What does Gender Studies mean to you?
We’re adding to the debate stirred up by Hana Rosin’s July cover story “The End of Men” for Atlantic Monthly magazine and its counterpart column by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times, “Don’t Write Off Men Just Yet”.
Our Answers Team community managers have had some interesting discussions on the topic and Graziana (our Latin American community manager) and I thought it would be fun to bring the discussion to our virtual table. the sub category “Gender Studies.”
The main focus of this section is to exchange points of view and experiences concerning the roles of males and females, taking into consideration psychological, anthropologic, economic, and historic aspects. It is a place to discuss the meaning of “being male” and “being female” and their constant redefinitions. We encourage a healthy debate about the stereotypes and limits imposed by culture and biology. To quote one of my favorite French philosophers Simone de Beauvoir (a pioneer in gender studies), “Gender is used to refer to the social and cultural constructions of masculinities and femininities, not to the state of being male or female”.
Curiously, “gender studies” has been focused from the beginning around the “feminine being” as a reaction against the complete absence of feminine perspectives in social sciences. The new social science was part of a bigger movement to claim equal participation for women in all spheres of social life.
Today, many feel that goal has been mostly achieved and there is arguably little need to devote a space exclusively to study the “female being”. On the contrary, many think there is a need to open the game to include the “male being” and the cultural shifts that have been taking place as a result of that equality—think stay-at-home dads and the like.
To the users who have been complaining about “feeling like laboratory specimens” or “being targeted by chauvinistic and degrading remarks,” we want to remind the community that this category wants to host a comprehensive and balanced debate. We don’t want to aim solely at women! Gender refers both to male and female.
Do you participate regularly on this category? What has been your experience with gender topics? Share your comments with us.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
- Rating:
(24 votes, average: 3.17) - Permalink
- Comments (49)
Loading ...
(average 4.71)
Subscribe
It means NOT being able to get a job after you get this degree.
It means you’ll be getting a job at the local coffee shop, complaining to anyone who’ll listen that it’s “just temporary”, because the world is just crying out for people with degrees in “Gender Studies”.
I do find it interesting that “Gender Studies” usually means “Why men are awful and have held back women for centuries”. Whether or not it is true is secondary to the marketability to what basically amounts to a degree in complaining.
I think that gender studies or any study of history and society is lacking. Yes, you hear about the powerful men who forged ahead and made great discoveries and about the dynamic women who chained themselves to fences to protest and about how women are powerful and men are smart, but that hardly encompases who men and women are as a whole. What about those quiet artistic guys or the men who just love having families, are they so common that they are unworthy of being mentioned? Sure they didn’t paint the Mona Lisa or discover a theory or relativity, but Davinci and Gahndi and George Washington had to have had a father. And for women studies, sure it’s important to know about Susan B. Anthony and Frieda Kahlo, but not every woman is suited to the big life, some women do love staying at home cooking and caring for their families, what’s worng with that? Why don’t we study the effect that those “simple-minded” women of the 1800′s who were only simple because they were taught to be and expected to be. Surely they made an impact on society somehow, they were certainly part of it.
I think that gender studies are a little bit ridiculous and pointless. Honestly, who cares what the Romans or the Greeks or the Mongolians thought about how men and women ought to have acted? It’s just a small part of history. Many of these older views are completely ridiculous, as are many of the views that people still hold today. When they are treated as some inevitable social phenomenon we have more trouble realizing that they’re simply outdated, irrational ideas that continue to spread to new generations because of the fact that we perceive them as an inevitable part of life. I think that, eventually, someone has to point out that the emperor has no clothes. You should do what makes sense to you, regardless of how other people think you should act. If I marry, and have children, I’ll talk to my wife and see which one of us would be comfortable in which role. The decision should be based on the specific strengths and weaknesses of each person, not on how ‘society’ thinks they should act. I don’t understand why topics like gender and race are given so much consideration by our so-called social ‘scientists’; the very act of doing so makes them seem more important than they really are, and leads people to focus more heavily on such things when judging other people.
The world is changing so fast that the gender roles you grew up watching and internalizing don’t seem to make sense when you reach adulthood. So each time, in each relationship, people have to negotiate what to do next.So,there is no “end to men,” but an end to the concept of 20th century male and female gender identites. The world has moved on. We all are waiting to discover what is next.
