The world is changing. The genders and the roles of men and women today are different from what they were in the past. This change is inevitable and evolutionary. Problems arise when it’s difficult for us to acknowledge and accept it. We compare and judge behavior by outdated criteria, and when expectations are not met, we are left disappointed.

The Myth of the Strong and Weak Sex

It’s not necessary for a woman to be weak for a man to be strong. And it’s not necessary for a man to be Superman for a woman to fully rely on his shoulders. A large discrepancy in social status and financial level between partners always comes at a high price, part of which is freedom and independence, of course. Currently, among many women, there is an illusion spreading that full financial security provided by an “alpha male” is a guarantee for a successful choice, happiness, and carefreeness. Firstly, such a choice is achievable for a very small number of women, and secondly, it has its downsides and is rarely sustainable over time. Quite the opposite, this choice seriously risks a woman’s future if she has organized her entire existence and prosperity around an “alpha” partner. She must pay for her carefree everyday life with never-ending youth, beauty, and freshness, which is either impossible or requires serious effort and hard work rather than carefreeness. At the same time, her professional and social skills atrophy, putting her independent survival at risk. There is a high probability that this scenario will bore both parties painfully and changes will become inevitable. A modern woman who voluntarily gives up the rights granted by emancipation does not necessarily guarantee herself an easy and comfortable life despite appearances. The same goes for a man whose ideal revolves around a woman who has fully dedicated her life to his needs, the family, and the children. It is quite possible that at some point he will feel like a lonely and sole “provider” of resources and comfort, who has no right to bend or be weak. In reality, a man has the right to be weak just as much as a woman has the right to be strong.

The Myth of the Strong Woman

Feminism is a form of misandry.

Feminism is often blamed as the cause of many evils. Women have supposedly shot themselves in the foot with feminism and made their own lives bitter. The emancipated woman is seen as some castrating and self-deficient Amazon who suppresses men and is to blame if she has a hard and lonely life. However, it should be emphasized that wanting equal rights does not mean wanting equal obligations! Gender equality does not mean gender sameness! A double standard arises where a woman is expected to earn money so as not to be a financial burden but still remain meek and submissive so as not to hurt the man’s ego. Great confusion ensues, leading to the conclusion that it’s difficult to please the modern man. The strong woman scares him, and the weak woman burdens and bores him! To be attractive enough, the modern woman must be both weak and strong, dependent and independent! In fact, feminism is not misandry, but it often provokes exactly the opposite – misogyny!

The Myth of Female Monogamy

By nature, men are not monogamous, unlike women!

No one is naturally monogamous – neither men nor women. Monogamy is a matter of conscious choice and cultural specifics, not a natural law. Women need variety just as much as men do. For millennia, women were expected to be monogamous, and their sexuality was expected to be modest and discreet. Any manifestations of willfulness and liberation were suppressed and condemned! Monogamy has been instilled in women, not part of their nature! Where variety ranks among priorities is a matter of individual value systems, not gender or nature.

The Myth of Female Materialism

Women are gold diggers!

There certainly are some! If a man carefully assesses a woman’s physical attributes or judges her childbearing abilities by her age, for example, this is considered his perfectly natural right. However, when a woman assesses a man’s ability to provide, support a family, and handle social and financial matters, it is condemned. As in the animal world, a woman strives to choose from the most successful men around her to increase her future children’s chances of survival. She also needs to be sure of a man’s real skills and intentions to invest and plan a future with her. Materialism has nothing to do with the instinct for preservation!

The Myth of the Rich Man

If a man earns enough money, there will always be many women around him.

Yes, many women, but what kind exactly?! He may be aging, overweight, rude, and arrogant but can take his wife to the Maldives! How many women would be charmed by such a deal? Not those who have independence, dignity, and good taste! Or he may look decent but care about nothing but money and career! His wife needs attention but receives diamonds and fur coats instead! How long will that make her happy? Until the first more gallant plumber appears! The modern woman has choices and is much more demanding than women in the past. It is no longer enough for a man to rely only on his wallet. If he lacks other interesting qualities, his money won’t attract particularly interesting women! It’s no coincidence that more and more men train hard and maintain their appearance. The male body has become an object of sexual selection, just as recently only the female body was such an object.

The Myth of Male Logic

Women are different and incomprehensible, and men are uniform and predictable.

To some extent, this stereotype is supported by the scientific community. Freud once said he could not understand the female being, and since then, his helplessness has often been cited as scientific truth, underpinning many sexist statements like: “Women don’t know what they want!” This is a favorite conclusion of men who don’t want to give women what they ask for, even if it’s nothing grandiose. For many men, it’s a matter of pride to oppose women’s wishes, no matter how insignificant. As if by doing so, they emphasize that no woman will command them! In reality, women know very well what they want and even articulate it clearly and distinctly, but not getting it makes them strongly dissatisfied, and the other sex eagerly summarizes this dissatisfaction with the same conclusion: “Women don’t know what they want!” Thus, the vicious cycle continues and the myth is reinforced.

On the other hand, men claim to know exactly what they want, and their impeccable logic makes them predictable and uniform. But experience shows that this is far from simple and obvious. Many men admire successful women but are intimidated by their decisiveness and independence. The same applies to the housewife, who seems an attractive choice for a while, but then many men get bored of that comfortable model or suffer from unequal financial standing in a family where survival rests entirely on the man’s shoulders. Because of this, it often seems that men “don’t know exactly what they want!”

The Myth of Female Manipulation

A woman can get men to do whatever she wants if she finds the right approach!

This myth builds on the previous one but even more simply assumes that “men are actually simple” and that all their behavior is based on their sexuality, which is also simple. There is an entire school of women that has based its teaching on this assumption! Such a pseudo-scientific notion is deeply sexist for both sexes. On one hand, it reduces men to feeble-minded creatures without will or individuality, and on the other, it portrays women as manipulators who have no right to spontaneity or genuine behavior if they want to keep a man by their side. There is also another serious consequence – if the relationship fails, the responsibility falls entirely on the woman – she simply didn’t play her cards right, and the man is just a brainless victim! Of course, in such a theory, love turns into a poker game where you only have to anticipate the opponent’s moves… to take their money (and soul)!

The Myth of Male Friendship

Male friendships are much more enduring and genuine than female ones!

Male friendships often lack any depth, and besides topics like weather, politics, and football scores, men rarely discuss their feelings and problems as women do. Men almost never talk for more than half a minute on the phone and never admit any weakness – emotional or financial! They call “brother” anyone who would help them carry the sofa into the living room and, of course, anyone with whom they can badmouth women. In male friendship, a man is a “brother,” and a woman is an “enemy”! It’s no wonder if such a friendship lasts, but how genuine it is is another question! When financial interests or competition for a woman are involved, male friendships collapse spectacularly just like female ones! After all, the entire history of humanity is mostly built on male conflicts and betrayals rather than female ones, simply because men mainly lead the world, despite the modest achievements of feminism over the last century!