Men had a lot more power and influence than women, and men continue to have a lot more power and influence. That isn’t applying blame. That is indisputable fact. Men as a group are more responsible for gender inequality than women, because men hold more power than women. Again, indisputable fact.
Men hold most of the highest offices of the most powerful nations in the world, and most of those nations still have severe gender disparities that they are not addressing, or addressing terribly slowly. Again, indisputable fact.
The only way to help people see that women do not have an equal amount of power and influence in the modern day is to talk about it. Gender-neutral terms are not always helpful towards that end, because it is not a gender-neutral topic.
The patriarchy isn’t harmful gendered language the way “man up” is. Nobody is harmed by the term patriarchy. It is not a weapon used to put men down, it is a term used to describe an unequal power balance between groups of people.
Why, exactly, are you offended by a term that doesn’t describe you?
Martin Luther King Jr. described “white moderates” as a major barrier to civil rights. Was he wrong to refer to them by the color of their skin? Did he harm white progressives by doing so?
Should he have used race-neutral terms? Should he have just said “moderates,” as if that would hold any of the same power or meaning? Should white progressives have been offended by his description of white moderates?
Are women truly wrong to refer to the vast majority of the people who hold power over them as “men”, when it is indisputable fact?
Men had a lot more power and influence than women, and men continue to have a lot more power and influence. That isn’t applying blame. That is indisputable fact. Men as a group are more responsible for gender inequality than women, because men hold more power than women. Again, indisputable fact.
Some men. A minority of men. You’re doing the thing right now. “Men” isn’t a homogenous group, yet you’re clearly placing them into one. Women aren’t a minority group. How would you react if a woman wrote a post here about being raped, and I started discussing matriarchy, and how women, as a group, tend to act. Surely that would be a terrible thing for me to do, yet here you are, doing just that.
You make it clear that this is about attributing blame. You’ve dedicated multiple paragraphs to blaming men as a group. That’s why you won’t give up the gendered language. This isn’t about helping men at all. It’s about blaming them, even though you acknowledge most of them are not responsible. You must see how that foments anger from men, and how you are perpetuating negative stereotypes and animosity by continuing to use such toxic gendered language.
I think it’s fine to claim that the majority of positions of power are held by men. I think it’s wrong to say that “men” are responsible for bad things. If you’re specific about the bad men (or even better, bad people), no problem. If you broadly refer to men when describing toxic behaviour, you’re blaming people who don’t deserve it. Just like one shouldn’t blame “women” or the “matriarchy” for things either. Surely you agree with that?
The patriarchy is “some men.” The term is literally describing what you want. The subset of men who are in power.
You are not the patriarchy. You should be fighting the patriarchy.
How would I react if you described the matriarchy? What matriarchy? What world do you live in that there is a social heirarchy dominated by women in power?
Please answer the question about white moderates. Was it wrong to refer to them as white? Was that “toxic”?
Men had a lot more power and influence than women, and men continue to have a lot more power and influence. That isn’t applying blame. That is indisputable fact. Men as a group are more responsible for gender inequality than women, because men hold more power than women. Again, indisputable fact.
Men hold most of the highest offices of the most powerful nations in the world, and most of those nations still have severe gender disparities that they are not addressing, or addressing terribly slowly. Again, indisputable fact.
The only way to help people see that women do not have an equal amount of power and influence in the modern day is to talk about it. Gender-neutral terms are not always helpful towards that end, because it is not a gender-neutral topic.
The patriarchy isn’t harmful gendered language the way “man up” is. Nobody is harmed by the term patriarchy. It is not a weapon used to put men down, it is a term used to describe an unequal power balance between groups of people.
Why, exactly, are you offended by a term that doesn’t describe you?
Martin Luther King Jr. described “white moderates” as a major barrier to civil rights. Was he wrong to refer to them by the color of their skin? Did he harm white progressives by doing so?
Should he have used race-neutral terms? Should he have just said “moderates,” as if that would hold any of the same power or meaning? Should white progressives have been offended by his description of white moderates?
Are women truly wrong to refer to the vast majority of the people who hold power over them as “men”, when it is indisputable fact?
Some men. A minority of men. You’re doing the thing right now. “Men” isn’t a homogenous group, yet you’re clearly placing them into one. Women aren’t a minority group. How would you react if a woman wrote a post here about being raped, and I started discussing matriarchy, and how women, as a group, tend to act. Surely that would be a terrible thing for me to do, yet here you are, doing just that.
You make it clear that this is about attributing blame. You’ve dedicated multiple paragraphs to blaming men as a group. That’s why you won’t give up the gendered language. This isn’t about helping men at all. It’s about blaming them, even though you acknowledge most of them are not responsible. You must see how that foments anger from men, and how you are perpetuating negative stereotypes and animosity by continuing to use such toxic gendered language.
I think it’s fine to claim that the majority of positions of power are held by men. I think it’s wrong to say that “men” are responsible for bad things. If you’re specific about the bad men (or even better, bad people), no problem. If you broadly refer to men when describing toxic behaviour, you’re blaming people who don’t deserve it. Just like one shouldn’t blame “women” or the “matriarchy” for things either. Surely you agree with that?
The patriarchy is “some men.” The term is literally describing what you want. The subset of men who are in power.
You are not the patriarchy. You should be fighting the patriarchy.
How would I react if you described the matriarchy? What matriarchy? What world do you live in that there is a social heirarchy dominated by women in power?
Please answer the question about white moderates. Was it wrong to refer to them as white? Was that “toxic”?