I mostly agree with Human [Revolution] on this. You’re an apologist.
Further, it is your attitude that is degrading to men, not the women who are demanding they do better.
I’ll ask you to consider a few things now.
You said 95% of men are just dumb. That’s going to include your own father, uncles, brothers cousins. Just because they haven’t behaved that way toward you, doesn’t mean they haven’t behaved that way, in a demeaning or degrading fashion, toward every woman they’ve ever crossed paths with through their whole life.
When you say "men are just dumb" you’re giving them a pass for inconsistent behavior because it doesn’t affect you personally. You’re advocating for all women to wear the same blinders you do at the expense and harm of other women because it allows you to live comfortably around those men.
When you say "they’re just shy and awkward, they should be excused because it’s so hard to approach a woman for a date" you’re infantalizing men and putting yourself on a pedestal.
Do you think a hiring manager is going to give them a pass as well or will they be expected to show competence for the position they’re interviewing for?
Is their instructor going to give them a pass or will they have to prove they’ve learned the material in order to advance in education or professional credentialing?
Is the bank going to give them a pass when they apply for a loan or will they have to demonstrate that they can repay the loan?
No. Nowhere else in life does anyone suggest men should get a pass for not being able to conduct themselves in an adult manner in any situation dependent on social interactions, of which there are many.
You’d have us believe that approaching a woman to ask for a date is harder than any of those things that men must navigate every day. Harder than defending a thesis for a PhD, harder than teaching a class, harder than convincing a client that your solution is the best for their business, harder than handling an interaction with a traffic cop, harder than going to the doctor, harder than confessing to your priest, harder than parenting their own children, harder than living virtually any other aspect of life.
Well. I mean, I don’t know what else to say other than that if you truly believe that, then you must not think very much of men or men’s capabilities. Either you’re an actual Goddess who might smite them if they looked at you sideways or you believe they are all hopeless buffoons, children who have to be pandered to, cared for, scolded, and given allowances for all the most basic things because they are undeveloped. You think they’re less than you.
Do you plan to spend your entire life wiping their asses for them too?
Your article is misandrist thinking wrapped up in a pretty bow. It’s the opposite of benevolent paternalism. It’s benevolent maternalism that acts to gate keep and it’s not going to fly.
Men are not incompetent. Social interactions are an inherent part of being human. Nobody gets a pass. Not men. Not anyone else. It is not harder to approach a woman than any other example of social interactions, provided the man in question also sees the humanity of the woman in question. Men can and should step up here or risk being left behind. Requiring them to conduct themselves like functional adults is not putting too much on them or beyond their capabilities. They are not poor pathetic little waifs with miniscule shoulders that can’t handle life. They are men. Grown men.
