At long last, men speak up
It turns out that the real oppressed groups are the ones who have always had privilege and suddenly have it taken away. Who knew?
“I actually feel like women are taking over the world,” says Ishwar Chhikara, a 36-year-old investment officer at an international development bank, citing statistics showing more women now have college degrees in the US than men. He says this laughing, but with no audible irony.
“I feel bad for men, especially those who don’t go to school, or study. The whole system is changing drastically with the coming of the information age. It’s not about strength anymore, it’s about the brains.”
While muscles at the center of an economy made the physically stronger sex have more power, Chhikara isn’t so convinced with the switch-up.
“It is a positive thing from a woman’s perspective, from a man’s perspective I don’t know.”
Like all men interviewed, Chhikara does not deny the historical presence of male privilege. That presence is what makes its loss harder, he says.
“It’s because of this sense of entitlement. If you are brought up understanding there is an inherent favorable bias towards men, and that is taken away, it isn’t easy.”
Ahhh – no, it wouldn’t be. Poor guy. Conversely, if you are brought up understanding there is an inherent hostile bias toward women, and that is not taken away…well then you’re a selfish castrating bitch, I guess. So nobody wins. (Do correct me if I’m wrong about the hostile bias still being with us. Did it disappear overnight? Have I simply not noticed yet?)
Yet the funny thing is men are not (I believe) any less intelligent than women. Stages of development might be slightly different. I certainly know many men who couldn’t perform at school but after a few years doing something else went to various forms of training in adulthood and excelled. I’ve always been reasonably academic, but I still found study much much easier as an adult than a teenager. I suspect many men get pushed into physical non-intellectual roles because that is what is expected/wanted of them by family and wider society, not because they couldn’t have done otherwise.
Putting that aside, why does this have to be a zero sum game. I actually prefer a world in which men and women share more equally in power, opportunity and roles. There is far more gained on average than lost in my view.
Well, he’s still ahead of MRAs, who deny that male privilege even exists, and invent pseudoscientific theories to justify their belief that male supremacism (which has nothing, no nothing, to do with privilege!) is a good thing.
Seems to me like Ishar is successful enough he doesn’t need to stress about it..
And men who get worried because women are getting degrees more…. should get a degree. And then not worry about the lack of penis among their coworkers.
Yes, lets feel bad for men as a group. The group that has most of the money, most of the power, and makes most of the laws.
I can feel bad for individual men that society has done wrong, or that haven’t had opportunities. I find the statement quoted, however, to be, well, maybe laughable isn’t the right word since it is not funny how women have been and are being treated…maybe disgraceful is the right word?
When women have run the world for 4000+ years with men only getting their toe in the water over the past few decades, then I will be able to say I feel bad for men. Meanwhile, it still doesn’t look so bad for men from where I sit.
This “physically stronger” BS keeps resurfacing constantly. A braindead zombie just-so story that can’t die.
If physical strength had anything to do with it, billionaires would all look like Mr. Universe. Millionares maybe only like a gymnast. Regular schlubs would be small and fat, right?
People exercise power through groups, for crying out loud. The billionaires control the biggest groups, that’s all.
Women are oh-so-carefully kept from ever working together. Sometimes by being convinced that women aren’t the cool kids and who wants to sit with them. Sometimes by using bigger gangs to tear them down before they can get anywhere.
Women are the only group who are told they have to deal with men one-to-one, and when that doesn’t work, it’s because they’re so “weak.”
Newsflash: men don’t fight other men one-to-one for supremacy. If they did, our elites would look rather different.
@quixote, you’re a man, aren’t you.