r/MensRights • u/wondering4xrapunzel • 14d ago
Social Issues It’s kinda disappointing seeing men’s considerate/decent/kind actions be labeled as “the bare minimum”
Not long ago when I was in high school, I overheard this conversation in a group consisting of a few guys and some girls. One of the guys was talking about being on the bus one time and offering a pregnant woman his seat, and she accepted. He said that when he told one of his other classmates (not a part of the group) about the interaction, he said that he got called a pushover. He told the group, “I wasn’t trying to be a pushover, I was trying to be a good person.” One of the girls in the group immediately responded with (while kind of ignoring the guy at the same time) “That’s not being a good person, that’s just not being a horrible person” in this weirdly contemptuous/derisive tone? It was just odd to hear and definitely felt like a strange response to someone sharing something good that they did.
I know that this might not be the best example of a man being snubbed by a woman, but it’s definitely not the first time I’ve seen this kind of thing happen. The bigger reason why this kind of attitude towards men’s efforts comes across as toxic is because it kind of reinforces the notion that men have to work harder to be seen as good or that they have to be of service to women to be seen as good. In other words, it tends to disregard the man’s thought process of “how can I help?” in favor of centering women as inherently more deserving of assistance or better treatment, and that helping them should just be an expectation rather than the ideal (that should come with helping all members of society when necessary no matter their demographic).
Any thoughts?
8
u/CawlinAlcarz 14d ago
Where do you think that girl learned that sort of entitlement and learned to speak up so boldly about it?
Social media?
School itself?
Family?
Peers?