history, has taught us nothing
this is a sociology students dream topic for an exam essay, however, I'll simply give my opinion. `It seems men are now reaping the harvest of their deeds against women, through the many many years of inequality and abuse, the prejudice and corruption of females, and sadly it continues in many new distorted guises. And the fruit that men are now seen for what they are, and have demonstrated themselves as being. A classic example today in front of me, a guy and his girlfriend were arguing, his answer was to excalate to viollence and throw her at a car, and aggresivley man handle her, while shouting at her YOU C--t etc etc, so I got out of my car between them to shield her and faced him down, he didnt want to take me on so he backed down, but continued using the c word at her through the journey. Theres more to that, I sat there and did my job, watching him incase he tried to hurt her again, all the time thinking, well, there goes yet another nail in the coffin of men. Men are an inefficient, badly designed, out dated, lacking in any useful features or qualities, and women are simply far more evolved, truth hurts doesnt it. I really feel that men are becoming surplus to requirement, I know thats a very subjective statement, but sadly I feel theres truth in it. Another sad thing, is that men are so high on their own hype that, theyd rather perish than solve the problem.
What have we seen in resent years, high profile performers promoting empowermnt in women(spice girls, shania twain, bonnie raitt) saying to girls, Its great to be a girl, its great to have choices and take control of your life and shape your destiny. Theyve provided very powerful emotive messages and role models.
What have men done........continued down the same dark road(preferably as long as your on the other side of the street from a woman, because if your a man then your probably a rapist) its a sad world isnt it, when youve got to be told by public information ads, to "walk on the opposite side of a street from a woman", soon there will probably be places that men cannot walk at all. Need I really go on about the proliferation of porn and erotic imagery available on ie. sky, hmmmm let me think, did women think of that or..........oops that was men too oh dear. Oh and the rise in sex crimes, linked to the proportionate availability of said porn?.....er our survey said a huge 95% YES...oh dear. I wont go on about all the other evil acts that men are and have been responsilble for, suffice to say that on a judgment day deal it wouldnt be looking good. SO come on guys for Fs sake switch on, though I feel its simply too late for salvage.
Just to say, that I got that girl away , safley to her friends, she' was shaken, and very scared, as we drove she kept repeating " I HATE ALL MEN!!!" I felt it was pointless saying anything, so gave her my bar of chocolate and made sure her friends picked her up.
Hmmm, now I have to rethink myself
This is a great topic. I have had to really think about some things as I have been reading through this. It's especially ironic after what I just posted on another thread. Just goes to show that I still have a lot to learn about life (but at least I'm willing to).
I have always been one of the "Rah! Rah! Go Women! Men Suck!" club. But, as pointed out here, that is perhaps an overly simplistic viewpoint. I must admit, I have met my fair share of women that ranged anywhere from utterly worthless to downright sick and sadistic. I have also met my share of intelligent, understanding, empathic men. But I will say that in both cases they have been the minority.
One of my great loves is the study of history. Of course, history (and it's truths) can be argued and debated as much as any other topic in life. But in looking at a broad overview of history, I have noted a definite cyclical trend. It is often believed that in the Pre-Roman Era, many of the cultures were Matriarchal (Female dominant) in nature. In these cases, the women were the decision makers and the honored, respected members of society; Men were viewed strictly as hunters, warriors, and instruments of reproduction. That would seem to be a very limited image of Men, similar to what Nyx is talking about.
On the other hand, at some point in history, humanity seemed to shift to a Patriarchal culture. In this mode, Men were the decision makers and the honored, respected members of society. Women were, for the most part, practically slaves of their fathers or husbands. This is the era that produced the idea that "Women should be barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen." That, too, would seem like a very limited image of Women.
We, as enlightened human beings, tried to bring about a balance, by declaring women in a Patriarchal society equal to men. While that may be our goal, our execution of said plan has certainly left something to be desired. Maybe that's because we never work as a single, unified entity. Any good plan is going to get corrupted by the individual (and often greedy, short-sighted) plans of people. What we appear to be accomplishing is a transition back toward the Matriarchal dominance, where the image of Men is again very limited. Since it's a transition period, though, both sides have quality arguments that they are being viewed in a very limited manner.
As to the idea that M2F CDs are the way they are because a negative self-image has been forced upon them, and that they are trying to resolve it in a less than healthy way, I think that may be generalizing things a bit too much. That's where the other irony comes in for me, as I justed stated my opinion on the base motivation for all of us M2Fs on another thread. Honestly, we are all individuals; while it's true that, at some deep level, our motivations may all share a common source, I believe that we are all individuals. There are as many reasons for us doing this as there are of us.
It's not the act, in and of itself, that's harmful. It's the how and why's of it that can be. Just like anything else. Moderation could be the key to everything. If you, as an individual, are using crossdressing as an escape from reality, as a way to avoid dealing with some hurt in your life that you are not ready to face, then yea; that's probably not the healthiest thing to be doing. In the long run, you'd be better off working with a Therapist. But that doesn't mean that everyone who crossdresses is doing that.
I'll give you an example from a different area of life. I'm sure most of you know what Amphetamines are. They are a class of stimulant drugs, often referred to as Speed and other names. These drugs can serve many different purposes. Medical science has discovered that, under the right circumstances and used in moderation, Amphetamines can be used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. On the other hand, some historians have been discovering records that indicate the entire Nazi Army in World War II was being given extremely high doses of Amphetamines to improve their agressiveness and performance; some even think that "speed poisoning" may have lead to Hitler's downfall, as he was apparently a "speed freak" himself. And that's not even mentioning the modern day narcotics industry that has adapted it into such wonderful things as Crystal Meth.
I have yet to see a 100% positive or negative in this universe for myself. Everything has the potential to be harmful or helpful; unfortunately, our view is limited, and we are not always able to see both sides of the coin in every situation.
Me personally, I think the denigration of men is just something we are going to have to live with. Whether we like it or not, nature has it's own way of attempting to maintain a balance no matter what we do. Men (as a whole) had a position of power over women for millenia, and it appears that most of them abused that privilege. As their successors, we are burdened with paying the price for it; we can't fight it, but we have the choice as to whether it breaks us or makes us stronger.
Okay, now I really need to go do something else for a while :D
Brandy Marie Devereaux
