sexism, politeness vs protection, the end of college, etc., etc.

[abigail_nicole]

Lately I've been noticing, among college-educated, liberal-arts-degree males, more and more sexism. These are men I am friends with, men I respect, men I cook dinner for and invite to my parties. They are men I sit in class next to, volunteer with, participate in clubs with

Comments

[fpb]

Ah, the 64,000,000 dollar question. At the end of the day it's much the same issue as the double-ex' refusing to grow up. You either grow up, or you don't; you either become self-aware, or you don't; you either realize you have been acting like a comedy character, or you go on to become very unfunny. I don't know what the recipe is. Learning itself is no guarantee against it - I have met plenty of academics who behaved in ways that would make your friends blush, and quite a few uneducated people who had learned to treat others right at the University of Life. I can say a couple of things. First, there is an instinctive tendency among males, especially among young males, to huddle. If you have studied anthropology you will know all about young men's initiatic societies and Maennerbunde; but the habit of male herding does not have to be objectified in specific social institutions to exist. It is there, and it is especially a feature of male youth. Indeed, where it prevails with older men - where you see people in their forties or fifties going out every evening with "the boys" at the expense of other forms of social life - it is easy to perceive a certain element of nostalgia, of fake recovered youth. Second, in general good fortune and prosperity tend to reinforce behaviour patterns rather than challenge them. The more your young men come from a secure and prosperous background, the more they are in danger of taking their behaviour for granted.