"Femmephobia can also be seen in marketing. We have diet soda, and we have diet soda FOR MEN; we have loofahs, and we have loofahs FOR MEN; we have canned soup, and we have canned soup FOR MEN. Men cannot be expected to consume feminine things like body care items or diet food or soup in cans (!?) unless it is specifically marked out as Not Girly, and therefore Not Bad. With a few obnoxious exceptions, such as tools for girls (they’re pink) or video games for girls (they’re pink and have Barbie), women who like traditionally masculine hobbies get to have the same fishing poles, golf clubs and bad Trekkie novels as the boys– because, since masculinity is valued, it doesn’t matter if a woman tries to become masculine."
—
On Femmephobia | No, Seriously, What About Teh Menz? (via zaftiggles)
I find it interesting (and fucked up) that although women are far more oppressed in general, the expectations of masculinity are far more stringent than that of femininity. It’s like “of course women and girls want to do guy things because guy stuff is awesome,” and it’s seen as sort of natural and even desirable for women to have some masculine qualities or interests. Short of being a lesbian or being trans, women have a pretty great degree of freedom in our gender expression—clothing, interests, and so on.
And yet, because everything feminine is so devalued, a man or boy who is perceived as being feminine in almost any way can easily become a social pariah.
This, of course, is downright dangerous in many ways. I remember having a talk with my mother and aunt about the character Jacob assaulting Bella in the Twilight books, and I was accused of wanting to emasculate and feminize men because I said that it was wrong of him to force himself on her. I had it explained to me that “real men” should be sexually aggressive.
Sad. Frustrating.
(via bookishfeminist)
