Every person has an ideal image that he considers as the perfect specimen of each gender. Oftentimes, these images can be so far out of the ordinary that there is absolutely no way that a real person can achieve these ideals regardless of how hard that person tries. It is because of these misguided personas that gender bashing takes place. While it is widely believed that men who gather in groups do nothing but bash women, that does not exempt women from this activity either. The truth is that male-bashing is also a reality and the article “The Male Bashing Stereotype” proves this.
Through this article, one can deduce that the image of the perfect male has evolved over time. However, the male evolution has never been geared towards perfection. Such a type of evolution does not exist. Problems about the image and capabilities of men arose because of the way gender power, ability, and skills beliefs have been handed down from generation to generation. Thereby affecting the way men view themselves and the way women view the men whom they deal with regularly as well.
Indeed, the male species has been given specific responsibilities and capabilities in our society. But men do not necessarily have to fall into these stereotypes. This article is highly biased towards seeing men in a very bad light for some reason or another and it shows in the way that the writer depicts the men she has met throughout her life.
The article fails to make mention of the fact that not all men can be depicted as bums, degenerates, and louts just because of their ages, stations in life, and types of social enjoyment. Men, just like women, pass through stages in life that teach them how to become real men. All of the mistakes and lack of social molding that they show women during their youth are not the stuff that dictates the kind of men they will be in the future.
It is not fair to depict men as maladjusted or self-centered, as they are portrayed in the article. Although there are certain types of men who tend to remain chid and adolescent like for most of their lives, the reality is that these are the men who learn the hard lessons in life and become the responsible male leaders in their respective fields in due course and time.
We have to accept that men love to live their lives. But that does not mean that they only have disrespect for the women they come across socially or in the learning or work environment. Instead, these men should be viewed as the social indicators of a person’s ability to adjust to his environment. Learning to co-exist with men, regardless of their accomplishments or shortcomings in life is vital to the survival of the human race and further fuels the battle of the sexes.
Speaking of the battle of the sexes, it is my belief that the author of the article is one who is so female empowerment oriented that the author chooses to see only the negative on the opposite sex. One has to remember that each person will treat as they find. Therefore, if a woman wishes to command the respect of the male species, she must act in a manner that will make him respect her without the need for her to demand such.
The article wants us to believe that males are untrainable creatures who are only a step above the dog species. After all, women are viewed as cats, and males are viewed as dogs in some parts of the social world. Men in reality are really creatures who take their cue as to how to act around women themselves. Such a conclusion can be gleaned from the way the author unfairly projects the male to be socially inept creatures who need to always be drunk in order to function properly in life. Men, just like women, act the way their social circle dictates that they act. Nothing we ever see is reality. Everything is adjustable and changeable. Although the changes may not be permanent, the reality is that men are creatures of change as well. They just have to be told how they are expected to act.
I do not agree with the article insinuating that men spend most of their time thinking about sex and social activities alone. But then again the writer does admit that she is a feminist and she herself does not have any idea about the kind of man she would consider to be ideal. So, how can we say that she wrote an objective male-bashing stereotype paper?
Male bashing, just like female bashing, is not something that should be taken lightly and written about in such a light-hearted manner. Even though she tries to depict her views in a comedic way, the sharpness and intent of her words remain clear. In order to have written an objective article dealing with the male shortcomings, she must also have taken the time to balance it out by depicting the positive aspects of the male gender. After all, not all men are bad eggs and not all women are bad apples, right? It would not have hurt if she had mentioned that there were some exceptions to the rule. After all, there are some pretty good male catches out there that women can attest to.