Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the greatest fight of all time. In this corner, weighing in at roughly half the world�s population; they are the lovers, the bearers of our children, the nurturing ones. We have the... females (lady�s first, don�t you know). In the other corner, with the weight of the other half of the world behind it�s belt (watch that belt if you misbehave you�ll get it). The fighters, the violent war makers, the angry ones, and the clear victors in this mean and dirty tussle. Please put your hands together for the... males. Hold everything! This battle cannot be fought with the stereotypical views of male and female roles announced in the introduction. We need a more up to date politically correct view of what the societal niches male and females command. Women and men aren�t really that different anymore. It�s no longer as simple as black and white. Women, while still generally viewed as the care givers, have been abandoning their wartime post of the homemakers and heading out to make a living in the predominantly male corporate world. Men, while still generally viewed as the �breadwinners� in this society, are swiftly feeling the effects of losing their social identity. It seems now, that there has been a change in social expectations of what the role of either sex is. Male rage has long been the dominating factor in the ongoing struggle for power. With Man having power he chooses to be the �King of the Castle� or the �Man of the House�. But now, with a shift in power(power being the capacity to bring home the cash) do women now want to be the �Queens of the Castle�? The answer to that question isn�t clear. The abstract nature of what the no longer weaker sex desires causes a chaotic jumble of misdirections. Men are confused as to what women want and consequently just as confused about what they themselves want. Many men agree that they are in a double bind. They are labelled as aggressive jerks if they come on strong, but are rejected as wimps if they don�t. Women feel a similar double bind. They are accused of being teases if they make themselves attractive but don�t want to be approached by men. It is very difficult for one to listen to conflicting perspectives and discern what is the socially acceptable thing to do. Consequently, people end up worrying too much about what other people will think and not about what they want themselves. These people,who are lacking any means of self defense end up placing themselves into one extremist victim group or the other; the women�s movement or the fledgling men�s movement. The opposing views of the two groups keep their members locked in polarized thinking and patterns of blame and alienation. In the absence of empathy, devaluation of the other sex grows. The woman�s movement, both historically and currently, significantly devalues men. A prominent woman attorney is quoted as saying, �I�ve been waiting for yeas for men to hear our message. Now instead of joining us at last, they�re starting their own movement. And now they want us to hear that they�re wounded too. It makes me sick.� In her book �Women�s Room� Marilyn French stated, �All men are rapists and that�s all they are.� In Pure Lust Mary Daly characterizes male sexuality as �ontologically evil.� The list of these clearly violent attacks on men goes on and on. To counter the woman�s movement accusations, a leader of the men�s movement says, �I was a feminist for fifteen years. Recently, I realized that all the men I know are struggling just as much as women. Also, I'm tired of all the male-bashing. I just can�t listen to women�s issues anymore while passively watching so many men go down the tubes�. Of course not all members of the men's movement are as understanding. Jerry Falwell still characterizes feminism as a �Satanic attack� on the American family. Abbie Hoffman said, �The only alliance I would make with the Woman�s Liberation Movement is in bed.� obviously exuding gross disrespect for the woman�s movement. The entire fight for women�s rights or men�s rights is a farce. Everyone is a victim in someone�s eyes. Women are victims to male �pigheadedness� and �Neanderthal courting behaviours�, just as much as men are victims of female reverse discrimination against them, or just as much as the reader of this essay could be viewed as a victim of the author�s viewpoint. The true victors in the battle of the sexes are the few people who sit back of the entire situation and laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Who is right in their quest to end sexual discrimination? Who Knows? Who Cares? They�re all right. They all make valid arguments and they all have some obvious flaws. The real answer to the whole battle of the sexes mess is to treat everyone as an equal, which is exactly what they are. That answer is so simple yet so hard to achieve. No matter how many advances we make there will always be the Marilyn French�s in one corner and the Abbie Hoffman�s in the other. They will duke it out until the end using every trick imaginable. A few low blows and some well aimed punches will always come out, no matter how well placed they are, to the same Double K.O. Dubiously Doled out by the Drastically Dramatic Dean A. Welsh
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the greatest fight of all time. In this corner, weighing in at roughly half the world�s population; they are the lovers, the bearers of our children, the nurturing ones. We have the... females (lady�s first, don�t you know).
