# Is it a male-dominated world? Why or why not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 27, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563 "2018-01-27T02:30:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/121 "2018-02-02T17:54:11Z")
> [@Luciano700](#): > > I am sure as shit the gender ratio was a huge difference so I mean lol. What does this mean? [On the subject of who holds the power in the music industry…](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/arts/music/music-industry-gender-study-women-artists-producers.html) In an analysis of the top 600 songs from 2012 to 2017 — defined by Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 chart for each of those six years — the study found that of 1,239 performing artists, 22.4 percent of them were women. The numbers are much lower among people behind the scenes. Of the 2,767 songwriters credited on those songs, 12.3 percent were women. Female producers — the people most responsible for the sound of pop music — are even rarer, at just 2 percent in a subset of 300 songs across this same period, the study found. … At the Grammy Awards, for example, the success of stars like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Adele may grab headlines. But a vast majority of awards go to men. Of the 899 individuals who have been nominated for the last six Grammy ceremonies, 90.7 percent were men and 9.3 percent were women. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/122 "2018-02-02T22:02:07Z")
> [@Luciano700](#): > > I am sure as shit the gender ratio was a huge difference so I mean lol. I don’t know what the gender ratio was in 16th century England. Traditionally, scholars have believed that in 17th century England, there were more women than men, which I think gets blamed on the Civil War, but no idea what it was in the 16th century. Why does matter? Please develop your argument. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/123 "2018-02-02T22:58:45Z")
It might only look like its male dominated but behind the scenes, women are good at getting their way. Look at the Old West. Yes we talk about how this and that sheriff cleaned up a town but in reality, it was the women. Yes the women. Who chased out the bars and brothels and brought in schools, churches, libraries, clean streets, and social institutions like fine arts and book clubs. It was the women. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/124 "2018-02-02T23:44:26Z")
Exactly! Women in reality were never the helpless little taken advantage of wallflowers some would have us believe. And they weren’t all the book and flower club type either. Many men see the underlying truth of a woman’s strength in a joke I was sent the other day: > [@](#): > > The C I A had an opening for an assassin. After all the background checks, interviews and testing were done, there were three finalists: two men and a woman. > > For the final test, the C I A agents took one of the men to a large metal door and handed him a gun. > > “We must know that you will follow your instructions no matter what the circumstances. Inside the room you will find your wife sitting in a chair. Kill her.” > > The man said, "You can’t be serious. I could never shoot my wife. > > The agent said, "Then you are not the right man for this job. Take your wife and go home. > > The second man was given the same instructions. He took the gun and went into the room. All was quiet for about five minutes. The man came out with tears in his eyes, "I tried, but I can’t kill my wife. > > The agent said, "You don’t have what it takes, so take your wife and go home. > > Finally, it was the woman’s turn. She was given the same instructions to kill her husband. She took the gun and went into the room. Shots were heard one after another. They heard screaming, crashing, and banging on the walls. After a few minutes, all was quiet. > > The door opened slowly and there stood the woman, wiping sweat from her brow. > > “The gun was loaded with blanks,” she said. > > "I had to kill him with the chair. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/125 "2018-02-02T23:46:06Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Exactly! Women in reality were never the helpless little taken advantage of wallflowers some would have us believe. And they weren’t all the book and flower club type either. Many men see the underlying truth of a woman’s strength in a joke I was sent the other day: And thus that women are so often discriminated against in our society (even if things are better than they were 50 or 100 years ago) is a great miscarriage of justice. Right? ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/126 "2018-02-03T03:17:50Z")
> [@anomalous1](#): > > Anecdote alert! > > Many men are stubborn and refuse to go to get “check ups” so maybe its becoming casually accepted as “helpless” > > I know many men like this, including myself. Instead of dealing with going to a doctor once, I gave myself some slapdash stitches with some ice cubes and a needle and thread (for clothes), not the best idea, actually one of the worst i’ve ever pursued but it worked and the scar is small. The point is, some of us will do anything to not be in a hospital. It has to be an immediate issue, like when a guy I know drove himself to the hospital while having a minor heart attack. Women on the other hand, as I’ve noticed, will be on time, every time and go to every single doctors appointment, without fail and don’t take excessive risk for the most part. > > Women’s health may be promoted more because of this. Like marketing. It is not Anecdote, the problem is that the term used to describe it is dismissed as political despite the realities. If you mention that this is a side effect of “toxic masculinity” and as a great example where the “patriarchy” hurts men, you will be dismissed as as “hating men” or being “ashamed of you who you are” because well…the patriarchy. Rhetoric is powerful, and the same tools and norms that keep us men in line are directly attributable to this behavior. One of the proximate causes of this behavior is the social cost of being viewed as weak or expressing needs and concerns for men. It drives up stress levels, results in preventable conditions from being diagnosed and treated and results in an economy where medical providers and suppliers target women which ends up being a more profitable direction. ‘Deaths of despair’ surging is another example of this, white men do not learn the coping mechanisms that others do, and we never will until we can realize that it is the system that is being challenged and not our artificially fragile egos that this same system that produced. While I hate the term, being ‘woke’ as an adult white male has very real social costs right now, and unless you are lucky there is no mechanism in place to demonstrate the truth which is that ‘the emperor has no clothes’ To be clear this is a crappy thing all around, and I am not discounting the far more difficult challenges for female and non-white men experience. But without social support or societal models to index is is still hard. We were all sold a bill of goods, and the only difference is the degree and/or type of pain. