These are the top gender issues experienced in most western cultures, there are international gender issues that happen in addition to these also.
| Western Women’s issues | Western Men’s Issues |
|---|---|
| Rape & sexual assault Women are predominantly the target of rape and sexual assault. ⚬ In Canada women are 11.3 times more likely to be target of sexual assault ⚬ In England and Wales 1 in 5 women has been the target of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault ⚬ Australian women are approximately 4.4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than their male counterparts | Murder Men and boys are predominantly the target of murder. ⚬ In the US men represent 76.8% of murder victims ⚬ In Canada men are 3.5 times more likely to be target of Homicide and Attempted Murder ⚬ In Australia men have continued to be the most frequently murdered gender in every age bracket since 1989 with men aged 20-24 being murdered more frequently than women at rate of 3.5 – 1 ⚬ After eliminating age variance, Australian men are approximately 2.2 times more likely to murdered than women. ⚬ Globally the percentage of all people killed by intentional homicide are represented 21% by women, and 79% by men (The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Graph p14 Global Homocide Book). ⚬ In America 90.5% of drug related homocide are male ⚬ In America 94.6% of gang related homicide are male. |
| Domestic Violence Women are most frequently the subject of violence within the home, by people they know. ⚬ In the US women represent 63.7% of domestic homicide victims ⚬ Women in Canada are 1.2 times more likely to be the target of simple assault (minor harm) than men. | Non-Domestic Violence Men are most frequently the subject of violence that occurs outside of the home. ⚬ In Canada men are twice as likely to the target of Aggravated Assault than women. ⚬ In Canada men are 3.9 times more likely to be target of Assault ⚬ In Canada 80% of violent attacks by strangers were on men. ⚬ In Australia men 3 times more likely to be the target of violent robbery |
| Equal Employment Representation (High Power / high-pay) 7 years education required ⚬ Upper management ⚬ Political positions ⚬ Doctors ⚬ Lawyers ⚬ Engineering and other senior-technical skills The dictionary definition of patriarchy is a societal norm of awarding power and authority to men. This is particularly obvious when looking at high power/pay employment. ⚬ In 2010-11, 66% of all those aged 20-74 years employed as Managers were males (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, see heading Employed by Occupation) ⚬ Public sector – At June 2011, women comprised 57.5% of all Commonwealth Public Service employees but only held 35.3 per cent of Australian Government board appointments, with four Government portfolios meeting the gender balance target. (source HumanRights.gov.au) ⚬ Federal Parliament – In 2012, women make up 24.7% of elected positions in the Australian House of Representatives and 38.2% of the Australian Senate. source HumanRights.gov.au) ⚬ Women account for about 14% of acceptances of places in Australian university engineering courses, a figure that has not changed very much in recent years. (Source EngingeersAustralia.org.au see page 2, paragraph 2 of pdf) | Equal Employment Representation (Medium power – safe environment) jobs, 3-4 years education required ⚬ Nurses ⚬ Teachers ⚬ Office administration ⚬ Soft-skills related consultant Safe employment options with low travel times, clean work environment, minimal danger and low exposure issues that focus on nurture, care or emotional well-being are dominated by women. ⚬ In 2010-11, the largest proportion of the employed Australian population aged 20 to 74 years of age worked in the Health Care and Social Assistance industry. Of those employed in this industry 79% were females. (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, see heading Employed by Industry) ⚬ In 2010-11, 75% of all Australians aged 20-74 years employed as Clerical and Administrative workers were females (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, see heading Employed by Occupation) ⚬ In 2010-11, Of those people employed in the Education and Training industry, 70% were females (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, see heading Employed by Industry) |