The Gender Studies section of Y!A has nothing to do with intelligent, open-minded debate; 80% of what I see posted there is just people making fun of feminism and/or bickering. I find the actual subject of gender studies quite interesting, but I don’t participate in the section simply for the reason stated above; it seems that most people there don’t want to consider another perspective. It’s just home to a bunch of trolls, basically.
i think that both have their right to opinions, and that both articles are nicely said without the intention of offending either gender. I think the idea of a “gender studies” category is great, i’ll check it out
thanks for bringing attention to this!
I think the name Gender Studies is a great name, and it suits todays need for a discussion about men’s issues in Western societies.
I think it’s best to make one category (like it is now) instead of two separate (one male, one female) categories because it’s important that men and women share thoughts about gender issues.
Getting a Gender Studies degree qualifies you to work in Burger King.
Hi, there are actually many interesting jobs out there for people like you–you just have to get creative in finding them. For instance you can become a Community College Professor, or a Community Manager for an organization such as The International Museum of Women where you can manage the ongoing conversations about gender, or write blogs for them. Don’t lose hope just yet
Gender study varies from country to country.in developed ones male female issues are less differential in comparison to developing countries.so study should be tailor-made depending on progress of that region.gender study should aim at enable both male and female to contribute significantly to national and individual progess.
it means, “it’s silly a waste of money and time,” and like layla says, it means not getting a job with this degree
As with most social studies programs the only real value any of these could have is in personal life application. These programs offer very litlle in real world needs and as all ready stated what job field would need a graduate with this degree other than another collage looking to teach a similar program.
You can get the same applications by studying social psychology and taking a single class on the subject to round out a degree in Psychology that IS applicable to community needs but to waste 4 to 6 years on the single subject is not that productive and only fuels liberal colleges junk mobiles.
Great idea!
I just want to say I hope society gets more open minded to guys dressing in what is traditionally thought of as “feminine” clothing because women transitioned to wearing pants casually in the 50′s in the spirit of individuality and self expression. People thought it was weird to see a women in pants back then as well and so with every person comes an independent mind and with that comes their own individual story, personality and tastes. That is a good thing that should be embraced. In the same spirit I think men should be able to wear what they think expresses themselves rather than being confined to societal gender roles. Its only being different and it doesn’t hurt anything. Its not like if a guy puts on a skirt knifes pop out of it. I think its ridiculous how some people react to it.
Some facts are men used to wear dresses alot in the 16th to 17th century europe, high heels were first worn by men because they helped them with riding horses and until the early 19th century parents dressed there sons just like their daughters in frilly and lacy dresses until they reached puberty. It shows that modern gender roles in what genders should wear are mostly societal influence. I’ve seen guys that identify as straight male but act what is stereotyped as feminine and vise versa with women. Which is why I don’t think people can truly be stereotyped by their gender.
To me it means people that are confused about fundamental basics of life — you don’t need a degree or extensive study to understand what God intends.
I like the subject, but what in specific kicks off the debate, and what about exactly, concerning gender roles?
Women don’t have equal participation in all aspects. Many women have stepped up to the plate, but women still make $.75 for every dollar a man makes. Look at the members of congress; there are 534 voting members and only 79 of them are women. Doesn’t sound like equal participation to me.
And lets look at the issue of child support. Women overwhelming bear the responsibility of raising children. 26% of children in the US live with one parent. 84% of those children live with the mother. In spite of the fact that 60% of those mothers has an advanced degree, unemployment is much higher for them than for single fathers.
The business community knows that when there are children, women overwhelmingly bear the responsibility for their care. It is expected that children don’t particularly impact men when it comes to the workplace.
And we have a whole lot of deadbeat dads who will often go to great lengths to avoid child support. There is quite a legal industry focused on finding deadbeat dads.
So many women have stepped up to the plate. The result is that men have discovered that irresponsibility is more acceptable. Now they can blame women for “getting pregnant” and move a couple states away to avoid their responsibility.
Having a child takes two, but preventing pregnancy and supporting children still falls overwhelmingly on the woman. I don’t see that as progress.
The notion that women choose to be single mothers struggling to raise children alone is a complete lie.
I went there for a week or two and found that it was primarily used for going against feminism. Mind you, not females, but feminism, as most found that the goal was achieved and they were grabbing for a position like the males had prior to the feminist movement.
-Shrug-
Making it Gender Studies opposed to Womans Studies may be good, but I’m not really sure how much of a difference it would actually make to the section.
