What is the equivalent stereotype of 'women should all be homemakers,' for men?
What is the equivalent stereotype of 'women should all be homemakers,' for men?
I figured a close stereotype for men, would be that they should all be farmers. The thing is, there are under two million farmers in the US as of 2023. So statistically, an equivalent occupation/role should have a larger number.
Men shouldn't be allowed near children that aren't their own. It's rarely stated but regularly assumed.
This one fucking sucks... it's especially awful for us beard havers.
I think it is more of the mustache only crowd that really faces a stigma about being good with kids.
My daughter is a very different skin colour than me. Somehow the worst I've encountered to date is an uppity mother who thought I was telling off a random child.
I think you were implying something different, but I feel like I get a ton of odd comments suggesting it's weird for me to be out with my own kid. Things like "giving mom the day off?" or "what happened to his mom?".
I had friends complain about this kind of thing before I had kids and I thought that they were exaggerating. Nope, it's all over the place. It's certainly not everyone, but it is much more common than I expected.
I'm 33 and never seen this IRL. Weird. Only heard people mention it online. Must be that thing that doesn't actually happen and is only perceived on the web.
It's likely a cultural thing. I've noticed it in urban Canada, myself.
A man smiling at a child who looks at him will get glares or weird looks from the parent. A woman smiling at a child who looks at her will be nothing out of the ordinary. The same man is "allowed" to smile at children if he's with a woman and/or a kid of his own.
Before I had a kid, I heard this was a thing, but didn't really care as I didn't really have a desire to be around kids. Once I became a father, I realized a lot of people make strange assumptions about men around small humans. Its certainly not most people, but definitely some, and definitely not just online.
"Women should be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen" transcribes to "Men should be shirtless and mentally ill in the garage."
As a millennial, if I could afford a house, I PROMISE you I wouldn't also be able to afford mental health treatments, or a shirt.
So this tracks.......if I could get a house.
Clearly you just need to be a man and work harder and more hours, at the expense of your mental health, to be a better provider because that is your only value to your family. The more emotionally shut-off and weekday war-torn you are, the better the space in which you can escape work and home stress by self-isolating and self-medicating with alcohol. Your chosen man-cave is totally not a place to hide your emotional breakdowns where you silently sob as you suffer the masculine burdens of building stress and feelings of inadequacy alone. Just remember, communicating your feelings is what women do; men dig their grave faster and deeper because that takes manly strength.
Realistically, you only need a garage
You might just have to move out of the city, things get way cheaper when you go rural, plus it opens you up for usda loans.
They’re for rural areas and they will put down 100% of your down payment, but your credit score has to be right and you have to find a nice house, like really nice.
The one I am about to buy was approved for a usda loan, until they found out that 1 corner of the crawlspace was technically in a 1 in a 100 year flood zone.
If that doesn’t work you can try fha, their guidelines are a little more lax, but you have to put 3.5% down.
That’s what I am using and I know that my rent for the next 30 years is fixed until my mortgage insurance falls off.
That is with no adjustment for inflation either.
So if shit spikes again, at least my rent effectively got cheaper.🤣😂😞😢
Does being mentally ill in my own room count too?
So long as you are alone, your realized value has the ability to provide for a hypothetical family, and your liver can tank a half a bottle of brown liquor a night without the spins.
Men should swallow their feelings and go break their bodies and mind for a paycheck. Then die younger because of it.
We're looking for fake answers, not real ones.
Protectors & providers
It's one of the worst kind of inequality which women don't (or rarely) ever examine and question if it's compatible with modern ideas
Men should all be (the sole) breadwinners.
That men should be able to fix things and be mechanically inclined.
Yup, I have an essential tremor and fucking hate that one. I don't mind strength based tasks... but if I try and screw in a light bulb I'll probably crush it accidentally... don't even get me started on appliances like blenders and shit - in the best case scenario I'll brick the device... but I'll probably injur myself.
In my area it would be something like "Men should go to war".
That every man has to be a breadearner, a handyman and be able to physically defend their home&family.
Anecdotal, being from Louisiana, this is what I've been pressured with my entire life.
Doing manual labor in general, not just farming. Or being in charge at work
Have to be a raging bull of testosterone and manly interests while also being a round the clock worker to be a breadwinner and also being a father figure to any children in your life on demand
Men not being allowed to be emotionally expressive has led to so many mental health problems...
The most direct I can think of is that men should be the sole breadwinner of their family, and that if his wife earns more than him (or even has a job at all) then that's some kind of failing on his part.
There are many other similar stereotypes. For example:
That men have an obligation to defend their/their significant other's 'honor' with violence.
That men shouldn't cry or otherwise show strong emotion under nearly any circumstance.
Men shouldn't want to interact with children, especially other people's kids.
I can go on all day.
If you're not useful, you're a burden.
Well, this one's not entirely false, but also not solely applicable to men
“Men should all love football.”
Wait, which football? The one they play with their hands, or the one they play with their feet?
Handegg
Actually the one you play with a skull. Most call it Griffball though.
There is only one football, and it is played by the country that has been to the Moon 6 times and won two world wars.
Everyone should love football
A man should get violent and angry and protective when someone hits on his woman.
This is something I've never understood. Surely it is a compliment rather than an insult to effectively say "your partner is very attractive"
Especially when that someone is themselves.
No wait I know the answer to this one.... If you have a penis, you should be able to use tools competently and perform basic maintenance and repairs. I learned this just by watching cartoons and tv when I was a child so I taught myself all that stuff just because I thought you were assumed to. I now take $75+ per hour from men who cant figure out how a screwdriver works. I am virtual husband to many women who married paper shufflers who can't even tighten a loose doorknob screw.
Should be bread-earners.
Men should all be working on the railroad like John Henry; the manliest man that ever man'd. He's so much of a man, he beat a machine. And then promptly died.
Worked himself to death, the only manly way to go.
Not only is it manly, it's the American way! 🫡
We should enjoy violence
The Cure - Boys Don't Cry
It’s a man’s job to grill.
I mostly let my girlfriend do that. I trust her way more with food than I trust myself.
I usually just get the fire started.
One of my ex-GFs was fond of saying "Men are good for three things: heavy lifting, outdoor cooking, and sex." Welp, two out of three ain't bad.
I'm sure if you hit the gym for a few months you'll have the strength to win her back.
As Red Green put it:
If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!
The direct analogue would be "men should single handedly provide income to support a family". So not farming necessarily, but men are pressured to be something other than just men, they get defined by their jobs more. Be a businessman, a farmer, a soldier. Women get defined more by their relationships to other people - a mom, a wife. Both of these are problematic in their own way.
Men should pour all their energy into their job, so they can earn money to support their family with. Men should not worry about spending enough time with their children, as working hard is the best way to show them that you care about them. Besides, being with children is what women are there for.
The result of this idea is that there are now a metric fuckton of movies about workaholic dads who don’t show up to their sons’ baseball games, only for contrived magical realism events to change their minds and convince them that family is more important.