Raising the volume on what men think about feminism

The Age ^ | Sushi Das

[MrNatural]

.. We are being told a lie..

I think so too. And enough people have believed it to make a mess of a society that once worked tolerably well.

Well, on that cheerful note I must excuse myself; my alarm goes off at 6am and I have to get things done now that I won't want to do at 6. Nice talking to you.

[gogeo]

Successful marriage makes us all stronger, even those not married.

Marriage ought to be pretty simple...you care for each other, you listen to each other...you take care of each other's needs. That's what marriage ought to be.

For too many of my male friends, there isn't room for their needs, only their wife's needs. Someone can be guilted into compliance short term, but it's not viable long term.

I'm a businessman...I understand that for any partnership to work, there's got to be something in it for all involved. I would never expect my wife to be married to me if I didn't worry about her needs and desires.

Feminism has tried to convince women that men are the enemy, and that it's all about their needs. It's a prescription for short, nasty, brutish marriages.

I've married twice. If this marriage didn't last for whatever reason, I don't think I'd remarry.

I would never presume to tell anyone how to live their life, especially my wife. I ask, but I don't demand. Selfishness seems to be in the water, in the air...I'm not going to argue. At some point men have started asking themselves, "Is this working for me?" If not...

Ultimately, it's not a question of whether you were able to get married. It's a question of whether statistically significant numbers of couples will do so in the future. The signs are not good.

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

I've noticed that the HR dept of the company I currently work at has a dozen employees. Not one male works in the HR dept. I don't think it's just my company

It's not just your company. Where I work, the HR dept. has five female employees, 0 male. Of the Supervisor staff, approx. 65% are female. Since the place has opened, 5 females have received promotions to the second level of Supervisor. One male has. I guess there is one saving grace, though. The employees absolutely love the male managers and absolutely dread the females (ever worked for a woman? I have. Hell on Earth). Heck, I've even fired people, and they come back later as a re-hire and the first thing they ask is "Is idontliketopaytaxes still here? I want to be on his team" Now if that ain't loyalty, I don't know what is. :)

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

I think you exagerate the attractiveness of 40 year old men in the eyes of 20 something females. While it might be slightly more common than the converse, age spreads over a decade are far from common. As a 42 year old male, I'm acutely aware that to 20 somethings I'm well into geezer-land.

I couldn't disagree more. I work with dozens upon dozens of amazingly attractive young ladies. They are constantly flirting (seriously flirting) with me and my other supervisor buddy. We're both in our mid and late 30s.

If you are a relatively attractive male with a decent job, you will be desirable to the young ladies. Trust me on that one. :)

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

Now, traditional to me would be a Country girl from an old Southern Family with good moral roots and a strong church background.

Yeah. These days, those good ol' "southern girls" are smokin' dope at 10 and having sex at 12 and bisexual sex at 14. I hear their stories weekly.

Times have changed, folks. That's why men are so disgruntled.

[paulat]

Increasingly American men marry women from a traditional society such as Japan, Korea or Saudi Arabia. Perhaps there is a message there.

Yup...they know what side their bread is buttered on...and they love you sincerely!!!

[IDontLikeToPayTaxes]

I've had remarkable success with women my whole life, and I know that I probably don't live up to a single item on the perfect mate list.

By the looks of your pics, I can understand that. Women LOVE the "badboy" look. There are more drop dead gorgeous divorced single mothers where I work that have ex-con "baby daddies"....sheesh.....

Not saying your an ex con or anying, but the whole badboy, beard, piercings, motorcycle, leather, outlaw thing drives girls nuts!

Where does it ever end.

[music is math]

By the looks of your pics, I can understand that. Women LOVE the "badboy" look. There are more drop dead gorgeous divorced single mothers where I work that have ex-con "baby daddies"....sheesh.....

I was going to say that (months ago, in another thread, incidentally) but I figured it was undiplomatic. Now that it's out, I have to concur (even if it is a cultural cliche, which it is, somewhat).

[Ninian Dryhope]

"I'm just freaking out that anyone would WANT wrinkle-free underwear."

Try to maintain your cool. The world as we know it is not coming to an end. Take deep breaths. There, do you feel better now? Poor baby, freaking out over nothing.

Now let me explain that I never asked my wife to iron my underwear. I do not freak out over my underwear not being ironed.

It just so happens that she does it, because that's the way she like it and I suppose that her mother did the same thing for her father while she was growing up. The point is that even after living in this country for 25 years, she still maintains her Dutch habits.

She irons the underwear as she folds them up so that they are folded nice and smooth and flat and fit in the underwear drawer neatly. When my wife heads over to Holland to visit her her family for a couple of weeks, I wash my own underwear and I wear them straight out of the dryer, wrinkles and all without suffering any trauma.