Simone de Beauvoir was hardly a philosopher, she was a feminist with a hatred for men… like most prominent and famous feminists. How ‘hating men’ can be compared to philosophy is beyond me.
Also, it would be nice if the team who wrote this article could remember that sexism runs BOTH ways – contrary to feminist propaganda. The feminists of this site give PLENTY of chauvinism and superiority complex statements against men – but you fail, predictably, to make any mention of this.
Why do sexists pretend sexism is a one way street in which only women are victims and only men are perpetrators? That in of itself IS blatant sexism.
It’s good that there’s a section for men as well. In my opinion, in Western countries we need a larger platform for men’s issues in the media. Right now there’s mostly room for women’s issues in the media.
Gender studies to me sounds like a study which analyzes gender such as class, race, sexuality, location, or ethnicity working on both people as well as animals and bacteria.
I am a result oriented person. I don’t really mind about the gender itself. If that individual is actively participating and is good in his work. He shows the characters of who he/she is. Then I could say this person is a productive citizen. But I wish all the she and he could stand like a man in their beliefs. Strong and powerful in what they want to do and pursue.
Bless you.
Nothing.
I just had a conversation with my DIL this afternoon who was totally livid, incensed, insulted, etc. that an acquaintance of her grandmother said she couldn’t lay paving bricks in the patio for grandmother, but should be ‘in the house vacuuming the floor’. Ouch!
Seems like the gender discussions should be held openly and educate bigots that believe women should be kept ‘barefoot and pregnant’ in the kitchen.
And if a woman wants to support the family while dad stays at home and does the househusband, child rearing bit, all the better! As long as she will earn equal pay.
The employers need to be educated. Women should not be paid less for the same work just because they are women. The pay scale for women is STILL only 2/3 that of men doing the same work. Unless it is a government job that has to pay equally, of course.
And women need to step up to the plate and really work without moaning about their periods or taking time off for kids. Dads can take time off work for doctors appointments just as easily.
Ya got me started! Sorry
Babe
I remember reading the “End of Men,” and to be frank I think the same thing now that I did then, it is misandrist tripe. “Don’t write men off just yet” sounds like an attempt to refute with out offending anyone but frankly you can’t refute sexists like Hana Rosin seems to be in her article without offending them.
There is no reason to get rid of a “Gender” category in Yahoo Answers for example, but can you honestly say that there wasn’t an intent to steer the discussion when instead of being a category for “Gender” it was a category for “Gender and Women’s Studies?”
“Today, many feel that goal has been mostly achieved and there is arguably little need to devote a space exclusively to study the “female being”. On the contrary, many think there is a need to open the game to include the “male being” and the cultural shifts that have been taking place as a result of that equality—think stay-at-home dads and the like.”
This is absolutely true, except for the conclusions in my opinion. The reality of the situation in the United States at least is that equality was achieved years ago. To continue that the issues stemming from this “equality” involve “stay at home dads and the like” is not what I find to be an issue of any real relevance what I do find relevant is that after achieving equality decades ago the “equality movement” stopped being about equality and started being about maintaining females as perpetual victims, which has resulted in staggering amounts of ignored inequality towards men’s rights.
My experience with the gender/women’s studies has been a mixed bag, a fair number of like minded people who seem pretty neutral in regards to their take on equality (essentially that equality means equality!) with a small number of presumably men who are essentially hating trolls coupled with a fairly substantial number of presumably female posters who are just as hateful as the anti-female trolls but are more easily tolerated given the biased nature of the topic.
To me, “Gender Studies” is a liberal arts curriculum that is a waste of time. You women who study that garbage for 4 years are guaranteed: 1) no employer will want to hire you 2) no man will want to marry you.
actually there are many job options available to a person with a degree in gender studies.
myself i would like to see more in depth studies into the nature of gender and when/how gender form in each individual.
also if the earlier classes could do more to inform people about the nature and existence of gender variant and gender in-congruent individuals that would be nice also.
that said i do believe that currently gender studies does males a disservice in the fact that by and large it focuses on female specific issues and viewpoints.
“Stay-at-home dads” are a red herring. The flip side of “gender studies” generally concerns the disparity between men and women in family courts, “father’s rights”, alimony/palimony, and stuff like that.
Self-described feminists run the gamut from Susan B. Anthony, to women who hate men simply because they are overweight, unattractive, and rejected a lot. I think “gender studies” takes in more of the latter group than the former.
