But almost invariably, boys get to play both sides of that equation at some point in their development, and even the bottom guy is usually recognized as an essential part of the group. He's not given more teasing than he can handle. When I see that most men won't even hold the door open for a woman, much less give up their seat on the metro, I have to wonder if you're not wildly optimistic about expecting these men to give up their lives to protect you. I am just not too confident that the majority of men feel the same way. Even if you threw out all the physical differences listed in earlier responses, I would still say that we men came out so far ahead.
Hockey provides a perfect analogy.
Men are like the forwards, who have to score goals, dish out punishment and take the occasional stick to the face. There's a lot more glory and a lot more satisfaction being a forward, but it's the goalie who wins the game.