I love the idea of men as protectors. The problem is that so few men actually protect as they have such a limited idea of what that means.
Our culture tends to think that "protecting" means having big biceps and being ready to punch someone, while actually that's only about 2% of the equation.
The protecting that is really needed is protecting the understanding of women as sovereign creatures in the world. We need protecting from the casual acceptance of women as objects that serve others.
The vast majority of actual protection doesn't look like time at the gym, it looks like not laughing at rape jokes.
Replies (7)
I have to disagree. Any idea that needs protecting isn't built to last. Ideas shouldn't be protected, they should be challenged to the extreme because that is what will happen at some point.
If men stop protecting an idea, does that mean the idea was unfit for survival? Probably. Everyone has beliefs of how society should be constructed and what roles each gender should play, but all of them are Utopian fantasies because people are chaotic and try to break the rules they are given.
The first decentralized protocol wasn't built on the internet, it is human psychology. That source code has been proliferated to so many corners of the world, you have no hope of modifying it.
To get half of the world population to collectively agree a specific idea is unfunny in the name of honor is an idea too shaky to implement. It doesn't happen for a reason. You might need to change your viewpoint because this belief is manufactured on unstable soil.
How about the ideas of freedom, human rights, privacy?
Men can skimp on being good protectors, especially if they know they don't have to compete against trustless personal machines acting as a fallback choice, and can resort to selective non-enforcements & obfuscation to compromise the integrity of laws & material culture, to bypass consent of future victims.
Rape jokes become proportionally less funny the more real rapes are happening in the territory. If rape is seen as a near impossibly, then expect the context to decide if rape jokes are funny - especially if being used to highlight an absurd exaggeration.
Dogs good, people bad
Using 'Heads on Spikes' as Performance Art can work wonders
My mom never hugged me. I don't think she knew how.
That's sad.