What the hell? Well, it seems the, “woman figure,” is more chauvinistic if one would go so far as to dare say, “the end of men.” THAT is a chauvinistic, pig attitude.
I don’t really care much for gender studies, let alone womens’ studies. I easily accept that, yeah, women have been oppressed and I’m sure men are making less than women now. But really we’re all human. We all have merit.
I believe there are too many stereotypes…with both genders.
I’ve been thinking about this all weekend and am compelled to repost with a more serious comment about Rosins article.
There is no denyng that women have made spectacular gains in the last 2 generations
Having been born in 1966, I watched much of this unfold. I was sold a bill of goods that life was going to be a cakewalk for me simply because I was male- that message was delivered not only by the prevaiing gender roles at the time, but by feminists appearing on discussion panel tv shows, who also caused me to feel guilty for beng born male and into all this “privilege” which has yet to arrive.
It was my fault for being a little too mature at age 8 that I not only understood the guilt trip being foisted on me and MY generation; guilt for the thousands of generations of men before me who actually did the oppressing, but I took it to heart.
I witnessed the subtext of tv commercials” to “men are idiots, and we hope you’re so amused by our condescending portrayal of men that you’ll buy our product.”
John Lennon released a song called “woman is the n–ger of the world” almost 40 years ago. One of the lines in the song dealt with this negative portrayal of women on tv. Feminists at the time shared a similar
sentiment- that this message was conditioning young girls to regard themselves as lesser people.
Today, the message is delivered with scathing clarity- boys will grow up to be inept buffoons, regardless of what products they buy. There is no helping them, and they might as well not even try.
Perhaps the only change that I didn’t personally experience s the change in education. When I was in s bool, yes, boys wereore likely to blurt out an answer without being called. And I can see how girls would be reluctant to speak up. now as I understand it boys are admonished and shamed for such behavior. I personally don’t buy the argument that boys need to “run around” in order to learn. We never ran around in the classroom, but we were encouraged to learn, which in not entirely so today.
I can’t be the only one who sees this. You can’t expose an entire demographic group to continual media messages branding them as stupid, retool the education system to cater to the other demographic group, label ANY physical contact between male and female as sexual aggression (on the part of the male) and NOT be surpassed that they navigate through life on an unsure footing.
For some reason, when women falter, it’s society’s fault, but when men stumble, it’s because they’ve “failed to adapt.”. The sad rung is that they HAVE adapted. They’ve resigned themselves as being unable to stem the pervasive attitude of contempt and disdain, and anesthetize themselves with beer and porn until they die.
I believe the societal trends as predicted in the article. Women will earn more than men. Men, to some extent, will be fnancially dependent on women and women will take a “my money my rules” approach to domestic life. Anyone who thinks that women are somehow more noble than men that they wouldn’t do that need only look at how Women currently exploit the advantages they currently have. Many women exploit market forces when it comes to sex and dating. And that’s a subtle advantage. Why wouldn’t women exploit a real dollars and cents advantage over men? I’ve already heard enough comments from women who earn more than their husbands that THEY call the shots. I can tell this isn’t a fluke- it’s the beginning of a trend.
I knew all this was coming. I just never thought it would happen so quickly.
Long story short, because I can go on for days abou this. The old gender roles are DECLINING (not disappearing), and new ones are becoming accepted into society, as is necessary for women (and men, for that matter) to be truly free and equal. People are finding that they don’t fit into the classic “male” and “female” gender roles anymore. It’s not and end for any specific role that’s going on, but a creation of many new ones.
For many minority cultures (right here in America, too), though, they never did fit into those categories in the first place. For blacks, which one of the two, between men and women, brings and holds the family together, keeping their head in all situations and plays, well, the dominant role? Women. “Big mama” is practically the village elder.
– just another black guy who can take a third party perspective
Men and women are different creatures. Trying to politically force one to do something that the other is much more capable of doing is ridiculous. Men will always be bigger and stronger. Men will never be able to breast feed a child or have the same bond as a mother has with her child.
I liked the book; “Gender Matters”. He mentioned that if you put some boys toys and girls toys in a room and then let the little boys and girls enter the room that the girls will go to the girls toys and the boys will go to the boys stuff. And they were babies. Not kids that already knew better.
