/lit/ - Literature

>>14856230
It's hard for both genders to try and view one another and themselves as people, especially now that men and women have to compete openly for the same spots/roles in society at large.

I think, for women, it's easier to say that all men are ravenous, violent, crude, and ultimately entitled creatures than to admit and internalize that men are also incredibly sensitive and oftentimes in need of help, yet they've been deprived of the capability to ask for it. Women need to be able to help men without feeling like they're either submitting to him, or like they have to justify it with some post-60s drivel that ultimately amounts to, "Men treated a lot of women poorly for most of human history; why women couldn't help themselves, nobody knows, but we're very angry about it."

And I think, for men, it's easier to simply say that if a woman doesn't bear any kind of noticeable male traits or interests, she's clearly not human and will be treated as such. It's much harder for men to also see that women are entirely their own separate type of person, because men are used to viewing and being treated by most of life as a source of competition--women and the life you can live with one seem to be held up amongst guys as a reprieve from that competition. But if women are also people, and not just vacation spots/trophies/therapists... they're ALSO part of the competition.

Which makes the situation difficult for both genders--now men and women are competing more openly for each other than they ever have, and it's clear that most guys don't know how to--or simply can't--compete with women in the same space. At the same time, women continually demand specialized treatment and care, which gives them a severe handicap against their male competitors, because how can you be a valid part of a competition if it's expected that members of the other team are supposed to help you?

I think as we move forward, the discussion will revolve less around women versus men as a kind of battle for supremacy, and it'll de-escalate into a type of friendly rivalry. The genders will simply have to learn how to compete with each other without going for the throat every time.