Monday, March 1, 2021

Are Insecure Men Intimidated by Strong Women?

Female youth is prized in our culture

Our patriarchal society demands that women strive to achieve yet maintain a form that resembles a young girl. Our bodies must look young, wrinkle, and blemish-free, a blank slate for a man to claim.

Instead of accepting women as they are, most men and even some women, scrutinize and discard them as never good enough, never young enough, and never beautiful enough. And the more women strive to conform, the more they give up control.

Do strong, opinionated women intimidate weak, insecure men? Yes, I still see it when I talk to some over sixty-ish men, and even younger.

I had this interesting conversation with an old man I know for over 20 years, at the doctor's waiting room, before wearing masks and social distancing. He was watching a young couple arguing for a while and then turned to me. "You know, life was easier when women obeyed their husbands and knew their place."
Me: "Oh? What makes you say that?"
Old man: "Just look at them! It would be easier if the wife just obeyed him and didn't make him angry by arguing with him. A woman's job is to take care of the family. Men needs to be in charge to make decisions. Women are too emotional."
Me: "Really!?"
Old man: "Do you obey your husband?"
Me: "Fat chance!" I laughed. 

When instead of a mature woman, a 35-year-old actress is playing the role of the mother of a 30-year-old man in movies, what does it teach young teenagers? It teaches them to judge women by their looks alone. When people comment on older women’s posts on social sites, sadly, most of the comments are about how they look and not about what they stand for or achieve.

Female youth is prized in our culture because it doesn't represent too much of a threat. Insecure men are intimidated by strong, wise, mature women. Women are trained into thinking there is something fundamentally wrong with getting older and are coerced into spending money, energy, and power investing in 'slowing the signs of aging'.

The truth is that as women grow and mature, they gain wisdom and they're more of a force to be reckoned with. They see more, know more, feel more, and they put up with a lot less bullshit.

Just think about what would happen if all the women in the world started loving themselves even more with every year that passed, including each fat roll and wrinkle they gain as they move forward in time. Can you imagine how much more secure and powerful women would become as they grow older?

Written by Erika M Szabo

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