axle:

I'm with you. Don't let HN's pro-kyriarchy[1] mob mentality get to you. Most of them somehow missed the fact that 1 in 5 women are still raped in college[2]. They also fail to realize that rape is HEAVILY underreported on most college campuses. They don't realize that women (and girls) are often blamed for causing their own rapes, blamed for "participating" in the crimes committed against them[3], or that rape of women is still part of male lore[4][5]. Find me the "balance" in that. Tell me when exactly we've hit it.

They fail to realize that we're not "done" solving the real issue of ingrained prejudices just because women are getting educated and have jobs. They don't realize that self-hating racism and sexism is just as ingrained in the underprivileged minorities. They don't realize it, of course, because white men have never been underprivileged minorities. They don't realize that it's a lifetime struggle not just with a world, to accept you for who you are, but with yourself[6][7].

They don't realize that unrealistic body image expectations are eroding women's sense of self worth[8]. They don't realize how it warps the mind, changes priorities, and restricts what choices women make, despite any actual or supposed abundance of choice. They don't realize that in many dark-skinned nations there is now a separate "white" beauty standard that competes with the beauty standard that makes sense for them, culturally[9][10].

If you think that being liberal and educated absolves you of playing into this kyriarchy, then it's possible that you've never even heard that color blindness theory creates racism[11], and you've probably never heard of anything about any moral credential bias[12]. You've probably also never heard of the myriad ways in which the patriarchy actually hurts men[13].

They fail to realize that for someone else to gain some power, the currently privileged must give up some of that power[14]. They're not whining because "we're missing the balance", they're whining because they're personally losing some privilege. In a fight for equality, that's supposed to happen, but they hate it. They see it, take note, and fight back. They don't realize that other men are already fighting back[15][16][17]. They don't get what they, presonally, did to deserve losing anything.

If you think there's no unjustified racism in Arizona[18], you must be kidding yourself. Or, I guess, you must be a privileged Arizonian. If you think there's no sexism despite your one-claim-trumps-all job statistic, you must be joking. Or, I guess, you must be a white male. The most important privilege that you have is the privilege to ignore your own privilege.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyriarchy

[2] http://www.cpbn.org/program/where-we-live/episode/wwl-sexual...

[3] http://bluemilk.wordpress.com/2010/06/05/but-why-shouldnt-sh...

[4] http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/12/meet-the-pre...

[5] http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2009/10/rape-culture-...

[6] http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2008/08/worst-enemy.h...

[7] http://refusethesilenceblog.com/post/631417596/intern-blogge...

[8] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1247008...

[9] http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff/weight-debate-fat/st...

[10] http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2010/05/expect-black-...

[11] http://news.illinois.edu/news/10/0421online.html

[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_credential

[13] http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2009/06/in-which-anot...

[14] http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2007/03/11/faq-what-...

[15] http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2007/10/explainer-wha...

[16] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Collier_Township_shooting

[17] http://contexts.org/socimages/2009/08/14/guest-post-dead-gir...

[18] http://wonkette.com/415809/arizona-school-demands-black-lati...

Oh, and HN? I'm utterly ashamed of you for voting axle down so vehemently. In the future, when you speak from a position of privilege (and I don't just mean white privilege or male privilege, because privilege comes in many shapes), please, please also do your research before spewing knee-jerk nonsense.