slightly ambigious post
Feel really quite hurt and offended when men say (seriously) that they hate women but not so much when women (seriously) say that they hate men. Wonder if this is normal or if I am too oversensitive or hypocritical or something. (I am.)
April 11, 2009 @ 2:20 am
Well, this may be generational on my part, but the reality I’ve lived with all my life is that men can and do quite seriously hurt women, so their words carry more weight, whereas women are much less likely to hurt men (as a group, individual anecdata aside), so their words I read as venting, not as (potential) threat. How many times does a woman pick up a gun and kill ex husband and all the kids, after all?
April 11, 2009 @ 9:41 am
I’m reminded of a documentary I watched the other night about a man who, on having money problems, killed his wife and daughter and all their pets and burned the house down with him inside it. My dad told me some men sort of have that wired up in them, the idea that if he has to go he’s taking the family with him as well. Depressed me no end.
April 11, 2009 @ 8:23 am
The whole “all men are bastards” thing has almost become devoid of its true meaning – it’s just something which is uttered when people are angry at the opposite sex, and doesn’t mean that all men actually ARE bastards. I don’t think “I hate women” sentiments have that aspect – they’ve got a much harder edge to them. So, yeah, I think saying “I hate men” is in theory just as offensive but the phrases don’t necessarily carry the same weight. Or something. It’s early and I need a cup of tea.
April 11, 2009 @ 9:45 am
I know what you mean. I think a man saying “I hate women” just has a threatening edge to it that women’s statements about men don’t have…