http://www.buzzfeed.com/candacelowr...act-when-they-see-a-woman-abuse-a-man-in?bffb Got linked to me this morning on Facebook, but just saw it now. I mean, this is basically the real life example of why this is such a common trope
I have two sisters, my parents have always forbid me to hit them in any shape or form. When my sisters hit me they were pretty quick to shrug it off though. Not that it happened often, but still. They expected me to become Sanji or something. I' ve learned to endure, block, dodge and immobilize. And not just with girls, I' ve never hit anyone. Well, outside of my karate lessons that is. A friend of mine started hitting me frantically once. It was all in jest, she was kidding, but my reflex was to grab both her hands and immobilize them. I think I scared her for a second, but hey, I' m no punching bag.
I think part of this is that people believe that guys can handle themselves better then girls can. They are typically viewed as both physically and mentally stronger, meanwhile a girl is simply a damsel. Culture and what we see on tv, read in books, see in videogames, generally support this concept that males handle themselves better and females need rescued because most of the time if someone needs rescued it is a female. Even when there isn't you look at two protagonists in the same piece of media and the female has a more emotional reaction. For example Snow and Lightning. Lightning emotions came through as anger half the time but they where still there and obvious. Because of even emotional reactions it is often seen the female needs help more often, not the male. I do not agree with the fact there is a double standard and that guys don't need help, but the world around us tries to say men are strong enough to handle themselves, when in reality they might not show it all the time but they need help just as much and experience the same emotional harm as females. People fight for women to be treated equally, should that not also include in negative ways if they are the source of abuse not getting abused? For equality you have to take on same responsibility and consequences and it seems at this point not everyone understands that.
I think the big catch is that the guys probably COULD handle it in a lot of the cases... but if they did you'd have the reaction from the first experiment. You could potentially have charges pressed against you. It's not just the idea that men can handle themselves, looking at the reactions it's also people being amused, most likely along the lines of "what did he do to deserve it?" Like @Patman said, it's just kinda and accepted rule that you don't hit a lady.
Abusers come in all forms. When I worked as a teaching assistant, one of the girls seemed to be physically abusing her younger brother on the playground. Not saying she really hurt him, but she was quite relentless, and she got in trouble a'' the same when on the school grounds. As long as the abusers are treated equally in that they're punished appropriately, sex should not matter. Saying that, I'd hit anyone if the conditions were right. Saying that, the condition has never been right and will doubtfully ever be as such. Women aren't inherently angels, precious and fragile beings. I've seen a woman beat the **** out of a guy almost double her height and break his arm. I'd welcome her help any day if I was in a situation, but i doubt I could handle a fight against her. Being human usually means asserting a dominance over others, men are just typically the ones seen as needing to use physical violence to accomplish it.
Not only have women been seen as fragile beings but are currently fighting centuries of oppression and since society says "Men are the stronger sex" it assumes they can handle it when that shouldn't be the case. I see pictures of "It's never okay to hit a woman" but really it should never be okay to hit anyone- perhaps some circumstances call for it and, as PaW said, sex shouldn't matter but it does become a factor because of feminism.
There aren't many good reasons to hit someone, but if this is anything to go by people are more likely to assume there's a good reason when a woman is involved
I'd never hit a woman but I will throw your *** over my shoulder and throw you in the nearest body of water. That should give me enough time to get far enough away from you. The only time I'd ever raise a fist to a woman is if she was a body builder and she could rip me in half ... but by that point I'm using a tire iron. I'm about as far away from feminism as you can get. I hold women in higher regards than men. I'd break it up if I seen a woman abusing a guy. That's bull**** no matter the gender. -Nights
The female abuse being silly idea is an extension of the stereotype that makes people flip out when a man is abusive to a woman. Men are 'supposed to be' strong, silent, and thick skinned. They can take both physical and verbal blows without trouble. Women are 'supposed to be' frail, talkative, and sensitive. They cannot take either physical or verbal blows without trouble. Picking on the weak is considered worse than picking on the strong. Put them together and you get double standards for abuse. If you have ever heard the phrase 'patriarchy hurts both sides', you have just seen what it means. This is an example of how archetypes of male power and female weakness hurt men and women alike.
Because this is a world where discrimination and hate linger in all parts of the world. Call it whatever people want it to be whether it be karma or justice, but this is the kind of crap that infuriates me. There is no justification for a woman to beat up a man just because it is considered "socially acceptable". It's a poor (and a "feminist") excuse. It goes the same for men, but the way the world treats this towards woman is unacceptable. How could people be so satisfied and accepting to see a man get beaten by a woman in the same situation? Lots of people cry out for gender equality, but does that include bringing down males to a position where abuse can be acceptable for woman to inflict, but not for men? If it's in self-defense, then there should not be an issue. Even still, that's not a good enough reason for many to accept the fact that a man had to defend himself because of the abuse he has taken. Male abuse exists, don't get me wrong, but that's a common statement. How many males walk this earth, knowing that once they come home, they have to fight verbal and physical battles with their partners, only to know in the end, they suffer? The public is sympathetic to the females victims, but they consider the men as "weak" and "pitiful." There are men just as, if not more, fragile than females out there. Who would look out for them if all the public see is someone who should stand for himself and the abusive female as a "shining example of woman equality?"
Completely agreed with this. It's almost as if people think men deserve it and group them all together, punishing one is like punishing them all for centuries of female oppression when that shouldn't be the case at all. Like it's seen as a "women fighting back" but not all men (I recon the numbers decrease as time goes on but I don't know) believe women to be inferior and "gender equality" should be implemented across all planes and not just the ones that benefit women i.e. this.
Any feminist that does not see this as a shining example the effects of patriarchy is no feminist at all. Picking and choosing the effects of a bad standard that suit you is not fighting the standards. It's twisting them for your own ends.
