Sean Petersen

A Brutally Honest Opinion on How Men are Treated

DISCLAIMER: I will be blunt. What this article is about will no doubt offend people. I stated in my previous articles that people get offended easily nowadays, and I will stand by that. But please, before you grab your pitchforks and burn me at the stake, hear me out. Please do try to keep an open mind when reading this. I for one will try my absolute best to stay calm and unbiased, but I can make no guarantees, for I am human and can therefore err. Ladies, please please know that I mean absolutely no disrespect, but I am going to be honest based on my own experiences. I apologize in advance for any hurt feelings, and if you’d like to hash it out with, please do so in a polite and non-confrontational way, and I shall be happy to hear your statements. Otherwise, I fear I have no patience for hostility. Men, I do hope you take some pride in this, as I am rooting for you.

I am a man. I identify as he/him/his, and I am 100% male in every sense of the word. But I am also a feminist. I agree that women are treated unfairly, I agree that women do not receive nearly as much credit as they should, and I agree that men wrong women on a regular basis. But I also think that the opposite is true. Women hurt men as well. Perhaps not as violently or as tragically, but their methods still hurt. I can understand why ladies are so distrustful of men, but their reasons are no excuse for their behavior. I am not annoyed that women condemn and despise the rapists and criminals that so wrong them; on the contrary, I sympathize completely. They ought to burn and rot for what they do. What truly annoys and saddens me is the fact that some, not all, but some women condemn and despise ALL men because of the rapists and criminals that so wrong them. They hear stories of truly terrible men (like a certain presidential ape. Not pulling my punches today) and assume that all men are swines that only want sex, violence, and maybe some more sex. That hurts a lot. For sure, awful men exist, just as awful women exist. But would it be fair to call every fine lady out there a slut just because I heard a story about some female prostitutes that seduced and drugged a young man? Certainly not. So why do women think it is acceptable to shame an entire gender because of a few rotten eggs? To treat men like animals is to deprive us of our freedom, and I am certain that no man wants that. We are flesh and blood, and we have feelings. We cry, we ache, we smile, we laugh. Despite what the media may portray, we want to be loved. Very few of us are natural idiots who possess the IQ’s of chipmunks and can only think past what chick to bang in our suped-up Mustang tonight. We are intelligent and we are not blind. The media lately likes to portray most husbands as bumbling idiots and all teenage boys as hormone-fueled sex machines. Well, that hurts too. Would you ladies find it acceptable if all the women on TV were bimbos or your garden-variety tease? I doubt it…and yet, whenever a slightly offensive portrayal enters the ring, the feminists and activists take to media in storm. And yet, men are slandered nearly every commercial, with the woman being the only intelligent person in the goddamn household (As Brian Regan puts it, “the wife walks home and what does she see? Kids are on fire, the kitchen’s melting, and the moron husband’s all tangled up in the blinds!”). But rarely, if ever, do you see a firestorm of male activists taking to media. Why? Well, the answer is unclear. Perhaps all those straight white males out there don’t care enough to address the problem. Perhaps they fear to go against the media stereotype of butch, fearless, stoic nobles. Or perhaps they fear women. For what proper man would dare to suggest switching the roles in the family? Women, you have far more power than you realize. You are all very strong, you are all very intimidating when you want to be, and you are (mostly) very well spoken. You hold your own and you stand your ground, and that terrifies me. Not because you will do wrong, but because you will do right by you. And unfortunately, as I have seen, right by you means crushing all men under your boot. Not because you want to, goodness no. But because of some dreadful stories and hateful stereotypes. You fear us, and that makes me sad. We are the same species, and if not for this civilization that makes us so unique, we would not see these issues that so plague our society. And yes, some men are disgusting and vile, but they are a minority, I assure you. For you to assume we will only notice you because you are wearing a short skirt is not only damaging to our pride, but to our wellness. Will we notice you because you wear a short skirt? Probably yes. But is that the ONLY reason we will notice you? Absolutely not. Never ever assume we are as two-dimensional as you would like us to be, for that puts you on the same plane as men who view women as nothing but pleasure objects. Please give us a chance, and rather than assume our inherent nature is to harm, assume we just want to be given a chance. To see goodness in others is the most wonderful aspect of humanity, and very few do anymore. We focus too much on how we can get ahead or whether or not to trust someone, and we miss out on the opportunity to make new friends. So please, ladies, do not hate men. We do not want to hurt you, just as I am sure you do not wish to hurt us. We all share this world, so I promise I will help you if you help me. Think before you speak, smile when you do, and we will all get along fine.

O feeble one!

Well-meaning but feeble one!

Where hardship is, they assume there is no goodness.

Where danger lies, they think there is no courage.

O feebleness, that believes no good whatsoever!

O hasty judgement! O premature despair!