Which gender would you say has it worse?

Growing up I always thought women had it worse, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s cut pretty evenly. Our gender-specific challenges are neatly balanced. That only holds in black-and-white definitions of gender, though. And we all know it isn’t that simple.

To make such a determination, I would have to be thinking in such broad generalities that I don’t find it useful to contemplate the question.

There are definitely pros and cons for both genders, but the fact that I can’t walk around with my shirt off and share my lovely titties to anyone who wants to see them like a man can (without potentially going to jail), kind of sucks.
And feeling like someone stabbed my uterus every 3–4 weeks isn’t too much fun either.

But there is no definite answer because we simply can’t evaluate who has it worse based off of gender. We can only base it off of comparing each individual human being because we all have our own set of problems and struggles.

I think people of both of the major genders can feel limited in their roles and suffer from imposed behavioral norms. Systemically, however, and globally women are worse off.

I don’t think one gender has it worse than the other——both males and females face various hardships and challenges specific to their gender. For example, males are expected to be tough——we send our sons off to war and expect them to be strong and not cry, we expect young men to be ambitious and live up to societal expectations of providing for their families and protecting them, and when they divorce they usually get the “short end of the stick” in custody battles for their children and financial support. In general, males also experience more physical violence in the greater society——statistically, they are more likely to be murdered on the streets, get into fights with other males, and die more in vehicle and job-related accidents.

On the other hand, females face more violence domestically, they are still discriminated in the workplace with unequal pay and stereotyping, and experience prejudicial, old-fashioned restrictions and attitudes culturally around the world.

So in the end, no gender really has it worse. It is a very difficult thing to assess, unless you have lived the “full” life of both male and female, and this of course is impossible.

I think that those who feel no connection to the binary system of male and female have it the worst.

It depends on where you live. In some countries living as a woman will give more than an advantage without you even realized about it. In my country many people value women more than men(not for their status but because they’re considered as weak beings then would be treated nicely and protected from harmfulness),most women won’t feel obliged and won’t be obliged to have high education(they simply need to looks beautiful,loyal,etc and get married). That’s why most girl I met after I graduated from my high school won’t go to university,most of them just want to be a good housewife and married to a rich man. Life is so easy,isn’t it? And so on.

And if you live in Arabic country living as a woman would be worse than ever. You’ll be treated as a servant of your husband,have no rights toward your belongings,and polygamy is a usual thing(It’s even recommended for all men).

What @tinyfaery said. But in the binary system, women have it worse. By far.

Transsexuals have a pretty bad time of it, I’d say.

I’d say women have it worse. That does mean that I think men have it perfect, of course not. There are problems on both sides, but I do think that women have it a little worse and historically, they had it much worse.

Definitely women

I don’t either have it worse than the other. It’s cut pretty evenly down the middle. Both sides have their perks and downfalls.

Transgendered individuals.

Pat

I really dont think this is a good question, i am sorry , mainly because there are so many other factors involved that determine if someone will have it good or not.

You seem to assume that gender is a binary thing.

Look at the transgender community and the transvestites who lack the funds and/or the motivation to “cross the line”. Guys can whip out a few inches of salami and women can flash their tits and both will feel more secure in their identity than someone who feels they were born in the wrong body. And that doesn’t even get into the discrimination against “guys in dresses” and “bull dykes”.

So I say that males and females have it pretty damn easy compared to “none of the above”.

women have it WAY worse. guys have no clue.

Yes transsexuals have it worse than most people, but so do people missing a limb or two.

@airowDee What do missing limbs have to do with gender though?

I would have to say women…maybe not so much these days but I definitely would not have liked to be a women 50 years ago, I think we have come a long way.

However, I saw a movie a while back (i can’t remember what it was called) and a there was a conversation in it that really stuck with me. The guy and the girl in the scene were having a discussion on this topic, and the guy said something along the lines of:
“women have the choice to be dependent on someone else, and men don’t have that choice…women will some day have everything men have, but that is one thing that won’t change…men will never be able to be dependent on someone else without being judged harshly for it”

But i think that squeezing something the size of a watermelon out of a hole..(thinking of some fruit that could represent the size)..much much much much much much smaller than that, and being a hormonal wreck for one week out of every fricken month, is a bit more of a worse deal than not being able to “choose” to be a “house husband”.

@airowDee I disagree – people who are missing a limb or two aren’t killed for missing them.

I would love it if my wife and I could spend a few months in each other’s body so we could each experience being one of the sex opposite to that we have inhabited.

I think that opportunity would increase our understanding of the other’s experiences in their body.

Does this sound too weird?

@Dr_Lawrence No, that sounds perfect.

Every few weeks a topic like this comes up it seems. In some parts of life, men have it easier. In other ways, women have it easier. There are also hundreds of other factors that can make someone’s life more difficult than someone elses.

@syzygy2600 But we’re not talking about individuals, are we? We’re talking about general patterns.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir Ok, fine. In general, there are areas of life where men have it easier, and there are also areas of life where women have it easier.

@syzygy2600 But generally speaking, in terms of political and business and cultural voice (science, mathematics, etc.) men have more representation and to some people the ‘outside world of politics and culture’ is valued more and therefore even if there is equal value to what is assigned to women (in all senses, it is equal, imo), others don’t perceive it that way so men are perceived by all others to be more powerful, the drivers of progress.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir It’s sad, but I agree. Men still rule the world when it comes to power and freedom.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir There are more women in post secondary education than men. The life of a man is treated as far more expendable in wartime than a woman’s. Women almost always have the advantage in child custody cases, and in cases where a woman and man commit an identical crime, the man will almost always get a harsher punishment. But keep feeling sorry for yourself.

@syzygy2600 First of all, I don’t feel sorry for myself. Second, I dont identify as a woman. Third of all, when I speak of these patterns I talk of women globally and not just the privileged white women in this country. As per custody cases, I do agree with you – women needn’t be favored just because they’re women.

Ferengi females.

@mattbrowne Ha, GA!

The book, “The Myth of Male Power,” is a real eye-opener. Read it if you have the courage and are open-minded.

Warren Farrell? Hahaha. That book has been refuted since it came out, like 20 years ago.
Fail. Try again.

It’s been widely criticized but not refuted.