readying that flag-raising...
i received this in my email the other day:
Why ARE Men Happier!!!!
Men Are Just Happier People-- What do you expect from such simple creatures?
Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack.
You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth.
The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental $100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
You only have to shave your face and neck.
You can play with toys all your life. Your belly usually hides your big hips. One wallet and one pair of shoes one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.
You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.
No wonder men are happier
i laughed. but i can't help notice the latent inequality. physical differences aside, there are disparities between genders struck not by nature but by society. we created this; moreover, we continue to feed it. the feminist within me wants to raise a battle cry and reinvigorate the fight for gender rights...why is there a gender gap in managerial leadership? why is there a gender gap in Congress? why does there continue to be a gender gap in salaries, health care, and health concerns? why is the female consumer asked to pay more for her goods and for dry cleaning? why?
i realize that of discrimination gender is probably the most neutral. fights over race, religion, sexuality, and socioeconomics are uglier, more common, and more painful to both the individual enduring the blow of discrimination and society's general health. but that reality also points to how ubiquitous gender discrimination has become: we hardly notice it and, when we do, it's not a priority to resolve.
yet the mentality of a society towards gender is informative. gender is probably the first stratification of humanity. on a census or application the first question is: male or female? all other attributes that define us - that create our essence - race, ethnicity, language, sexuality, socioeconomics fall in line after gender. if, as a society, we can't even reconcile disparities within the first stratification, how can we expect to surmount others? ignoring gender because it doesn't seem to be a priority when compared to other discriminated attributes seems to be foolhardy. bypassing this first roadblock to equality would seem to divert or neutralize the force and impact of any other anti-discriminatory, egalitarian practices.
it may be said that i'm most concerned with gender inequality because it's the one I feel most acutely. after all, i'm a white girl who grew up middle class in the USA...and that background and being carries with it an extraordinary amount of privilege, most of which i'm not aware. but, while this personal information might cause questions about my empathy for or understanding of other forms of categorical discrimination, it doesn't seem to dilute the logic of my statements. it seems to highlight the complexity of discrimination and the relationships between gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and socioeconomics instead.
Why ARE Men Happier!!!!
Men Are Just Happier People-- What do you expect from such simple creatures?
Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack.
You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth.
The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental $100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
You only have to shave your face and neck.
You can play with toys all your life. Your belly usually hides your big hips. One wallet and one pair of shoes one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.
You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.
No wonder men are happier
i laughed. but i can't help notice the latent inequality. physical differences aside, there are disparities between genders struck not by nature but by society. we created this; moreover, we continue to feed it. the feminist within me wants to raise a battle cry and reinvigorate the fight for gender rights...why is there a gender gap in managerial leadership? why is there a gender gap in Congress? why does there continue to be a gender gap in salaries, health care, and health concerns? why is the female consumer asked to pay more for her goods and for dry cleaning? why?
i realize that of discrimination gender is probably the most neutral. fights over race, religion, sexuality, and socioeconomics are uglier, more common, and more painful to both the individual enduring the blow of discrimination and society's general health. but that reality also points to how ubiquitous gender discrimination has become: we hardly notice it and, when we do, it's not a priority to resolve.
yet the mentality of a society towards gender is informative. gender is probably the first stratification of humanity. on a census or application the first question is: male or female? all other attributes that define us - that create our essence - race, ethnicity, language, sexuality, socioeconomics fall in line after gender. if, as a society, we can't even reconcile disparities within the first stratification, how can we expect to surmount others? ignoring gender because it doesn't seem to be a priority when compared to other discriminated attributes seems to be foolhardy. bypassing this first roadblock to equality would seem to divert or neutralize the force and impact of any other anti-discriminatory, egalitarian practices.
it may be said that i'm most concerned with gender inequality because it's the one I feel most acutely. after all, i'm a white girl who grew up middle class in the USA...and that background and being carries with it an extraordinary amount of privilege, most of which i'm not aware. but, while this personal information might cause questions about my empathy for or understanding of other forms of categorical discrimination, it doesn't seem to dilute the logic of my statements. it seems to highlight the complexity of discrimination and the relationships between gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and socioeconomics instead.