Yeah, see, the thing about being a garbage collector, sewage pumper, etc., the reason why those jobs are looked down on has absolutely nothing to do with them being typically male jobs, and everything to do with the fact that those jobs are often very filthy. They're even looked down on by other men, as are most similarly dirty jobs, because nobody wants to do them. But people, often men, take them anyways, and usually the people who do take them know that they're being looked down on and don't really care. Do you know why? It's because while they're being looked down on, they're laughing all the way to the bank, because those 'shitty' jobs tend to be fairly high paying, specifically to entice people to come do them knowing that otherwise nobody would. They're also jobs that people will always need, so they have solid job security too.bunji said:I dont agree with that sentiment, there is no way anyone considers say a nurse (typical female job) in someway less than a garbace collector, a sewage pumper or a dockworker. In fact, its pretty much the opposite. Are you really trying to imply that even the fact that men get all the shittiest, dirtiest low income jobs is somehow a male priviledge? Thats kind of funny.evilthecat said:Role theory, away!bunji said:How about you actually read up on some stuff? Sure males have alot of privledges, but that comes at a price, like 93% of workplace deaths are males (i dont know how to source on the escapist), and dont come banging the glass ceiling without taking a look in the glass cellar.
Okay, this isn't religion and politics forum and you're not really trying, so I'm not going to make this too long. But this kind of thinking sucks because it's basically a conspiracy theory with no conspirators. The only form of "oppression" in this scheme is failing to meet the exacting standards of "society", society in this case having no relationship to actual human beings and being merely the effects of socialization.
The problem is that when you actually get out and talk to men who take on dangerous jobs, when you talk to men who join the military, when you talk to heavy industrial workers, you quickly realize that they aren't undervalued. They aren't detested by society, they aren't consigned to the bottom of the heap by society's deep loathing of men as a group. Actually they're often some of the most respected men within their particular cultural schema (which may not be the same as all of society) and men will compete to occupy these positions, even when confronted with the possibility of easier or safer work. Even if these positions do not entail much power or wealth they're often held up as paragons of masculinity and virtue, and part of this respect is due to the assumed ability of those men (and to a lesser extent men in general) to handle risk, to deal with difficult situations. This kind of high-risk behavior does not indicate worthlessness or disposability at all, it actually indicates effectiveness and competence, through the presumed ability to deal with risk.
In fact, isn't that pretty much what you're saying here? "Men deserve respect because they do all the hard and dirty work"? If this "glass cellar" was such a terrible thing, why would you say that? Why wouldn't you be wanting to help all the poor brainwashed men who have clearly become convinced of their own disposability at the hands of an evil feminized society or whatever? Oh right, because they haven't, and you know that really. They do these things because they are rewarding, because they grant genuine social legitimacy which, to some degree, all men benefit from. This isn't a reason why men are oppressed, it's a reason why men remain socially dominant.
A nurse meanwhile (which nowadays is getting to be less and less thought of as a female-specific job, as male nurses and female doctors grow more and more frequent), is specifically looked up on not because women are stereotypically the ones to fill the role, but because that job is actively saving their life.