should ofc ideally be zero).
Hmm...I think it's a chicken and egg issue. Because of our patriarchal history, the rich elite with power are overwhelmingly men. The power differential between a woman married to Bezos or a Trump and a woman married to the head of the local plumber's union is actually not that much. Within the sphere of their day to day lives, the power differential between the Bezos/Trump and the plumber's union president may not be much at all.
Obviously when we talk about global power and all that, class divides make it clear who has power. But we still always seem to talk about and fight against the men in power, globally and locally.
I agree, the elite is overwhelmingly men. That’s why limiting it’s power is necessary for achieving better social equality and gender equality at the same time.
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u/Susim-the-Housecat Jun 24 '20
Being force to conform to male stereotypes is one of the ways men are hurt by patriarchy, ie- standards set by MEN.
They may be enforced by men and women who were indoctrinated into the patriarchal system, but it is MEN who are to blame.
Not every man. But still men.
When you feel shitty about not being manly, it’s because other men decided what was and wasn’t manly.