Why feminism favours men

Over evolutionary time, women have not been able to drastically alter their reproductive success, beyond perhaps securing a more attractive partner, whereas for men it could mean the difference between no offspring and hundreds of offspring. This history has translated into a curious phenomenon observed in modern human populations— greater male variability.

Women and men are—on average—pretty much equivalent in intelligence and ability, but if you look at the far ends of the spectrum, you are more likely to find men than women. Something in the biology of maleness produces more cases at both extremes.

When it comes to what women and men are attracted to, differences are even more pronounced. The most obvious example of this is primary sexual orientation, which correlates rather strongly with gender. In other fields of human interest, scientists have consistently measured intriguing differences in inclinations.

These two factors—male variability and average differences in interests—are aspects of our evolutionary heritage that are key to making sense of the gender puzzle. A clear-eyed understanding of the world requires that we include everything we know, considering both the social and the biological factors that shape us.

Invoking evolution in no way binds our destinies, it simply acknowledges where we come from, which is a wise point of departure. In our historically anomalous position as modern humans, we get to choose whether or not to put our energies into having babies, and we can pick from a lively range of economic activities and gender expressions. As feminists, we are shooting ourselves in the foot by making arguments for gender equality that hinge on the the false premise that the sexes must be the same in order to be equal.

To be relevant today—and to avoid becoming embroiled in pointless disputes—feminists need to ground their advocacy in science. In research undertaken in at Cornell, it was found that among math prodigies, women actually have higher verbal ability than men.

Other arguments for women in tech are commonsensical. Our findings confirmed that women do perceive benevolently sexist men to be more patronizing and more likely to undermine their partners. But we also found that the women in our studies perceived these men as more attractive, despite the potential pitfalls.

So what made them more attractive to our participants? In their responses, the women in our study rated them as more likely to protect, provide and commit. We then wondered whether these findings could only really be applied to women who are simply OK with old-fashioned gender roles.

We found that strong feminists rated men as more patronizing and undermining than traditional women did. It seems that even staunch feminists may prefer a chivalrous mate who picks up the check on a first date or walks closer to the curb on a sidewalk. Aside from sharing their views about gender equality in the workplace, Pew also asked U. Overall, the respondents say feminism has helped White women a lot more than it has helped women of color and they say feminism has helped wealthy women a lot more than poor women.

Additionally, as lawmakers push to include the Equal Rights Amendment in the U. But in the cadet force, I learnt much about masculinity, and about what is expected of young men. These unhealthy and unsafe gender norms continue to shape the lives of men and boys today[1].

Crucially, these norms provide the scaffolding for a gender order which privileges men — especially powerful elites. Male privilege is so engrained in social relations and structures that it appears normal and natural, and remains free from scrutiny. For men, feminism can provide the inspiration for shifting towards more co-operative and equal relationships and friendships, greater sharing of care and work responsibilities, and working to reduce organised and individual violence.

But we all need to consider how we can play an active part in promoting change and in encouraging other men to do so. Fundamentally, this involves examining our own motivations and assumptions.