James Nash
Aug 31, 2018 · 2 min read

“If young men are confused, it’s only because we are shifting from a society where they’ve been encouraged to take what they want (that’s a part of patriarchy) to one where women are demanding to be treated with respect and like actual human beings — and no one has taught them how to do that.”

This is my largely the point I made in my original comment. Some men are confused, however it is from a lack of clarity over how human relationships actually work, rather than “taking advantage of patriarchy”.

Your comment (at least how I am understanding it) is based on an assumption that men are behaving in a negative way toward women because of patriarchy — assuming some nefarious baseline position that is socially built in to our current society. Essentially this is the same as saying that men would get away with whatever they can given enough leeway is not just incorrect, but a catastrophic distortion of men, and human relationships in general.

Rather obviously, there have and always will be good and bad people. I believe that people are generally good and my life experience has demonstrated this consistently. With regard to men, I haven’t met anyone who is actively looking to treat women badly. I cannot think of any in nearly 50 years.

Even men who make terrible decisions in their relationships — no matter how fleeting. Almost always, given enough time realise it is because they are lacking in some critical part of their lives — they are unhappy with their life, with the world and so on, and when all is said and done — don’t want to behave in a way that is perceived as negative by a partner. They don’t want to hurt anyone, they desire real intimate relationships, based on trust and respect for each other.

The same can be said for women. There are women who treat men terribly as well. To me, these issues are about human happiness in general, rather than specifically something related to consent and sex. Confused / socially retarded / immature humans can be shit to each other in numerous ways. Happier people don’t need to deal with micromanaging issues over consent because it is such an obvious part of human interaction that it isnt even a “thing”. Normal people don’t need to be taught how to not steal, or how you shouldn’t break other peoples property. Consent is largely the same. There are some problems and they should be dealt with, however, tarring a gender with such things en masse is just wrong headed.

    James Nash

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