Writer's Block: The Greenest Grass

[rm]

[Error: unknown template qotd]

Where do I start with the problems with this question?

Gender essentialism flame-war Friday? or the rather obvious questions of privilege?

And that aside, is this rocket science?

Men are less likely to be raped; and more likely to earn higher wages for comparable work.

Women are more likely to get free drinks in bars and are expected to dedicate a higher percentage of their on-average lower incomes to maintaining their appearance.

And when people point this out, some asshole always shows up to say "but it's so hard to be a man; we're made to feel bad for desiring women all the time."

Oi. LJ!

Comments

[deusabscondidum.livejournal.com]

I might say that, except that physical danger, whether real or feared, seems more pervasive for women and for queer people in general. Most of the cis-gendered guys I have met don't feel they have to worry while walking through a darkened parking lot. It is more rare for a woman to feel that way. In a recent class I took, when asked this question, the male students were perplexed as to why anyone would be unnerved if they saw someone in a parking lot at night as they were trying to get into their car. There was a response to the effect that, "If he's a big hulking dude and packing heat, I'll worry."

With that said, it is a big shame that men get isolated by the fear of rape. From reading what other post-transition FtMs have said, where they might have been able to talk to women on the street before, after transition women edged away from them and were highly suspicious of even innocuous conversation.

So, if we are talking physical danger, women get it more often. If we are talking psychological damage, we're all damaged by gender stereotypes and fear.