A friend of mine said she would not give her daughter any “gender toys” when she was growing up. I’ve met her daughter. She looks like she was forced “not to be a little girl” growing up. Sad.
It’s forever going to be an issue now that it’s been made to be an issue.
I don’t go onto gender studies section anymore, simply because it is not really gender studies. Its people complaining about each-gender, and trying to prove one is better than the other.
Gender studies is not ridiculous, but the way people often react to it is.
Until the world starts to realize what gender studies really means, I prefer to simply call it “study of humankind” because that is the broad category it falls under… the study of humankind.
All this talk of how women are “better suited for a post-industrialized world” means one thing only – after generation upon generation of men tamed the wild, build society, civilized an uncivilized land, created, invented, and constructed a system of technology that made life EASIER…. now that it’s easy, women are finally stepping up to show that in a world without serious challenges, they can (gasp) compete. While men without serious challenges lose interest in things. Pretty simple.
‘the end of baby’. you will get a lot of complaints from this title. just like the ‘end of kids, or end of girl as well as boy’.
no matter how you read, write it:’ the men of men, man is safer for getting some readers.
Gender studies is code for “Feminist Indoctrination Program”. It’s a degree a woman gets because she hates men because she couldn’t get a date to the prom. And when she gets out of college and mom and dad aren’t going to pay her graduate school bill she works a minimum wage job and complains that the reason she isn’t doing better is because this man’s world hates a woman who stands up for herself when really it’s because she didn’t get a degree in something useful like business or political science and join the ranks of women who have actually made strides for equality and didn’t sit around and complain all day.
yesssssssssssss/////////////////////Men and women are different creatures. Trying to politically force one to do something that the other is much more capable of doing is ridiculous. Men will always be bigger and stronger. Men will never be able to breast feed a child or have the same bond as a mother has with her child.
I liked the book; “Gender Matters”. He mentioned that if you put some boys toys and girls toys in a room and then let the little boys and girls enter the room that the girls will go to the girls toys and the boys will go to the boys stuff. And they were babies. Not kids that already knew better.
A friend of mine said she would not give her daughter any “gender toys” when she was growing up. I’ve met her daughter. She looks like she was forced “not to be a little girl” growing up. Sad.
Kat, I agree with you 1000%.
This would be a good move, but know there is such a history of partisanship in this YA! area that merely changing the name will not overcome the past overnight.
If you seriously change the leadership to something more gender-inclusive, in time this may attract serious interest from sincere men who have experience and knowledge to share. But right now the perception is that feminists have no desire to listen to men, nor will they ever.
Just realize, it will take time. Possibly a long time to re-shape the forum. But this is sorely needed in our war-torn gender relations.
Good luck to you.
I spend 98% of my time in Gender studies when I visit Yahoo Answers. I visit YA everyday and spend about 30 minutes answering and/or asking questions. In my opinion I think the Gender Studies section is awesome because it allows everyday people to express what they really feel about gender, about men and women, about feminism, etc, that they wouldn’t normally discuss offline. This is a place where someone can express the modern opinion that Gender is a Social Construct. It is also a place where someone else can express their opinion that Gender is not a Social Construct, that Gender is instead a Social Construct dictated by Genetics. This place is not like offline where the media tells you how is suppositly is, and you have to either accept what was presented to you, or sit there irritated by the madness you just saw and heard. Here on YA in Gender Studies, you can actually respond to ideals that you feel are sensible, or flawed. There are Trolls in the section like any other place who hinder the experience, but their are also very smart people who you agree or disagree with, which is great eitehr way because it’s the learning experience that matters. And it’s always fun to learn new points of view from others, or debate the truth of your experiences to others.
I think gender studies breeds sexism.
From a male view, it disgusts me when one points to historical atrocities done by men to women to justify current legislation benifiting only women. This “us women dealt with it for 1000s of years now its mens turn” is horrid.
Why should a person alive today recieve benefits as some sort of revenge/reimbursement for things they themselves never experienced simply based on their genetalia.
These were my mothers and grandmothers too, today’s men are offspring of their struggle and come from their bloodlines just like today’s women do.
I want justice for their crimes but they are dead and gone, men deserve any benefits or reimbursements for these crimes against humanity just as much as women do.
