Athlone:
I'm pulling this quote from your post above.
Just because many of these women can still find men does not mean that there are no consequences for them.
You're making the mistake of assuming that "finding a man = victory", when the reality is that women who've spent their entire lives feeling entitled to the most attractive men around often find it really difficult to settle for anything less once the wall creeps closer. Some manage to grab a "nice guy" with money, the house, and everything else, but they're absolutely miserable because they're simply not all that attracted to their husband (which in turn leads to sexless marriages, arguments, divorce, kids messed up by dysfunctional home environment, etc).
This is to say nothing of the women who miss the boat on men altogether, and that's a growing number of females in our society.
I agree with all of this that you are saying. In fact, I really don't see much disagreement between what you're saying, and what Samseau and I are saying.
The point is, women are suffering in society's present construction, just as we are. I don't think they're suffering as much as men are. But fundamentally the present state of affairs has crippled their biological need to be subservient to a man.
And herein lies the fundamental insanity and irrationality of what is going on. This is the crisis that nearly drives us insane: the fact that a system is in place that fundamentally hurts both sexes, but persists nonetheless. It's like we're both trapped in the same quicksand, flailing at each other with cudgels, and both sinking into the mire.
The best analogy here is a couple of Francisco Goya's "black paintings." Consider first his "Fight With Cudgels":
![[Image: xCaLAqO.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/xCaLAqO.jpg)
What better analogy could we make for the present state of male-female relations in the US today? Take a good look at this painting. Feel its savagery, despair, and insanity. Both figures are sinking into the quicksand, dying a slow death. But do they help each other? No. Instead, they persist in their own personal fight, and maul each other with cudgels. They could help each other, if they wanted. They could help each other escape. But they prefer mutual suicide.
This is the fundamental irrationality that lurks behind the civilized mask of modern America.
Another Goya painting that sums up the seedy "deal with the Devil" that women in the US have made is his "Witches Sabbat." Take a good, hard look:
![[Image: 5fFGjVR.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/5fFGjVR.jpg)
Women here have made a symbolic pact with the Devil. They chose to abandon their sexuality, their humanity, and their femininity. All this, in return for the chimera of selfishness and career. And they deserve everything they get.
Anyway, the point is that I think you are underestimating the darkness out there. Yes, it's true, women are suffering along with men. But that's the whole point we're trying to make. We, both sexes, are locked into an insane combat where there are no winners. And no one knows how to stop it.
Despite all this, I don't see myself as a pessimist. I refuse to surrender to despair. I fight the blackness and horrors with an equal measure of irrational optimism.
I really think it takes a certain level of life experience to appreciate all these things fully. The opinions that one has in their early 20s will not be the same opinions one has 15 or 20 years later. It was this way with me. It's not their fault, but it's just that the real cruelties, bitterness, and injustices of life are not fully apparent to very young men yet.
When life beats a man down a little bit, and he acquires more black eyes and scar tissue, he will begin to see more of life's mixed picture.
I'm pulling this quote from your post above.
Just because many of these women can still find men does not mean that there are no consequences for them.
You're making the mistake of assuming that "finding a man = victory", when the reality is that women who've spent their entire lives feeling entitled to the most attractive men around often find it really difficult to settle for anything less once the wall creeps closer. Some manage to grab a "nice guy" with money, the house, and everything else, but they're absolutely miserable because they're simply not all that attracted to their husband (which in turn leads to sexless marriages, arguments, divorce, kids messed up by dysfunctional home environment, etc).
This is to say nothing of the women who miss the boat on men altogether, and that's a growing number of females in our society.
I agree with all of this that you are saying. In fact, I really don't see much disagreement between what you're saying, and what Samseau and I are saying.
The point is, women are suffering in society's present construction, just as we are. I don't think they're suffering as much as men are. But fundamentally the present state of affairs has crippled their biological need to be subservient to a man.
And herein lies the fundamental insanity and irrationality of what is going on. This is the crisis that nearly drives us insane: the fact that a system is in place that fundamentally hurts both sexes, but persists nonetheless. It's like we're both trapped in the same quicksand, flailing at each other with cudgels, and both sinking into the mire.
The best analogy here is a couple of Francisco Goya's "black paintings." Consider first his "Fight With Cudgels":
What better analogy could we make for the present state of male-female relations in the US today? Take a good look at this painting. Feel its savagery, despair, and insanity. Both figures are sinking into the quicksand, dying a slow death. But do they help each other? No. Instead, they persist in their own personal fight, and maul each other with cudgels. They could help each other, if they wanted. They could help each other escape. But they prefer mutual suicide.
This is the fundamental irrationality that lurks behind the civilized mask of modern America.
Another Goya painting that sums up the seedy "deal with the Devil" that women in the US have made is his "Witches Sabbat." Take a good, hard look:
Women here have made a symbolic pact with the Devil. They chose to abandon their sexuality, their humanity, and their femininity. All this, in return for the chimera of selfishness and career. And they deserve everything they get.
Anyway, the point is that I think you are underestimating the darkness out there. Yes, it's true, women are suffering along with men. But that's the whole point we're trying to make. We, both sexes, are locked into an insane combat where there are no winners. And no one knows how to stop it.
Despite all this, I don't see myself as a pessimist. I refuse to surrender to despair. I fight the blackness and horrors with an equal measure of irrational optimism.
I really think it takes a certain level of life experience to appreciate all these things fully. The opinions that one has in their early 20s will not be the same opinions one has 15 or 20 years later. It was this way with me. It's not their fault, but it's just that the real cruelties, bitterness, and injustices of life are not fully apparent to very young men yet.
When life beats a man down a little bit, and he acquires more black eyes and scar tissue, he will begin to see more of life's mixed picture.