Men Think I Hate Them

It's true when they say age is only a number. There is no reason why we have to act our age, live up to somebody else's expectations of how we should look, talk, dress, and present ourselves in the world. Same with gender. It's only a label, but it's dangerous when enforced.

In a world where we make assumptions and generalizations like we eat and breathe, it's funny to watch people react to what other people say.

I was born in 1964. I lived a long time before the #MeToo movement ever happened. I know how objectification feels. It sucks being treated as the sum of your looks and in comparison to some unrealistic ideal. Ever since my hair grew out gray, I have definitely noticed a difference in how men react to my presence.

I know most older women are not as visually appealing to straight men as we once might have been, and even though you guys still largely make the rules, you aren’t so great-looking either.

Older women might be gravitationally challenged, hairy, and wrinkly, but men can look down their pants anytime and I guarantee we look better than that! I'm assuming, of course, that more women than men will be reading this blog, but like I said in my intro post, assumptions are worthless.

I personally don't understand why so many men, who were largely raised by women, turn out the way they do. You would think they would make the connection between their mother and other women they interact with throughout their lives, and see us as fully and equally human. But then, I've never had kids so I've never tried to raise a boy in this culture.

Gender enforcement sucks. I am so glad that's changing and moving into public awareness, even if it is slower than dogsnot. I wish people were not so appearance-obsessed, and insecure about their gender identity.

I am glad, and I think, lucky, to be born female and comfortable in my body-cisgender, that is, because it's easier. I don't totally grasp, but do appreciate, the difficulty that people who feel born into the wrong body, experience in trying to make it right for them in a world that hasn't caught up to that level of awareness and comfort.

I've always been uncomfortable with the traditional expectations that go along with gender. I used to throw temper tantrums as a kid when my mom tried to put ribbons in my hair or make me wear dresses.

But the thing that drives me crazy now is cisgender straight men who are insecure about their place in the world relative to everyone else, and feel so threatened by anyone different than themselves. They are so sensitive to any perceived criticism, and so thin-skinned. That entitlement to power is going to be the death of all of us.

Photo: Pixabay