I know one downfall of being a man

[Green_Lantern]

I know several people with a form of muscular dystrophy found only in males.

Unfortunately the patriarchal attitudes of society effects them negatively.

As progressive as we think society may be, men are expected to work hard, be independent, and stand on their own two feet.

I hear alot of "well-meaning" people say: "It must be hard for them to rely on others."

Is this patriarchal?

[ret5hd]

1. Well, i guess you could add hemophilia and testicular cancer...

but then i guess men don't have to worry about cervical cancer.

[Donnachaidh]

2. Hemophilia can really screw with lives, both of the patient and the families

I'm a carrier - my son has it.

Insurance is literally impossible to get on our own. And I suspect even with the health bill pushed through we still will have problems, because the bill failed to place ceiling caps on what can be charged for pre-existing conditions.

These boys are told to stay away from certain sports, because of potential problems. They cannot aspire to certain jobs, because of the bleeding potential.

But women also have variants of bleeding disorders -- Von Wilhebrand's, for instance.

[antigone382]

3. Strict gender norms are harmful for men in lots of ways.

Though I think the general result of patriarchal gender role constructions is to give much more power and economic opportunity to men, it has powerful negative effects on men, particularly the ways that conceptions of manliness encourage men to put themselves at risk of physical harm and deny their own physical and emotional limits. Pointing out the ways that gender disparities are damaging to men in no way negates the ways in which those disparities are damaging to women, and I think it's one of the key things that needs to be done to further the goals of feminism into the 21st century.