Following on from my previous ‘people, people!’ Comic ‘Americans vs people’, Gel Mel is now going to tackle gender stereotyping.
The first comic makes me giggle. The first time I showed it to people I got both the responses ‘well I think little boys are harder work than little girls’ and ‘I actually think the opposite – little girls are harder’. Despite the fact that there is literally no scientific evidence to back up this stupid statement, people still cling to it (in both forms). I’m really not sure why and don’t know what to do about it, so I’m just gonna have Gel Mel correct it for you all.
This is almost word for word a comment I found on a feminist post on Facebook. It read ‘you can’t tell what a man is like by how they act when you agree with them but by how they act when you don’t’. Or some sort of pompous, supercilious drivel like that. I believe it was accompanied by a picture of a smug young woman. The whole conversation irritated me if I’m honest, but this particular one most of all. I’m a feminist. My husband’s a feminist. Every person in the world with any sense is a feminist. Being feminist is a good thing – it means you believe in equality. Real equality. This kind of man bashing attitude doesn’t do any of us any good.
There are other issues with this comment. It doesn’t specify how the disagreement is voiced. The assumption that you can talk to someone in any way you like and expect them to behave well in response is a dangerous one. And from reading the comments attached to this post that was exactly the expectation. Most women on there expected to be able to rage, swear and scream at the men who dared defy them and would cry ‘don’t censor my voice’ if they were called on it. But god forbid any man act the same way. The point of this comic is to show my annoyance at gender stereotyping from feminists – if we want equality we need to work to raise women up, not bring men down.
Good communication skills are a must. We have to be able to communicate boundaries calmly and clearly. We also have to know when to set boundaries and when to provide consequences. If you want more on this read my take on boundary setting, consequences, emotional manipulation and punishment.
