Do men really believe that women are their equal?

[Noodle]

Agreed.

 

[hyroller]

Given that the biological makeup between men and women is so radically different, comparing the two of them is (in essence) always going to be much the same as drawing common ground between chalk & cheese. That's not to say one is more superior to the other - not in the least - but being so fundamentally different makes it virtually impossible to argue the point (either way) with any real conviction.....
Sexism and misogyny (like most forms of discrimination) are both severely outdated & I think Western culture increasingly holds those who demonstrate such attitudes in contempt.... unfortunately, many other prominent cultural ideologies continue to perceive and treat women as being inferior beings, and we're probably not going to see much of a change in so far as that goes until at least 2012 (if you get my drift, ha).

I know of many women who command and demand to be respected as equals, and while they might have had to go to somewhat greater lengths than men to achieve that, it has certainly made them more determined to preserve the dignity they've worked so hard to earn.

I think therefore that a woman's potential to earn respect far outweighs that of any man, meaning the level of intrinsic reward and accomplishment they are capable of realising in a lifetime is comparatively greater. Experience has all the more meaning when the iron will of individual effort rises up against all odds in order to thwart one's limitations (whether perceived or real).
You take the good with the bad....

 

[K12]

I just came out of my cave because I thought I heard a woman screaming. It's ok though, I will just empathize with her first, then take action, lol. IMO, after reading this thread, there are a lot of very angry, repressed women out there. Freud would have a field day with this hysteria. What this means for deep down intimacy in the bedroom with all this female resentment is alarming. Guys, I would be cautious about what you emotionally open yourselves up too.

 

[Pans-Advocate]

I just came out of my cave because I thought I heard a woman screaming. It's ok though, I will just empathize with her first, then take action, lol. IMO, after reading this thread, there are a lot of very angry, repressed women out there. Freud would have a field day with this hysteria. What this means for deep down intimacy in the bedroom with all this female resentment is alarming. Guys, I would be cautious about what you emotionally open yourselves up too.

Hey man, you're the one who said you're still living in a cave, not us.

 

[double ewe]

re: wage/education gap . .

Not true. I have posted links that explain it pretty thoroughly.

which thread?

 

[33Hz]

No way do women have the emotional strength of a man, not even close. Just biology.

The playing field is actually much more level than you think. Some argue that women tend to deal with stressful situations better than men due to differences in hormone secretions. They release much higher levels oxytocin in response to stress which triggers a release of emotion; e.g., they might have a good cry (lol) or something along those lines. Once they release this pent up emotion they are stabilized and can tackle the problem with more ease. Oxytocin also plays a role in social bonding which makes woman more likely to seek comfort in friends and family during times of stress. This lessens the individual pressure and helps resolve the problem quicker. Now, you might think 'how does crying and needing to seek comfort in others make them emotionally stronger?' Surely this is weakness, not strength. But maybe it's the better option?

Men release much lower amounts of oxytocin and so tend to react with fight or flight instead. If the trigger causing the stress can be fought back against (both in the physical and practical sense) then this is all well and good, and you might say this is a much stronger way of dealing with the issue. No crying. No seeking comfort in others. Just bottle up the stress and hope that you can keep it contained while you resolve the problem. It's not always that simple though is it? Sometimes you can't make the trigger simply go away; instead you have to deal with it. This is where the male emotional reaction can be much weaker. In these cases men will try to flee in an attempt to escape the stress it's causing them. They might do this with recreational activities, some of which can create problems (excessive drug use for example). Instead of seeking help from others they are more likely to isolate themselves as another form of escape. This can bring on mental illness which further weakens their emotional wellbeing. In a worst case scenario, they will go for the ultimate escape, suicide. Ever seen male suicide rates compared to those of females? It's actually the biggest cause of death in the 15-34 male age group...

 

[shiv]

my two cents

Are men and women emotionaly equal? No
Does this make one better than the other? Not in the slightest.

We are different beings with different hormones flying around our bodies, instead of turning it into a point scoring match just revel in how complex our bodies are. It's true we compliment each other perfectly and I love thinking about shit like that.

 

[jezebella]

Hey man, you're the one who said you're still living in a cave, not us.

thelma probably kicked him out from under the stone, where else is the poor thing meant to shelter?

but hey, that's probably just my female emotional repression talking, because that's clearly the only reason one could have for disagreeing with him. though i do love how men like this assume all guys are as backward as they are - word to the wise: women don't like sexist chimp-men. that's not the same as not liking all the other normal men out there who are friends, boyfriends, dads etc.

 

[PryingOpenMy3rdEye]

I'm a male and IMO I think women are a lot more emotionally intelligent than men. Men tend to suppress emotions and women seem to be more in touch with them and understand them better.

 

[badandwicked]

The playing field is actually much more level than you think. Some argue that women tend to deal with stressful situations better than men due to differences in hormone secretions. They release much higher levels oxytocin in response to stress which triggers a release of emotion; e.g., they might have a good cry (lol) or something along those lines. Once they release this pent up emotion they are stabilized and can tackle the problem with more ease. Oxytocin also plays a role in social bonding which makes woman more likely to seek comfort in friends and family during times of stress. This lessens the individual pressure and helps resolve the problem quicker. Now, you might think 'how does crying and needing to seek comfort in others make them emotionally stronger?' Surely this is weakness, not strength. But maybe it's the better option?