The fact is, however, that ironed underwear does feel a little nicer and smoother when one first puts them on than does unironed underwear. Just like ironed sheets feel nicer than do unironed sheets. Your wife does iron your sheets, does she not?

[Ninian Dryhope]

"Why would she iron your tee shirts? Why not just hang them up out of the dryer?"

You would have to ask her. She irons them as she folds them up. As far as I know, one either puts the wash into the dryer or one hangs it up to dry. I do not know why anyone would do both. My wife folds up my underwear and tee shirts and puts them in a drawer. Do you hang up underwear on a hanger and hang them in a closet?

It seems like double work to take underwear out of a dryer, hang them up somewhere for some time, and then fold them up. A steam iron does a nice job of assisting the folding process, or so it seems to me from what I have observed. Perhaps you are not aware that men's underwear are made of cotton, which is wrinkled right out of the dryer, not silk or some kind of nylon material, like women's underwear. Also, as far as I know, underwear is not made out of permanent press material.

[Ninian Dryhope]

"Should the women who are married to jerks stay with a jerk just for the money?" That is what you imply when you write that the should leave the jerk, if they can AFFORD it.

[Ninian Dryhope]

"And I really appreciate that every once in a while you even get something right!"

Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.

[normy]

And she could tell you to do your own laundry, cook your own meals, stay home from work...the baby's sick, attend the parent-teacher mtg., buy and send the birthday, anniversary, sympathy, Christmas cards.

I for one would change my wife's tires and keep the yard and pool and all those things that a husband should know its his job to do. As far as doing your own laundry and cooking and all that, thats a good point to make about feminism. My dad went from home to basically getting married. He really had no time to learn to do these things by himself. I however had been doing my own laundry and cooking my own meals for 10 years before I got married. Every single man I know is in their 30's and can cook and do all that stuff anyway. The kicker is when you meet a girl who can't cook. Wow! I still do my laundry when I need it. You see, men have stopped having to rely on women to take care of those basics needs because #1 they usually live by themselves for years before marriage. #2.Feminist women don't like to do "womens work". #3. Unless a woman feels its her job to take care of the house, a man will continue with that once married unless he lets his wife know he expects cooked meals at dinner.

As far as Christmas cards and all the card sending, that is not a necessity and men would never do it anyway.

[Ninian Dryhope]

"Well, maybe not, but many of them do come from the mind of the beholder, rather than anything having to do with the stereotypee."

Well, if stereotypes came out of individual minds, there would be no stereotypes, since everyone would have different opinions. There is no National Board of Stereotype Assignment. Stereotypes are a sort of folk wisdom, not always true in in individual cases, but oftentimes useful as a rule of thumb. And stereotypes can be changed, as circumstances change. I think there was a stereotype about Japanese soldiers not being very good soldiers going into WWII, but that soon changed with experience. Also, right after WWII, most people in America considered Japanese stuff junk, but now the stereotype about Japanese stuff is that it is mostly high quality.

[Ninian Dryhope]

Hey! How did you find that? I demand my privacy!

[Ninian Dryhope]

"Can you imagine the outcry from American men if American women began mail-ordering their husbands?????"

Outcry? You have to be kidding. We would be shaking out heads, laughing up our sleeves, and thinking that those poor SOBs had no idea what they were in for. We would be think, better him than me. I would be thinking, "By the
livin' Gawd that made you, You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!"

[Ninian Dryhope]

"Oddly enough, even with a firewall, I have been knocked off the net seven times this evening while attempting to participate on this thread."

Have you adjusted your tinfoil hat?

[Ninian Dryhope]

BTW, nice tag line. One gets an excellent metal picture of you.

[Ninian Dryhope]

"Some women are shrill, anti-family, witches, and some are lovely, kind, sweethearts."

Yes, and the shrill, anti-family, witches are known as feminists and why men prefer not to deal with feminists is what this thread is about. If the women on this thread are not feminists, and I have no idea why a feminist would want to read Free Republic, then the nasty comments about feminists do not apply to them.

There are lots of great women in this world, my mom, my wife, and my daughter are among the greatest.

BTW, my daughter is in her senior year as an engineering major and she does not fit the engineer stereotypes, either, except she is very good at math. I do not expect her to make engineering a career, but I think an engineering education is a good way to develop good work habits and a certain disciple of the mind. Besides engineering students do not have time to waste on political nonsense such as goes on in universities these days and the professors are typically less political than those in other departments.

[Ninian Dryhope]

"I enjoy your wit and sarcasm."

Why thank you. I thought I was the only one.

BTW, thank you for your families contributions to our nation's defense. You must have done something right. I have suggested the Marines to my daughter, but she is not buying it, yet.