Title: Why men should care about gender stereotypes - The F-Word
Headings: Why men should care about gender stereotypes
Why men should care about gender stereotypes
Alex Gibson considers the harm done by stereotypes of men as beer-swilling, emotionally-stunted brutes

Content: I would never dare to suggest that men have a harder time than women in general society, because that’s just patently untrue, but in terms of stereotypes we fail utterly. Male perceptions of women are designed to make us feel smug in our superiority, but the way we’ve chosen to label ourselves should make any man feel thoroughly humiliated and ashamed of his gender. Men are often characterised as spoiled, helpless brats utterly unable to perform simple household tasks, too stupid to remember anniversaries and appointments and completely unable to understand these strange female creatures and their hysterical emotions. We’re base brutes ruled by our overactive sex drives who simply can’t help being crass and immature, because that is the way God made us. Basically, we are mentally deficient lumps who require a female carer to function in society. This is precisely the kind of ridiculous stereotype that, if applied to women, would be torn to shreds in intelligent debate. So why don’t men object at being labelled emotional morons totally in thrall to their basest instincts? Here’s the thing: men don’t have anything remotely equivalent to feminism. From an early age, women are aware of their gender and what it means for their lives, far more than men are.