Debate Unlimited Forum

[flammifer]

Who's the best off overall, men or women? Why?

(Inspired by the abortion thread, and by reading a few interesting pages on the problem of male sexuality, fulfilling men, and other topics ...)

Edit to add: This isn't only about pregnancy, but about life in general: work, marriage, sex, rape, war ...

[mortato]

top option is unselectable?

[Henry Wiltcher]

Very funny.

[flammifer]

Whoops, sorry, I screwed up with the poll. Hey, it's nearly 1 am here, now it should be fixed

[Henry Wiltcher]

This is hard to say, because on the one hand, I'm glad I don't have to go through the pregnancy, but on the other I have to trust the woman to do it for me. I think at the end of the day women are better off because they have that choice.

[flammifer]

This isn't only about pregnancy, but about life in general: work, marriage, sex, rape, war ...

[Henry Wiltcher]

Oh oops, men are better off. Shame I can't change my vote.

[G. Whiz]

The option "equally well off" is missing.

[flammifer]

Well, yeah, but I didn't want too many options. The balance's gotta tip one side or the other, even by miniscule amount ... I myself find it hard to tell, so I'm waiting to see which arguments people come up with.

Henry: those pages I link to in the first post tend to point towards something like "our society is nicer to women than to men, but men suffer silently", which admittedly isn't really the same thing; still, they're an interesting read and present some unusual views.

[Raskolnikov]

I really can only phrase the question this way:"Would I prefer to be a woman?" The only experience I have is that of being a man. And I dispose only of accounts of others' experiences of what it is to be a woman. Based on that, my answer is: I'm happy to be a man. There is nothing specific to the female sex that I genuinely envy.

[Silenoz]

From the outside, it looks like being a woman really sucks.

Right off the bat, there is menstruation, cramps, and pregnancy.

Then you've got male physical dominance, as on average, men are significantly stronger than women.

This most likely led to the roots of long-living patriarchies, many of which certainly led to serious abuse.

Thousands of years later women are just getting suffrage in US.

Now its 2008 and Islam is growing at an astonishing rate, and women are second-class citizens within the more conservative cultures.

[Jenni]

Then there's the female genital mutilation.

[Henry Wiltcher]

Men get kicked in the balls.

[G. Whiz]

Women live longer.

[StephenAI]

Women needn't get pregnant if pregnancy be such a vile thing to them, especially women in the west.

If you are a woman of the west, generally speaking you've got the nuts, got it made, got the world in the palm of your hand whether you realize this or not. Women of the west have no right to complain about anything, being favoured by law, public perception, and by males themselves if you happen to be sexy looking. If not, no matter, you are free to have children with whomever you want, keep the children and be rid of the sperm doner. You have it all...

[Markaba 2.0]

Once again I have to agree with Stephen (now I'm getting worried :-p), though I'd add that in one sense it's only fair considering that men had all the advantages for most of human history.

[xiphoid]

I've always hated being a woman.

I've also always thought I should have been born a man (if I had to be born at all).

I don't know if this means that I think men have it easier, but I'm not a fan of most of what being a woman entails.

[Markaba 2.0]

[Henry Wiltcher]

[Markaba 2.0]

True. All I'm really saying is that I can't really resent women for having it easier than men (at least here in the West), but I empathize with men who have a hard time fitting into this culture for one reason or another (of which I count myself.)

[andkon]

[G. Whiz]

Markaba, being a little girl wasn't so great when I was one. It may look better from the outside than it is when you're living it.

[ScottyDoesKnow]

[Raskolnikov]

[Clancy]