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/127 "2018-02-03T15:14:13Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Exactly! Women in reality were never the helpless little taken advantage of wallflowers some would have us believe. And they weren’t all the book and flower club type either. Many men see the underlying truth of a woman’s strength in a joke I was sent the other day: A misogynist joke is your cite? This in the face of domestic violence and rape statistics. To say nothing of societies that treat women as second class citizens. You can’t be fucking serious. ---
**Author:** ![Luciano700](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Luciano700](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luciano700)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/128 "2018-02-03T16:50:56Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > It is not Anecdote, the problem is that the term used to describe it is dismissed as political despite the realities. > > If you mention that this is a side effect of “toxic masculinity” and as a great example where the “patriarchy” hurts men, you will be dismissed as as “hating men” or being “ashamed of you who you are” because well…the patriarchy. > > Rhetoric is powerful, and the same tools and norms that keep us men in line are directly attributable to this behavior. > > One of the proximate causes of this behavior is the social cost of being viewed as weak or expressing needs and concerns for men. > > It drives up stress levels, results in preventable conditions from being diagnosed and treated and results in an economy where medical providers and suppliers target women which ends up being a more profitable direction. > > ‘Deaths of despair’ surging is another example of this, white men do not learn the coping mechanisms that others do, and we never will until we can realize that it is the system that is being challenged and not our artificially fragile egos that this same system that produced. > > While I hate the term, being ‘woke’ as an adult white male has very real social costs right now, and unless you are lucky there is no mechanism in place to demonstrate the truth which is that ‘the emperor has no clothes’ > > To be clear this is a crappy thing all around, and I am not discounting the far more difficult challenges for female and non-white men experience. But without social support or societal models to index is is still hard. > > We were all sold a bill of goods, and the only difference is the degree and/or type of pain. As soon you said “white male” instead of men in general I almost wanted to stop your reading your post. And I like how you mentioned “adult” in there, what are we gonna have ageism soon in our thread? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/129 "2018-02-03T16:57:24Z")
> [@Luciano700](#): > > I am sure as shit the gender ratio was a huge difference so I mean lol. Care to elaborate on this statement, and why you find it funny? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/130 "2018-02-03T17:10:30Z")
> [@Luciano700](#): > > As soon you said “white male” instead of men in general I almost wanted to stop your reading your post. Why on earth would you have that reaction? Both race and gender are entirely relevant to **rat avatar** ’s post. What makes you think they are not? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/131 "2018-02-03T23:04:01Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Exactly! Women in reality were never the helpless little taken advantage of wallflowers some would have us believe. And they weren’t all the book and flower club type either. Many men see the underlying truth of a woman’s strength in a joke I was sent the other day: One of my favorite women of history was Laura Ingalls Wilder and while everyone knows her from her “Little House” books, they dont know her work behind the scenes to improve the lives of women and her community in general. For example, she lead the push for good public bathrooms when at the time people were supposed to run out back behind a tree or outhouses were disgusting. She also started community book clubs for women and public libraries. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/132 "2018-02-03T23:05:57Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > And thus that women are so often discriminated against in our society (even if things are better than they were 50 or 100 years ago) is a great miscarriage of justice. Right? Even IF things are better??? Hell yes they are better. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/133 "2018-02-03T23:08:04Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Even IF things are better??? Hell yes they are better. Yes – so you agree with me that the fact that women are so often discriminated against in our society (even though there has been progress) remains a great miscarriage of justice. Right? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2018, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/134 "2018-02-03T23:35:32Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > One of my favorite women of history was Laura Ingalls Wilder and while everyone knows her from her “Little House” books, they dont know her work behind the scenes to improve the lives of women and her community in general. > > For example, she lead the push for good public bathrooms when at the time people were supposed to run out back behind a tree or outhouses were disgusting. She also started community book clubs for women and public libraries. What on earth is your point? Is this kind of like “Oprah is a billionaire, so Black people don’t experience discrimination?” or “Will and Grace was a hit, so there’s no longer any homophobia?” “This one woman did awesome things, so clearly men don’t dominate society?” If that’s your intent, that’s just…\*astoundingly \*poor logic. . ---
