Dear Women, You Don't Know

Its really common for Feminists to constantly yell about how Men don't understand what its like to be a woman. And you know what? Yeah, I really don't. My entire life I've been a man so I don't know first hand what its like to be a woman. But ladies I hate to break it to you but,

You don't know what its like to be a man.

Now for most of you I hope thats one of those "Naw really?" things, but for some it needs to be said. These same people who rant and rave about patriarch and how hard it is to be a woman are the same acting like they understand what its like to be a man when they really really don't. To these people being a man is all train seats and 27 cents more on the dollar in our pay checks. But heres three quick things that are expected of men,

We are to lay our lives on the line to protect women. Not just women we know, but any random woman near us. If we run or put our own lives first we're cowards. 

We are to be capable of financially supporting a family on our own. This is part of the reason men make more overall; because men are much more likely to be sole breadwinners for a family and therefore work many more hours. If we are stay at home Dads or even just make less then our wife then we're open to social sanction.

We are to be stoic. Men are not allowed to lose control of their emotions. We are expected to be rocks and if a man violates this rule they are quite liable to be thought of as less of a man.

So next time you want to talk about 'waah male tears', keep in mind Men typically may just have a bit more on their plate then you do.

Apparently male circumcision is confirmed to help prevent HIV and other illnesses. I guess all the over hyper MRAs and anti-theists that are saying circumcision is equivalent to FGM can shut up for awhile. 

Ain't that some shit?

Men, Women, and Violence

Now before I get into this, big disclaimer: I am not a sociologist, not an anthropologist, gender studies, or anything along those lines. I'm pursuing a degree in Physics so this is a bit outside my usual studies. However, I have been looking at related studies and have heard a lot about it from both sides. Theres been a lot of talk about this and from my perspective both sides are being childish to say the least. To be clear, I am not a Feminist, and I'm not an MRA.

Now, from what I've seen this all centers around a few key issues, the two I've seen most ill presented is domestic violence and homicide and how they related to the sex of the victim and perpetrator. I'll address domestic violence first.

The most important aspect of domestic violence is that it isn't simple. If someone is saying it is they are wrong. I say this because it seems there is a lot of conflict between different studies and their results tend to point in different directions. Though it seems that they all agree that the issue is not black and white. In one study we see that women are more likely to initiate violence, but serious injury occurs more often when men initiate violence or reciprocate violence. In another study (couldn't get the study itself from the Journal of Family Psychology) we see that women are more likely to commit minor violence while men are more prone to acts of major violence. There is also the CDC study that sates that women suffer domestic violence at a substantially higher rate overall, but men also suffer a significant amount as well. No matter how you put it, its not a one way street.

The next issue is homicide among the sexes. Now, its no secret that men commit the vast majority of homicides. In possibly the best study on the subject of homicide in the US, we see that the majority of murders of men are committed by other men and typically are related to drugs and money. We see that women are more often killed in domestic situations, and typically by men. Why is this? Well the most glaring aspect is that men are more involved in organized crime then women. Bar none. This is why men commit the most murders by such a wide margin and why they are killed the most. Crime. 

When we look at the domestic homicide we see a closer gap, but still a major gap between male and female with men being the killer more often. Approximately twice as often(my computer is being odd and I can't see the study, I'm going off memory). While this isn't particularly surprising its a far cry from the standard Tumblr Feminist mantra of all men are dangerous and all women are victims. 

Which brings me to the most interesting question, why are theses statistics this way? Are men just more violent? I don't believe so. I think it has more to do with the roles our society has given the sexes. In our society masculinity is linked with combat prowess. How tough you are. It is not hard to see how this is more easily perverted from the ideal of a protector into violence that is ethically unacceptable. This jump is harder to make for women due to the gender role society has given them.

So in conclusion, what have we learned? To be frank, we learned that this issue is not near as simple as people portray it. The issues of homicide and domestic violence are dirty and hard to get a good handle on with statistics because it does not show the whole picture on either side. We all of personal accounts of out own experiences and those of people we know, but this is never a full view of the issues we face. We can only work toward reducing violence overall and instilling in our children of both sexes good morals, self control, and a sense of selflessness that they will think of the needs of others before their own.

Also, we have learned that radical feminists and extreme MRAs are absolutely full of shit.