All my life, I’ve been told that men were smarter than I am. I’ve been told that men are stronger, both emotionally and physically, and that I can never accomplish what men can, because I’m just a girl. To be fair, my parents never said that, and my mother went ballistic all over people when they tried to say it to my face, but the message was there all the same. The media conveys it in every word.

That is the basic message of the patriarchy. Men are better. Women are weak, emotional, unstable and shallow. Women can’t control themselves and can’t be trusted to make their own decisions. Women’s worth, according to the patriarchy, is based upon how they look and how well they can serve the men who are their “natural” superiors.

Let’s take a look at what patriarchy says about men, shall we?

The patriarchy says that women are worthy based on how they look. . The patriarchy says that only if women look and behave a certain way, can they be attractive to men. What does this say about men? It says than men are shallow, and can only judge women based on appearance. It says that men are too stupid and lazy to look any deeper than boob size to find a woman they are compatible with. It insults every man out there, by calling them appearance obsessed idiots. If I were a man, I’d find that extremely offensive, and I certainly wouldn’t support a system that says such things about me.

The patriarchy says that women must look and behave a certain way or they deserve the violence that men heap upon them. What this says about men is that men are animals that are incapable of any form of self-control. It says that women and women only, are the determiners of men’s behavior. It says, actually, that women are in control of men and how they act, and that men simply are simply organisms that act and react on outside stimulus. Kind of insulting, don’t you think?

It says that women are interested in men’s money and power, and that alone. I find this one particularly interesting, because it says that men have no other redeeming qualities than money. It says that all men have going for them is money. Just like women have no other value than breast size and fecundity, men have no other value than the monetary one. Maybe I’m just an illogical and emotional woman, but that doesn’t seem good to me.

According to the patriarchy, women are illogical and emotional, unable to control themselves or their actions. Yet, and interestingly enough, the patriarchy says that a woman’s place is in the home, caring for children. What does it say about men, that you would trust your children to people that are emotionally unstable? What does it tell you, that the patriarchy says that the emotionally unstable is, by nature, supposed to care for the most vulnerable among us? Hmmm….. Causes one to think, doesn’t it?

Finally, the patriarchy says that men should have the right to decide when, if and how we reproduce, and that we shouldn’t have control of our own bodies. Let’s try this for illogic, shall we. As previously discussed, men can’t control their own behavior when it comes to women. If we behave badly, or sexually, the patriarchy believes that we deserve to be raped or beaten. However, the patriarchy believes that the same men, who can’t control themselves, should have control over women’s bodies. If they can’t control themselves, what makes any man think that they can control something outside themselves, namely women? What kind of a logical pretzel do you have to contort yourself into, to reach that insane conclusion? Yet, there it is. It happens. It’s happening all over the world, and men and women accept it.

Not all men overtly believe this. Even my own, rather enlightened husband, has admitted to some of these attitudes, though in fairness, when it’s pointed out to him he admits it’s stupid. The messages for these things are everywhere, but we refuse to confront them directly.

So, gentlemen, the system you set up insults you. You say that you’re against feminism, because feminism is “man hating.” Clearly, the patriarchy hates men just as much; it just doesn't want to admit it.