Men release much lower amounts of oxytocin and so tend to react with fight or flight instead. If the trigger causing the stress can be fought back against (both in the physical and practical sense) then this is all well and good, and you might say this is a much stronger way of dealing with the issue. No crying. No seeking comfort in others. Just bottle up the stress and hope that you can keep it contained while you resolve the problem. It's not always that simple though is it? Sometimes you can't make the trigger simply go away; instead you have to deal with it. This is where the male emotional reaction can be much weaker. In these cases men will try to flee in an attempt to escape the stress it's causing them. They might do this with recreational activities, some of which can create problems (excessive drug use for example). Instead of seeking help from others they are more likely to isolate themselves as another form of escape. This can bring on mental illness which further weakens their emotional wellbeing. In a worst case scenario, they will go for the ultimate escape, suicide. Ever seen male suicide rates compared to those of females? It's actually the biggest cause of death in the 15-34 male age group...

quality post

 

[exarkann]

I dunno. emotions have their place, but I think they tend to get in the way of critical thinking and the solving of major problems. this goes for both sexes. the ability to emote when appropriate and use reason when needed is a good one to have.

 

[qwe]

I dunno. emotions have their place, but I think they tend to get in the way of critical thinking and the solving of major problems. this goes for both sexes. the ability to emote when appropriate and use reason when needed is a good one to have.

it's obvious why one would have this perspective

what's not so obvious is how emotions seem to be so integral to our thoughts that, and integral to our personality, that they are basically *a part* of our logical processes. we would not be able to solve logical problems without emotion, because emotion evolved as a "signal dial" (e.g. using alcohol as an artificial GABA dial, or caffeine as an artificial norepinephrine dial) for our normal brain functions... those functions are quite abnormal with no neurotransmitters, normal with a balanced level of neurotransmitters/receptors, and highly emotional output with too many neurotransmitters (in many cases; many NT systems are reversed aka more gaba means less brain signals)

without any emotion, our brains would not function

at optimum level for logical reasoning, our emotions at that state *usually* seem to be steady. not zero, not high, but intermediate

fyi this is more based on my philosophy/thinking than science

 

[jezebella]

re the emotions thing, it's worth noting that the most absolute lack of interpersonal emotion (ie, emotion for anyone or anything beyond yourself) is known as psychopathy and is responsible for the worst violent offenders and fraudsters (to quote one of the leading lights in the field, "i always said that if i wasn't studying psychopaths in prison, i'd do so at the Stock Exchange).

http://myfaultimfemale.wordpress.com/ is good for a read on all this stuff, too.

 

[exarkann]

just to be clear (i have to explain this to my SO all the time) I'm not anti-emotion, I just think they need to be moderated. excess emotion causes more problems than it solves. however, when you take raw emotion and temper it with reason, great things can happen.

 

[rant*N*rave]

re: wage/education gap . .



which thread?

Don't have the time or patience to look it up right now. Search should be helpful here...

 

[qwe]

re the emotions thing, it's worth noting that the most absolute lack of interpersonal emotion (ie, emotion for anyone or anything beyond yourself) is known as psychopathy and is responsible for the worst violent offenders and fraudsters

this demonstrates their ability to use logic. but to preserve my hypothesis i'd point out the word "interpersonal" as opposed to "intrapersonal"

 

[Jert]

No. ( @ original post)

 

[Ixchellian]

We had a few girls in my first unit, and when I volunteered for gun-trucks, I was assigned to a guntruck driven by one Spc. Lee, a 5'-nuthin blond girl, and my TC was SSgt. Wilson, a 5'-nuthin, tuhbacky-chewin, foul-mouthed guy from Arkansas.

When we left the wire of that FOB, it was indian-country. A war zone. and the way those fuckers fight, an attack can come from any direction at any time.
We often did runs up to Tikrit & Baghdad, which were about 150mi round-trip for each one. Along the way if there wasn't any impediments, our hillbilly up-armored M998 HMMWV's would keep at a constant 60mph.
Any of ya'll ever driven an overweight & overloaded HMMWV down an Iraqi "highway" at 60mph? It handles & rides like the fuckin' Titanic. Or driven in congested Baghdad traffic, where nobody follows any kind of traffic rules.... and any one of those cars could be an VBIED, or an RPG-team could be on an overpass... etc.
Spc. Lee was an excellent driver, and we'd get pissed if they tried reassigning her to another guntruck or guntruck team. Her driving skills were top-notch, and she could handle that beast no matter what.
And on top of that.... Spc. Lee was one cool character when the shit started flying. Instead of freaking out, she'd flip into her highly aggressive driving style & be completely focused on getting the truck out of danger. After anything like that, she was totally nonplussed about being shot at.

But it wasn't just her... I've met many other women who, when it came down to soldiering-skills, I'd rather have them in my foxhole or on my team, instead of a lot of guys I met who were just empty boots when the suck landed on our laps.

For me at least, and a lot of other military guys, we really do acknowledge that women do make great soldiers. Apart from the plain physical-strength differences, they're wearing the same uniform as we do, and we treat them as equals. Yes, we do have dirrty minds.... but often so do they.

So anyways.... I think that all speaks a lot for women's equality with men in doing really important & difficult tasks.

 

[L O V E L I F E]

You can be strong AND sensitive rather easily. Men just often get confused about how to do both and when to use the "appropriate" behaviors.

Agreed to the n-th degree.

In fact, in my experience, it's the men who are charming, assertive, charismatic and confident . . . and at the same time, know how to be considerate, warm, affectionate and empathetic . . . who end up being the ones confident women REALLY want - someone who will fuck the ever-loving living shit out of them and someone who will also be willing to listen to her vent.

Preferably not during the fucking.

 

[K12]

Agreed to the n-th degree.

In fact, in my experience, it's the men who are charming, assertive, charismatic and confident . . . and at the same time, know how to be considerate, warm, affectionate and empathetic . . . who end up being the ones confident women REALLY want - .

don't forget, it's absolutely imperative to almost all women to "look-up" to a man taller than them. don't forget that ingredient or your whole hypothesis is hogwash...