Once again yahoo, thanks for the opportunity for me to rant:)
eyerite
Gender studies is only relevant if it includes the role of men and addresses more than complaints of academics and those in business. All too often it’s used to slam men in general, in which case it’s a female KKK. Before birth control, men had to work their butts off to support kids. Men who bought condoms in the 40s and 50s were assumed to be seeing hookers. I looked in the ads in the local paper in the 80s where there were support groups for single mothers, but none for a widowed father raising a one year old daughter. Study THAT! If you think men aren’t concerned about the welfare of women, think again. I’m appalled at the mistreatment of women both here and abroad. Study why women cooperate in the abuse. A Texas man was just convicted for starving three children. He was living with the mother and they had a healthy one-year-old, but it was his. This follows basic animal instinct, because the others had other fathers. Lions kill the cubs when they take over a pride; the females won’t protect them. Deer fight over the does and none stick around to console the loser. Women are known to be attracted to the bad boy–not a coincidence. Everyone would benefit more if we would stop obsessing over a glass ceiling and paid more attention to our clay feet. My impression of gender studies from what little I’ve heard of it is that it’s a useless academic exercise. That’s a shame, because it could be so much more. But it will only be more if you consider both genders and how they relate, rather than trying to prove one is better than the other. That’s where race studies falls on its face.
i once read that “women’s reproductive success is limited by resources, and men’s reproductive success is limited by women” i think that biologically, the creation of gender stems from this fact.
gender studies is a way to define the construction of the differences between men and women, influenced by biology and reinforced by culture.
going back to the concept of reproductive success, without resources, primarily collected by men (whether its meat in the caveman days, or a six figure salary in the twenty first century) women would not be able to reproduce, which is how most cultures identify their value. (how many children a woman can have, and fertility in general is prized) for men, the alpha male holds power, strength, influence, or all of the aforementioned.
gender is a way to categorize people, most commonly into two basic categories- male and female- and then more specifically, into rankings of where an individual fits in with the rest of society.
“To me, “Gender Studies” is a liberal arts curriculum that is a waste of time. You women who study that garbage for 4 years are guaranteed: 1) no employer will want to hire you 2) no man will want to marry you.”
No man will want me? Whatever shall I do? Maybe I’ll just sit here knitting doilies….
Actually, a fair amount of women don’t want to get married, and some want to marry women.
Any way, to all of the people saying that feminism hurts men, I’m not really sure what you’re talking about. We want equal rights and fair treatment (no more mop ads featuring women, equal pay, and the end of the ‘she was asking for it’ mentality and other mentalities that lead to violence against women, etc.), but we’re not trying to take them from anyone. There aren’t a finite number of rights, so if women get more rights, men lose some of theirs. What’s with all the bitching? If fewer women get raped, do more men get raped? If women get that extra thirty cents, do they take it out of your paycheck? Will you be featured in the mop adds, or cat-called while you’re trying to walk to the train, or stoned in Syria (that would take on a whole new meaning if I said Amsterdam)?
Feminism has done nothing to hurt men. Some feminists hate men. Well, some men hate women. That doesn’t mean that they all do. I love my dad and my brothers, but I also love birth control and voting.
In terms of why gender studies is useful, it forces us to confront things we never think about, like why my brother can walk around without his shirt off with impunity, but if I wear shorts that are too short (according to my middle-aged neighbor) in the summer, I’m a slut. When we’re aware of things like this, we no longer have to accept them. We can talk about them and change people’s perceptions. I agree that you might not get a job with this degree except in academia, or maybe research, but the field itself is useful. It’s a lot like comparative religion or philosophy, I suppose.
Just to clear this up, the author of “The End of Men” said in an interview that she didn’t name the article. Some editor or publisher did. She said she never names any of her articles and usually doesn’t see them until they come out, and she was surprised by this one.
“…discuss the meaning of “being male” and “being female” and their constant redefinitions.”
The definition of being male has never changed since God created Adam. What has changed are people and their attitudes. Many have rebelled at the definition of their gender and are failing to step up to their responsibilities under that gender label. In order to appease their failures some try and redefine what makes a man or a woman. It can’t be done.
And in case anyone is wondering, women cannot be sexist. they can be bias against men all they want, but as any social scientist will tell you, for an “ism” to be truly an “ism” the person who is discriminating has to be in a position of power in society. Since women as a whole are not in the position of power, they cannot be sexist. I am not sticking up for anyone treating another human being with disrespect (because i believe we need to look at people for the fact they are human, not man or woman), but by the definition, women cannot be sexist in a culture in which men are dominant.