Growing up in my household my family never really talked about gender or,

sexuality. These topics never even crossed my mind as a child, I guess you can say I
was a wild boy always playing and running around. I would always play sports or, play
video games, never even thought about dolls or, anything in a feminine manner. I would
have to say that the reason I turned out the way I did was exposure to sports at an early
age which was typically a “boy activity”. I believe that there is no normal, normal is
whatever you feel because it is opinionated by others. I believe you can be whatever
you want to be and no one can change that or, that that away from you. Growing up
around a brother is what engraved my path, as not being exposed to feminine matters
as well.
Considering, the favorable parts of being a man would have to be with the
advantages you can utilize with your natural strength. I can see why some jobs just
can’t be as productive with women rather than men, such as careers that require heavy
lifting. There is a reason why women ask men to walk them to their car at night because
a woman can’t protect herself from an attacker, for a man can protect her and himself.
Similar to what Sarah Showfety describes in “Field Guide to the Tomboy” when she
talks about the reasoning behind girls wanting to be masculine. Showfety states, “
Masculinity- as measured by such traits as aggression, leadership, individualism, and
self-reliance- also correlates with higher self-esteem in both boys and girls”(322).
Showfety tries to show how tomboy’s want to be more masculine than most girls which
can relate to how masculinity has its advantages, being masculine is a preference to
many women as they don’t enjoy feminine activities as other women.
In particular, the obvious advantages of being a male is never having to endure
the pain of birth and menstruation. Men might have physical strength but not the
strength to experience such insane resilience for teeth clenching pain. Men will never
understand what women go through in those aspects which is a mercy upon all men. In
contrast to Hailey Yook’s perspective of sexism in “Chivalry Isn’t Dead, but It Should be”
she goes on to talk about the judgement of women and men and how the differences
between them often lead to acts of sexism. Yook illustrates, “recognizing subtle forms of
gender discrimination allows us to see just how systemic sexism truly is and helps us
get that much closer to achieving gender equality”(339). Yook is trying to explain how
men and women are becoming more equal as society evolves but there are somethings
women and men will never be equal with, such as my example of giving birth which is a
impossibility to men.
Men lack few things that women have such as, men don’t get as much emotional
support as women do. Men can’t often go to other men for help as it is seen as
“unmanly” while women can go talk to other women when in need of help. In similarity to
Andrew Romano’s “What Does It Mean to Be Masculine” he goes on to explain that
being there for family makes you more of a man than it does to be macho. Romano
states, “what’s more masculine being strong and silent or, actually fulfilling your half of
the bargain”(333). The way I perceived this passage is that for men to be “manly” they
have to stay strong by themselves, and staying silent is a reference to men not
engaging with each other when in need of help. Men often become more depressed
than women do, for men can’t talk to other men for emotional support the depression
builds up secretly as they keep it to themselves.
Lastly, another con men have that women don’t is society’s view on men vs.
women’s issues and problems. Men have this image bestowed upon them that
whenever we have a problem we are supposed to suck it up and deal with it because
“it’s not a big deal”, but when a woman has an issue it becomes a crisis and needs to be
dealt with pronto. In “A Life in Two Genders” Jennifer Finney Boylan describes her
choice to be whatever gender she chooses and it shouldn’t matter to anyone else if they
don’t get it. Boylan illustrates, “Whether I “really” am a woman, or whether I “had a
choice” or not, or whether anything no longer matters”(328). I really just took this as a
cry out for help for both men and women as they both go through their own problems
and whether somethings get addressed or not is up to society and the “norm”. In most
cases women always get addressed before men but still women fight for equal
treatment and rights in society but when they want men to do something they
completely ignore all their equal treatment.
In conclusion, Men and women both have their pros and cons: Strength,
emotional support, pain and endeavours, and exception of problems in life. I learned
that although men and women will always be different from each other but they will and
should be treated equally as individuals.