May I correct ?
Part of this is how some men see women…
Women are part of the problem too!
Right wing women, more often than not, share the same views of the role of women is secondary to that of the men as head of the household! Even today, too many right wing women think of the men as having special status!
The latest US Supreme Court addition, Amy Coney Barret is one perfect, albeit exteme and iconic example. She belongs to a
Christian group , “People of Praise” who take oaths of subservience and even private details of their daily lives are controlled by a men’s council!
It’s politically correct, but an error of history, to point to “some” men’s views as being exceptionally disrespectful. Even outliers, predatory men, pointed to by the
#me too movement have equivalent predatory females to balance them, either in exploiting men under them or falsely accusing men, (as it’s an easy way to get a cash dividend). One of my wife’s friends claimed sexual harassment when she was fired as an advertising agent, for being lazy and non-productive with her accounts! She admitted to us, her claim against her male boss was totally false, but she felt she “deserved it” as she had tried and her life was hard! False claims are common but so are actual proven rapes of female employees!
Male teachers, who have sex with students are vile and have always been jailed, while boys who get sexual experience from a female teacher are considered lucky! Only recently have women offenders been thrown jail too!
I believe aggressive entertainers help us see women as more deserving of respect!
To me it’s obvious that both men and women share a pool of “givens”, values and opportunities that are jointly carried by the community. Just that men may be more obviously offensive in expressing offensive and selfish attitudes and actions.
I believe that it’s the unique, strong adventurous women, from Joan of Arc to the pop entertainers of today, who are self driven and stretch and refashion invisible boundaries.
That ends up with a new consensus.
Some objections are trivial. Today folk question why men’s nipples are OK in public but women’s are if exposed! But just a decade ago, a Volvo dealer wanted assurance and proof that she had my permission to buy a car! That she had her own credit card and checks with her name, had no bearing on the matter!
It’s part of the nonsense that suppresses women and devalues them. But the entire society is at fault, not just men. We are one civilization! We just express norms differently.
Asher