Anyway, gonna be trying to write every day or at least more often. Been thinking about a lot of stuff and been wanting to start writing again so here it is.
- Marcus
Thursday, January 10, 2013
day 77 - im a shitty writer
So this has been on my mind lately. I've spoken about this a couple times and I don't think people ever understand what I'm getting at so I'm going to explain it now. Sometimes I talk about how I wish I was born a woman or that I could somehow magically turn into one, not because of any sexual reason or anything like that, but because of societal pressures. I know that women have their fair share of it. They have the pressure to look good, cook, you know, do "women things". The thing is, that issue is very out there at this point, and if a woman wants to deviate from that most people who are worth a damn will be completely fine with that. Bouncing over to men, however, presents a slightly different dynamic. Let me try and put it like this. When you're a man you have the pressures to be a "Man". To be the breadwinner, the support that a family leans on and the head of a household. To be strong, bold, y'know... "manly". The pressure for success on women is a lot less than it is for men. I hate that. Anyway, I'm not explaining this the way I wanted to at all. What I'm trying to say is society punishes a man for wanting to do something other than work and support a family whereas its more lenient towards women and passivity and submissiveness is more acceptable for a woman. I also think that each gender needs to embrace their differences. I really hate that a popular idea is "Women = Men so we should act as such". NO. NO. NO. Women and men are not the same, they are different, thats the idea. If men and women were really equal they'd have the same genitals the same societal positions and it WOULD HAVE JUST HAPPENED THAT WAY. Men and women are different, and I think the sooner we embrace those differences the quicker everyone learns to fucking get along. I'm pretty sure this all just sounds really sexist and not eloquent at all which is what I was going for.
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I actually agree with a lot of this man. I know it sounds sexist, but it seems like you can't express your opinion at all now-a-days without someone trying to belittle your opinion. Keep writing man, and pursue your passions.
ReplyDelete-Keelan
The problem is that a lot of the problems that men have with being men are mostly overlooked and not very well defined. With feminism taking the spotlight as the popular view its hard to say anything that might go against it. I think this is why a lot of men choose to turn inwards, yet society punishes that as well.
ReplyDeletePoMo emasculation is well-documented. The reason why "Women's Studies" departments are now "Women and Gender Studies" departments is because two major shifts happened post-WWII. First, gays. Second, men lost their masculinity through a) rise of women's social and economic equality and b) the alienating nature of the modern workplace.
ReplyDeleteThe best example of this shift is in film. Several paradigm shifting movies from the late 90s has this similar story arc: A man sits isolated, sad, and lonely in his cubicle; the man is ineffective or overrun by women; and the man is essentially hopeless with nothing to hope for. Then, something happens and he rejects his job, is more successful with women, and has a goal and purpose - the two things missing from ours (and yours, Marcus) lives. Popular and critically acclaimed versions of this story are Office Space, Fight Club, The Matrix, and (my favorite and most representative) American Beauty.
Although this shift has been recognized, - and I think girls are attracted to feminine males, hence the hipster look and gay best friends - have the "societal pressures" been lessened? I think so, but I think your craving for purpose and understanding is not masculine, but human.
Kelsey, all those movies suck.
ReplyDelete"What I'm trying to say is society punishes a man for wanting to do something other than work" -- As opposed to what? Not working? I'm confused here.
Also I'm gay. No idea why my name is Thom Yorke.
I'm talking more about an emphasis on a career, not specifically having a job. The pressure being "To be an attractive and successful male, you should have a focus on your career."
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about a lot of society's expectations for men not being very defined or talked about. I'd always rather been a dude but then I'd kinda have more trouble explaining why I'm so artistic/eloquent(ish, totally butchered the grammar of this sentence)/bookish and that'd kind of suck. It's definitely easier being a weird tomboyish/girly hybrid chick, unfortunately
ReplyDelete