In the other corner, with the weight of the other half of the world behind it�s belt (watch that belt if you misbehave you�ll get it). The fighters, the violent war makers, the angry ones, and the clear victors in this mean and dirty tussle. Please put your hands together for the... males.
Hold everything! This battle cannot be fought with the stereotypical views of male and female roles announced in the introduction. We need a more up to date politically correct view of what the societal niches male and females command. Women and men aren�t really that different anymore. It�s no longer as simple as black and white.
Women, while still generally viewed as the care givers, have been abandoning their wartime post of the homemakers and heading out to make a living in the predominantly male corporate world. Men, while still generally viewed as the �breadwinners� in this society, are swiftly feeling the effects of losing their social identity. It seems now, that there has been a change in social expectations of what the role of either sex is.
Male rage has long been the dominating factor in the ongoing struggle for power. With Man having power he chooses to be the �King of the Castle� or the �Man of the House�. But now, with a shift in power(power being the capacity to bring home the cash) do women now want to be the �Queens of the Castle�? The answer to that question isn�t clear. The abstract nature of what the no longer weaker sex desires causes a chaotic jumble of misdirections. Men are confused as to what women want and consequently just as confused about what they themselves want.
Many men agree that they are in a double bind. They are labelled as aggressive jerks if they come on strong, but are rejected as wimps if they don�t. Women feel a similar double bind. They are accused of being teases if they make themselves attractive but don�t want to be approached by men.
It is very difficult for one to listen to conflicting perspectives and discern what is the socially acceptable thing to do. Consequently, people end up worrying too much about what other people will think and not about what they want themselves. These people,who are lacking any means of self defense end up placing themselves into one extremist victim group or the other; the women�s movement or the fledgling men�s movement.
The opposing views of the two groups keep their members locked in polarized thinking and patterns of blame and alienation. In the absence of empathy, devaluation of the other sex grows.
The woman�s movement, both historically and currently, significantly devalues men. A prominent woman attorney is quoted as saying, �I�ve been waiting for yeas for men to hear our message. Now instead of joining us at last, they�re starting their own movement. And now they want us to hear that they�re wounded too. It makes me sick.� In her book �Women�s Room� Marilyn French stated, �All men are rapists and that�s all they are.� In Pure Lust Mary Daly characterizes male sexuality as �ontologically evil.� The list of these clearly violent attacks on men goes on and on.
To counter the woman�s movement accusations, a leader of the men�s movement says, �I was a feminist for fifteen years. Recently, I realized that all the men I know are struggling just as much as women. Also, I'm tired of all the male-bashing. I just can�t listen to women�s issues anymore while passively watching so many men go down the tubes�. Of course not all members of the men's movement are as understanding. Jerry Falwell still characterizes feminism as a �Satanic attack� on the American family. Abbie Hoffman said, �The only alliance I would make with the Woman�s Liberation Movement is in bed.� obviously exuding gross disrespect for the woman�s movement.
The entire fight for women�s rights or men�s rights is a farce. Everyone is a victim in someone�s eyes. Women are victims to male �pigheadedness� and �Neanderthal courting behaviours�, just as much as men are victims of female reverse discrimination against them, or just as much as the reader of this essay could be viewed as a victim of the author�s viewpoint.
The true victors in the battle of the sexes are the few people who sit back of the entire situation and laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. Who is right in their quest to end sexual discrimination? Who Knows? Who Cares? They�re all right. They all make valid arguments and they all have some obvious flaws.
The real answer to the whole battle of the sexes mess is to treat everyone as an equal, which is exactly what they are. That answer is so simple yet so hard to achieve. No matter how many advances we make there will always be the Marilyn French�s in one corner and the Abbie Hoffman�s in the other. They will duke it out until the end using every trick imaginable. A few low blows and some well aimed punches will always come out, no matter how well placed they are, to the same Double K.O.