**Author:** ![Luciano700](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Luciano700](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luciano700)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/135 "2018-02-04T18:12:33Z")
> [@andros](#): > > What on earth is your point? Is this kind of like “Oprah is a billionaire, so Black people don’t experience discrimination?” or “Will and Grace was a hit, so there’s no longer any homophobia?” > > “This one woman did awesome things, so clearly men don’t dominate society?” > > If that’s your intent, that’s just…\*astoundingly \*poor logic. > . Women still outlive men too[but not by much anymore] ---
**Author:** ![Luciano700](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Luciano700](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luciano700)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/136 "2018-02-04T18:13:41Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Why on earth would you have that reaction? Both race and gender are entirely relevant to **rat avatar** ’s post. What makes you think they are not? Because the topic is more about men in general whether or not we dominate the world Different regions are dominated by different races. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/137 "2018-02-04T19:52:12Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > And thus that women are so often discriminated against in our society… Is there any country anywhere in the world where men aren’t dominate in day-to-day life (as opposed to political leader or such)? Or in history, for that matter? It’s good now that women have better career options and rights and to try to equal things out, but I get annoyed by statements like “In this country…[discrimination complaint]”. Male dominance has been the case all throughout history and everywhere and is attributable to the fact that due to their greater physical prowess men have always been the ones to go out and hunt, built things and fight in wars, all of which in modern times morphed into supporting the family while women took care of things at home. So again let’s knock off blaming U.S. society for all the ills attributed to inequity between the sexes, because it’s always been the case everywhere in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/138 "2018-02-04T20:34:34Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > and their presence might tone down the boys assholeishness) What’s that supposed to mean? Boys are assholes that need to be corrected by girls? Boys in general don’t need to be toned down. If anything, they need to be revved up. > [@Voyager](#): > > If it were a woman-dominated world, men would have to wear high heels and women would be expected to wear flats. > > I rest my case. If it were a male-dominated world, women would have to wear high heels. They don’t. They wear flats pretty much all the time. I rest _my_ case. > [@DrFidelius](#): > > Domination is not a zero sum game. No one is claiming that women have no power or influence, just that men historically and currently have more power and influence. I’m a man. I have no power or influence over anyone except my children. I’ve never been President, not even once for a little bit. Are you factoring me into the average? > [@watchwolf49](#): > > How many great Hollywood movies have only one woman in them … _Casablanca, The Quiet Man_, etc etc etc … Well, of course. You need to have enemies you can shoot, beat, kill, and abuse. Guess which gender’s suitable for such a role? Only 11 woman served in the US Senate during this country’s first 200 years … that’s half the number currently sitting … and 22 out of 100 is still a national disgrace IMEIO … There’s places in this world right now where women are _never_ treated as adults … Until _very_ recently, women couldn’t vote, couldn’t drive and couldn’t be seen outside their homes without being accompanied by their husband/father/brother … or the police will cut their heads off right there in the street … [/quote] And yet, currently there are about 150 million women who are not senators. There are also about 150 million men who aren’t senators. Sounds like a tie to me. > [@](#): > > There’s a billion Roman Catholics in the world who honestly believe women are completely unqualified to be priests … They also believe men are completely unqualified to be nuns. In other words, it’s really easy to find men in positions of power, influence and wealth if you don’t look in the shelters, gutters, and prisons. So stop cherry picking. ---
**Author:** ![Luciano700](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Luciano700](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luciano700)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/139 "2018-02-04T22:06:43Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > What’s that supposed to mean? Boys are assholes that need to be corrected by girls? Boys in general don’t need to be toned down. If anything, they need to be revved up. > > If it were a male-dominated world, women would have to wear high heels. They don’t. They wear flats pretty much all the time. I rest _my_ case. > > I’m a man. I have no power or influence over anyone except my children. I’ve never been President, not even once for a little bit. Are you factoring me into the average? > > Well, of course. You need to have enemies you can shoot, beat, kill, and abuse. Guess which gender’s suitable for such a role? > > Only 11 woman served in the US Senate during this country’s first 200 years … that’s half the number currently sitting … and 22 out of 100 is still a national disgrace IMEIO … > > There’s places in this world right now where women are _never_ treated as adults … Until _very_ recently, women couldn’t vote, couldn’t drive and couldn’t be seen outside their homes without being accompanied by their husband/father/brother … or the police will cut their heads off right there in the street … And yet, currently there are about 150 million women who are not senators. There are also about 150 million men who aren’t senators. Sounds like a tie to me. They also believe men are completely unqualified to be nuns. In other words, it’s really easy to find men in positions of power, influence and wealth if you don’t look in the shelters, gutters, and prisons. So stop cherry picking. [/QUOTE] Don’t forget nursery and teaching are still highly dominated by women :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Luciano700](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Luciano700](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luciano700)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-a-male-dominated-world-why-or-why-not/807563/140 "2018-02-04T22:11:25Z")
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