| Equal Employment Representation (Medium power – safe environment) 3-4 years education required ⚬ Network engineer ⚬ Programmers ⚬ Technical consultant Labour related to technology is normally considered men’s work and is dominated by men. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2005 – 2006 approximately 85 per cent of the ICT industry’s 348,200 workers were male, and this has not changed over time, with ABS statistics indicating women represented only 16 per cent of the workforce in the late 1990s. ⚬ Australian Bureau of statistics, ICT Industry breakdown by age and gender | Equal Employment Representation Trade education (Low power, low risk, low pay) ⚬ Hairdresser ⚬ Nail specialist ⚬ Beauty therapist Women experience a societal gender obligation to be beautiful, therefore most trades related to appearance are considered to be “women’s work.” These roles also come with the benefit usually of low travel times, free of environmental hazards (sun/rain/cold etc) and are low risk. If men and women are to be seen as equal, there can be no “men’s work” or “women’s work”. ⚬ Nationally as of November 2012, there were 18,200 beauty therapists in Australia, 98% of which are females. This industry is growing. (Retail and Personal Services Training Council) <see page 2 paragraph 6> |
| Equal Employment Representation Trade education (Low power – medium risk, medium pay) ⚬ Mechanic ⚬ Builder ⚬ Electrician ⚬ Plumber ⚬ Tiler The male gender privilege of physicality, and the male gender obligation of “protector”, means that most trades are viewed as men’s work. These are jobs that are dirty, potentially dangerous and often require heavy lifting and physical labour. If men and women are to be seen as equal, there can be no “men’s work” or “women’s work”. ⚬ The Australian Construction industry is 88% male (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, see heading Employed by Industry) ⚬ The Australian Electrical industry is 77% male (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, see heading Employed by Industry) | Equal Employment Representation (Low power, high risk) High-school education or less “Equal death for equal pay” ⚬ Long haul driver ⚬ Logger ⚬ Miner ⚬ Factory hand While men makeup 54% of the workplace, they represent 93% of workplace death, serious accident and long term health issues as a result of workplace environmental exposure (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics) . 24/25 jobs rated the worst/most dangerous in the world all have one common element, they are almost 100% fulfilled by men (Source: The Myth of Male Power). ⚬ Number of US fatal work injuries 1992-2005 (Bureau of Labor Statistics) ⚬ An explanation of gender segregation in the workplace and how it affects death rates ⚬ 95% of Australian work place death are men (Alliance Life Insurance) ⚬ 95% of Australian work place deaths are male <scroll down to “Workplace Fatalities”> (Australian Bureau of Statistics ⚬ The Australian mining Industryis 85% male (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, see heading Employed by Industry) ⚬ The Australian Transport Industry is 78% male (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, see heading Employed by Industry) ⚬ The Australian Electricity, Gas, Water a Waste industry is 77% male (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, see heading Employed by Industry) ⚬ The Australian Manufacturing industry, responsible for a host of machining accidents, is 74% male. (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, see heading Employed by Industry) ⚬ Females comprised only a third (35%) of all Australian labourers (the least skilled occupation) aged 20-74 years. (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, see heading Employed by Occupation) |
| Sexual objectification The idea that you can’t value a person for their appearance, or that you can’t seek out a person purely for the sake of sex, is primarily a “conservative” feminist position that ignores the biological gender privilege that women experience of being the relationship and sexually pursued gender. I do not support conservative feminism. I do support lipstick and stiletto feminism which instead embraces sex and sexuality as a normal part of the female power base. Lipstick and Stilletto feminists fight against the stigmatisation of sexuality, particularly female sexuality and seek to reclassify “patriarchal beauty ideals”. Short version – we may need to change the definition of “beautiful” rather than end the celebration of physicality and sexuality. Sex can be just sex, as long as consent is given by all adults involved, after all, do you think a woman who chooses to have sex with a man just because she likes the look of him is dis-empowered? If not, would this benchmark not equally apply to both genders? ⚬ How Can You Tell if You’re Being Sexually Empowered or Objectified? Ask Yourself This Simple Question (by EverydayFeminism.com) | Male circumcision While the western world is quick to speak out against female circumcision, it’s just fine with endorsing the mutilation of male genitalia. While white feminism – based on American cultural norms – has frequently downplayed the severity of male circumcision due to it’s acceptance in American culture, Black feminism regularly speaks out against this practice. In African cultures it is common to circumcise women and men as part of a group ceremony. Recent studies showing that women are harmed by the practice of male circumcision has helped these feminists gain voice. ⚬ Male circumcision is a feminist issue (circinfo.org) ⚬ The effect of male circumcision on the sexual enjoyment of the female partner (cirp.org) |
