Reply #198: Well, BEING a man, I can tell you that no, MY life has not

[RandomKoolzip]

been easy. But at the same time, more men need to realize how they benefit (even in little ways) from simply being male, benefits that do not extend to women (on the whole; case-by-case might be a different story). Most men don't have to deal with paternalism or condescension, the "oh, you're too cute to be using such big words!" attitude that women face all the time. How would you like to go through life knowing that half the population might not be taking you seriously? Most men don't know how it feels to walk down the street and be objectified, or to be judged solely on one's looks and not on one's merit. Women have still not acheived parity with men in terms of income, in terms of success, in terms of health care (Viagra plentiful and cheap, abortion about to become illegal: ain't that a kick in the head?), etc.

Of course, it's only natural for men to get defensive about stuff like this. "Well, I've had it rough and *I*'m not passing laws that oppress women!" That's true, and that's why the SD law is so very important. The mere fact that this opens the floodgates for a whole new raft of laws that target women ought to be enough for most men to get on board fully with women's rights. Like jpgray said above, we (dudes) take it as a given that liberal men support women's rights. But do liberal women take that as a given? We need to show it more, be vocal and involved, and need to give women unconditional support now that Roe is in serious jeaopardy, even if that means holding our tongues when a female DUer rants and raves.

I'm sure several DUers, and a lot of women, have relatives old enough to remember stories about women's sufferage. Realizing how recently it's been since women have even been allowed to vote, and realizing that now the right wants to make them second class citizens again scares the hell out of me.