I was addressing the original poster.
The problem with these examples is that while they are real issues that affect some men, it is not women doing it to men. It is a power structure largely controlled by other men. They are by-products of patriarchy.
-Abused men are considered unmanly and reduced to the status of women. For years domestic abuse of women was not considered a problem. That has changed, but the disregard for men who are considered feminized lingers.
-Men are treated more harshly because women are considered non-actors. In most cases this works against the women, but in criminal justice it works in their favor.
-Men are discriminated against in divorce in two ways: Monetarily and child custody. The money issue comes down to the assumption that men are bread winners. The custody issue is due to the women as default care giver.
The only one I really take issue with is the man bashing. An important thing in comedy is to always hit up, not down. Mock the powerful, not the weak. No matter how powerless you or I may be as individuals, all else being equal, a man has more privileged than a woman.
Since '98 I have read endless arguments for and against the points I have brought up. If at least one man (or woman) is influenced by my point of view then I did not spend effort in vain.
The only thing I would like to reiterate is that men must give up the privilege of having no right to complain – as long as we have the First Amendment we will bring up these issues.
I can’t believe that this turd of a thread has actually evolved into something more.
**CCitizen **brings up some good points, as does Strassia.
GD is a magical place. 
I was looking at this conversation and I remembered this picture.
How convenient that everything wrong in the world is always men’s fault, even when it’s bad for men, and even when only a tiny proportion of men are part of that power structure.
Nonsense. In both cases it’s due to the near-total lack of compassion or concern our society has for men. An abused man isn’t going to get help because almost no one cares if he lives or dies, “feminized” or not. Men are tossed in prison more often than women because everyone from the cops to the judges to the juries feels more compassion for women and regards men as thugs.
Also, it’s hypocritical to on the one hand blame everything on “the patriarchy” and then complain about women being treated as “non-actors”.
It’s more about the common characterization of men as thugs and child molesters. And the assumption that men have no value except as sources of money.
Nonsense. First, this isn’t the 50s; if anything women are more “privileged” than men, not the other way around. Second, “man bashing” tends to be targeted at the “weak” at least as much as the “strong”, and usually has very little to do with comedy.
And third, your argument demonstrates how the concept “privilege” is used mostly for justifying hatred and dehumanization. If someone is starving or sick or unjustly in prison or dead you can handwave away any obligation to feel any concern or compassion by saying “Oh, they’re privileged”, which instantly relegates him or her to the status of a subhuman.
Der Trihs
I’m not saying I agree with you yet, I would like to hear what **Strassia **and others say in response first. I just wanted to tell you that you’re one of my favorite members on here. I always look for you in threads that pertain to religion.
Oh, and is it really true that 1 out of 4 female college students are raped? Is there a site for that? If that’s true, how awful.
Oh come on Der Trihs. Women make less money then men, are far more likely to be subject to sexual harassment or sexual assault then men, (in the US) have very low levels of political representation, have a major political party trying to restrict various ways they might use their bodies, have extremely low levels of representation at the top of the private sector, have nearly every major religion relegating them to a subservient role, have extremely problematic media representations (‘the madonna or the whore’, body image issues, etc.), and many more. With all of these facts, how could women possibly be more privileged than men?
Women make essentially the same amount of money as men who perform the same amount of work; they just don’t dedicate as much of their life to their career because people value them as something other than money making machines. And last I heard they were ahead of men in terms of actual assets. Men are far more likely to be the victim of violent crime, and more likely to be in prison; more likely to be investigated, arrested and convicted of a crime for that matter.
They are in general treated better, with more kindness and consideration and compassion. They are generally regarded as the morally superior sex by both genders. Men are automatically suspected of being child molesters and rapists, women are not.
Women can typically get away with domestic violence not only without penalty, but if the police do become involved they will typically arrest the man regardless of his innocence (or medical condition for that matter) unless the law forces them to do otherwise. The odds are that a woman can get away with anything up to and including killing a man with no punishment at all. And with the public cheering her on since it will be taken as a given that he was abusive and deserved what happened to him even if there’s no evidence he harmed her in any way.