| Equal pay There is a long standing feminist argument that women do not receive equal pay for equal work in the western world, and although this has been debunked repeatedly by a range of institutions, continues to be a popular women’s issue. Men as a gross-statistical-category earn more than women as a gross-statistical-category… because men overwhelmingly fulfill the role of provider in traditional single income families, and women overwhelming stop working to care for children. This statistic will only change once both genders are relieved of the obligations of gender role (nurturer/mother – women, protector/provider – men), both genders need to be taught they have choice as to whether they choose to meet traditional gender expectations, that choosing not to can still mean success, and that if a member of the opposite gender chooses not to meet traditional gender expectation – that person is not a failure. ⚬ “The gender wage gap lie” by renowned feminist, Hanna Rosin ⚬ The ’77 Cents on the Dollar’ myth about women’s pay (via The Wall Street Journal). ⚬ No, women do not make 77 cents for every dollar men make (via The Washington Examiner). ⚬ President Obama’s persistent ’77-cent’ claim on the wage gap gets new Pinocchio rating (via The Washington Post) ⚬ Obama’s 77 Cent Exaggeration (via FactCheck.org) ⚬ Wage Gap Myth Exposed by Feminists (via Huff Post Politics) – Christina Hoff Sommers | Success Objectification or Hypergamy “So what do you do?” Men are treated as human-doings instead of human-beings, with their societal value being tied to how useful they are as a person, and/or how much personal income/power they are able to accrue. While “Success Object” tends to be a phrase reserved for MRA circles, it is well known component of an area of Evolutionary Psychology known as Hypergamy.” An example of Hypergamy was possibly best summarised during a study by Simon Davis (Men as Success Objects and Women as Sex Objects: A Study of Personal Advertisements): “A study was made of 328 personal advertisements sampled from a major daily Canadian newspaper. It was found that gender differences for desired companion attributes were consistent with traditional sex role stereotypes. Relative to the opposite sex, women emphasized employment, financial, and intellectual status, as well as commitment, while men emphasized physical characteristics. Physical characteristics were the most desired, regardless of sex. Secondary findings were that, for this sample, considerably more men than women placed ads, and that the mean age for both sexes was relatively high. The main findings were similar to those from earlier studies.” ⚬ Money and Sex: The Mating Game in the 21st Century ⚬ Money Porn: The Objectification of Christian Grey ⚬ Why a man’s job, is to have good job |
| Street Harassment ⚬ In Canada women are 2.6 times more likely to be the target of criminal harassment. | Military conscription The requirement to murder and potentially be murdered for a cause you do not necessarily believe in continues to remain an all-male burden. Even in nations that have mandatory military service (receiving military training) only require males to participate in military action (killing and dying) – women have the option to join military action. |
| Sexualisation of young girls / youth | Fetal rights Most western elements believe in a woman’s “right to choose” whether she becomes a parent. Men have no legal rights when it comes to paternity. Consenting to sex, is not consent to parenthood. |
| Kidnapping / Abduction ⚬ In Australia 2/3 of kidnapping / abduction victims were female. | Legal “provider” child obligations The gender role of “provider” is still legally enforced in parts of the western world, even if the children involved were conceived without the father’s consent |
| Eating Disorders ⚬ Female eating disorders outnumber male eating disorders 10-1 | Depression and Suicide Here in Australia the biggest killer of people under the age of 45 for both genders is suicide (learn more here): ⚬ In Australia, male suicides on average outnumber female suicides 3-1. ⚬ 76% of suicides in Australia are male (livingisforeveryone.com.au) ⚬ Suicide is the biggest killer of all Australians aged 15-44 and is at the highest it has been in a decade (Lifeline.org.au) ⚬ 1 in 16 Australians is currently experiencing depression (YouthBeyondBlue.com) |