The narrative of men being the protector has never been applied to me ever, I’ve encountered many uncomfortable or straight up harassment by men which were blatantly ignored by other men yet I often hear how men are the protectors.
However plenty of women not only stood up for me but comforted me as well, they even make sure I’m ok mentally afterwards which men never do so especially if they don’t know me, women i dont know however? They always make sure I’m ok. Men claims they’re the protector but more often than not they’re afraid of other men but will never admit to it themself because then they’ll have to admit that men are dangerous and women are valid to be afraid and avoid them. If men ever stand up for you more often than not they do it because they hope they’ll recieve something out of it and if they don’t? They’ll make countless excuses yet will still believe they’re the strong ones.
EDIT: Also please do not believe the phrase “the fridge protecting the snacks” it is a saying made by predatory men to shame women for protecting their friends. In this society the narrative that the worst thing for a woman is to be ugly is a tool used for oppression, they’re trying to dismiss you because you’re not letting them have access to other women. Stick up for your friends because this is cope! Women are human not objects and men who don’t protect women are the ones saying this phrase.
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Speaking from personal experience and observations: We can never depend on men to protect women. More often than not, women protect each other from men.
That’s pretty much been my experience, as well. Between the sexual harassment, mansplainers, interrupters, etc. I have come to a no tolerance policy from their bullshit.
Same.
More than once I have been struggling to lift something heavy, whether it was my suitcase or a large bag of dog food. Men watched and the only people who helped were women. I really don’t understand it.
The only people I need protection FROM are men, generally speaking!!! Read the news and see that womens’ main predator is men. Protectors, my ass
The only time a man ever tried to “protect” me from unwanted advances of another man, he did so by pretending he was my boyfriend and then it turned out he and his wife had been hoping I’d join them for a threesome.
Other than that, women have always been my protectors and I’ve been theirs. I don’t even understand how we came to the phrase “protectors and providers.” Those are two roles that are historically opposed. If we really have this narrative (which is not true) of men going off to hunt while women were at home, then who the hell was protecting the home and children? Not the men.
Please, be more protective of young boys too. I was abused by men throughout my whole childhood but both genders failed me when I needed help.
Like when a man fights another man for harassing his girlfriend. It’s more about the man protecting his “property” than care for her.
Yep. When a grown ass man who was unrelated to my friend at age 13 and 14 and I was screaming at us in public for “stealing his table” (in a location that said tables were open and nobody could save spots, if you weren’t there it wasn’t yours) his finger was in our faces and he grabbed me when I tried to walk away.
None of the many men in the area intervened, even though we literally knew some of them, but a 75 year old woman I knew who was 5 feet tall and maybe 95 lbs stepped between us and told him if he wants to lay hands on someone it’s gonna be her. He ran off with his tail between his legs.
The only time I’ve seen men ‚protect‘ women is when they saw the women as their property. For example ‚she’s MY girlfriend/wife/sister! Keep away from her!‘ They are motivated to protect what they see as an object that belongs to them but aren’t motivated to protect a woman for her own wellbeing.
Protect from what? That myth is as old as the men providing..like they have all this testosterone to fight mammoth or whatever, when the average man today can’t kill a roach. It’s just another lie.
I forget the original quote but I always thought it was poignant on this topic.
Men: “if men weren’t around who would protect you…”
Women: “protect us from who?”
Yup. Men dgaf about us outside of what we do for them. If we need something, we need to look elsewhere. Which is (another reason) why many women have support networks, and many men do not.
Same. Women have always protected me, even women that didn’t like me. I have had the pleasure of knowing a few truly good men, and they have stepped in and up when needed, but the vast majority of the protection I have been given has been from other women.
Men are pathetic. I was arguing with my BIL once last year about the upcoming election and my fears of my rights being taken away. BIL kept interrupting me, not listening, just bring a general POS. The entire time, my husband sat there without saying a word. After I stormed out and husband eventually followed, I asked “Why didn’t you back me up?” He said “You seemed like you had it handled.” Like, yes, I am smarter than BIL and have actual facts to back up my position, but a little support would be nice. I know he didn’t join in cuz he didn’t want to upset his brother. I’ve been realizing more and more lately how much I can’t depend on others, especially men.
Men have never actually been our protectors. It’s just an excuse to control women. The whole narrative of men protecting us is stupid and violent.