And of course as this thread demonstrates any attempt by men to complain of mistreatment, any concern for fairness is shouted down with rhetoric about “the patriarchy” and “privilege” and other excuses to regard men as subhuman garbage.
Wrong. Even when taking into account identical skills and experience, women make between 5 and 7 % less than men in the US.
Cite?
What does this have to do with women? Men are also far, far more likely to be the perpetrator of violent crime.
Whether these last few paragraphs are true or not, this is incredibly weak stuff as compared to the factual ways I’ve listed (and others that I have not listed) that women are less privileged than men.
In light of these facts, do you still hold that women are more privileged than men?
I don’t think men are treated particularly well in the media, either, especially in advertising. One commercial that aired during the Super Bowl had a man getting into a cardboard box that had “time machine” written on it in crayon and being convinced that he’d traveled into the future. When insurance commercials show people dropping tree limbs on their neighbors car, or trying to drive into their garage with bicycles on the roof of their minivan, it’s men who are doing it. The examples of stupidity are overwhelmingly male. Apart from the cultural impact of such images, it also shows how much women control purchasing decisions within families.
There doesn’t need to be a dualistic approach to this issue. Women are less privileged than men overall, but men are still subject to negative stereotyping and detrimental social expectations. It’s not either/or, and there’s no reason why we can’t oppose attitudes and behaviors that damage members of both genders.
I agree. But I still feel compelled to challenge ridiculous statements like “women are more privileged than men”.
But the examples of everything else are also overwhelmingly male. Agree or disagree?
I’m not disagreeing with that. I’m just saying that it’s possible to accept that even though “straight white men” are not subject to as many societal prejudices as other demographics, straight white men are still subject to some societal prejudices.
“Everything else”? That’s too broad a statement for me to agree with or disagree. I wouldn’t say that local news anchors, or daytime talk-show hosts were overwhelmingly male. Could you give me some specific examples of what you’re getting at?
You single out “examples of stupidity”. But what about examples of bravery? Intelligence? Strength? Savviness? Villany?
Males aren’t undrepresented at all in the media. You see men being overrepresented in buffoonish roles. I see women being underpresented in almost all other roles. Maybe I could have some sympathy about the former if the latter didn’t exist. The latter is much more glaring and unfair to me, sorry.
Forget facts, I’m wondering how that makes sense purely in the context of Der Trihs’s world view. Go into any thread about abortion, and odds are good you’ll find him there expounding on his view that people who are pro-life take that position solely and entirely because of a deep and pervasive hatred of women, and desire to see them stripped of their basic rights. About half of the country is pro-life, and opposition to abortion is the central tent pole of one of the two dominant political parties in this country. How can it be that, according to Der Trihs, half the country is deeply, fundamentally misogynist, and yet women are more still somehow more priviledged than men?
As it happens, just after reading your post I turned on the TV and saw the end of an episode of The Avengers. Steed was facing a firing squad; Mrs. Peel beat up two men, escaped from a prison cell, got hold of a machine gun and saved Steed in the nick of time. In the scene before the closing credits, she was fixing his car. While men may be over-represented in sheer numbers, when women are shown it seems to be much more likely that it’s in a positive light. If I told you that one of the villains was also a woman, would that make things better or worse?
This may be changing. I’ve seen promos for The Real Housewives of whatever; never watched the shows but the ads don’t make them seem very flattering. It’s more women in the media, though, so is that a good thing?
In general, though. I think your replies to me are an example of what the OP was getting at. I’m old enough to remember when people were very critical of the way women were portrayed in commercials. (Being mortified when someone commented on her husband’s “ring around the collar” and such.) Those criticisms were taken seriously and you don’t see those sorts of commercials anymore. When I make a similar comment about how men are shown, it’s essentially dismissed.