Michael Buerk - Feminisation

[El D]

Do you agree with MB that society is over-emphasising 'feminine' values and neglecting the positives of 'masculinity'?

[flashpig]

Yes I do.

I know that socity was masculinised to the max, and I will see any efforts to redress this as a good thing, but I feel that there is some over-compensation, and a swing towards a feminised society.

But I feel that the feminisation of society doesn't serve anybody, apart from breed resentment. I feel that it is possibly an atempt to appease the women, but it doesn't create equality, just unequality the other way, and that doesn't solve anything, just substitute frying pan for fire.

Man and woman have coexisted as long as man and woman have existed. This is a battle that nobody wants to fight. Feminisation is an imposed idea, for the troops it is just an order shouted down by the officers. Men and women still fall in love, as they always have. They will still live together. We are on the same side of no mans land.

The media seems to be taking Buerk's comments with much outrage or whatever political point the paper wants to make, but during my life I've done some things, and one of them was read up on feminism, and one of the ideas I found was men and women being differently equal. And this makes sense to me.

The A-level results for example. Some say they are getting easier. This may be the case, but one thing that each year comes up is that girls outperform boys. Is this sexism? Possibly not consciously, but the equally different thing... the A-level isn't the gold standard, as it is ALWAYS said in papers. All tests show is your ability to pass tests, and different tests test diiferent things, perhaps the tests are better geared to 'female' skills. Or maybe men are layabouts only good for sperm. In which case, it seems, Buerk had it right.

[woofgang]

I think that part of the problem is that society has been conditioned to think of certain traits or values as masculine or feminine!!!

[metagirl]

i agree with woofgang.

I studied sociology at University (one of the top five in the US) and decided that I would never take another course with "gender" in the title again after finding myself getting sick and tired with all this faux labelling.

Honestly, depending on the time we live in, character/societal values will be labeled feminine or masculine. Weren't secretaries all men when the job first appeared on the scene?

What we need to be concerned about is people's daily lives - if they are treated fairly and have all they need to live a somewhat decent life.

I thought only tenured academics thought this sort of pop-sociology was important.

[woofgang]

Yes metagirl, when the typewriter was invented it was said that using one  was too complicated for a woman's brain to comprehend

Then again, take a look at my posts and count the typos!!

[morg_monster]

Yes I agree to a certain extent, but that is the way it has to be: after such a male dominated society it is going to be impossible to get it right straightaway.  Think of it as an oscillation.  At the moment the needle is swinging towards women's right - probably too far - but hey the men had it good for a long time.  Some people were so stuck on the traditional male-oriented views of the past that concerted efforts and reverse discrimination were needed to get the ball rolling.  (sorry for overuse of analogies..)!

In time the needle will swing back, maybe it will go a little too far again and women will complain that we are back in the dark ages.  Eventually it will settle down into a happy medium.  But we'll probably be extinct by then....

[woofgang]

yup, You can't correct an imbalance with a balance, you have to correct an imbalance with an imbalance

[dabees]

Vive la Differance

[Andy bloke]

Yes I wholeheartedly agree.

Firstly I've got to congratulate Michael for putting this into the spotlight

I listened with both admiration and disbelief at the program, admiration that someone prominent person has eventually found the balls to question the relentless PC quagmire our society has found itself in, and disbelief that it actually received an airing.

I felt utterly vindicated when one of the guest speakers said "why isn't it ok for a man NOT

[Andy bloke]

(continued from above)

to want to talk about things to their spouse"

Just watch the TV to see the lack of male positives

It really is about time things changed.

Well done MB 

[woofgang]

well yes, but there we are back to labelling traits as masculine or feminine, when actually they are neither