I wasn't going to do a post about sexism because it's not something i ever personally felt strongly about. But, since my essay is about sexism and it seems that I can't really get away from the subject, I've decided to address the topic properly regardless of anyone's thoughts. I have accepted that sexism is always going to exist. And by sexism, I mean discrimination towards BOTH genders. I think it's sort of sad how people think of sexism and automatically assume it means discrimination towards only women. Are women the only sex? No. this affects men just as much and that's what I want to talk about.
Why can men only take 2 weeks paternity leave when a woman a year? This marginalises the role of fathers and denies them the opportunity to take an equal share in the role of parenting. It is a piece of legislation which further perpetuates the stereotype of man as breadwinner and woman as carer. Why can't we scrap the terms all together and call it 'parental leave'? That way responsibility could be shared between both parents. Why is it if a man can't afford to pay child support he's seen as a lowlife waste of space whereas if it's a woman who can't support her child people take pity? Who decided that this meant that men didn't care about their children if they couldn't pay?
What about health? 40,000 men are diagnosed with Prostate cancer every year, compared to the 48,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer. Why is breast cancer awareness and campaigning recognised more than Prostate cancer? It's also a little known face that Prostate cancer research receives less funding than Breast cancer does...
My final point is this. Statistics show that men are on average 3-5 times more likely to commit suicide than women. In fact it is the biggest killer of young men in the UK. There is a lot of pressure on men to be the ;breadwinner'. To be financially secure, to support families. If a man is unemployed I believe that it would affect him more than it would a woman in a similar situation (of course, there are exceptions!) I think that a lot of men would find it difficult to speak up about problems they're having. It's not easy to talk about thinks lke anxiety, depression and emotional termoil as it is, but with the generalisation that men are the less sensitive of the genders, i think it'd be harder for them to come forward and admit them. It's seen as their weakness and failure as a 'man'.
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