Can we have an honest, balanced, down to earth discussion about feminism?

[Whateverist]

I like equality that deals with issues that hurt both men and women. People like to say men aren't discriminated against, but if you watch what happens to guys who try to be nurses or secretaries or boys who try to baby sit to earn money in high school or, really, if you want to be a male that has anything to do with children, you see a different story.

The feminism I seem to be encountering the most still sees this problem, but instead says "This problem with men is only there because women have this other problem even worse." Personally, I find that incredibly dismissive of real concerns by real men.

I've experienced the same thing. There is a lot of naivete among some women about where patterns of sexism come from and who is responsible for them. I took a women in film class in a women's studies department in college out of a long time interest in the subject. It was interesting enough but I was so surprised when the professor made the comment, after a war film, that perhaps it was time to give a woman a chance. I told her if power was the kind of thing that was awarded to nice people we might also try giving it to men like Mahatma Ghandi. Of course power isn't the sort of thing that is given at all; it's taken.

We're all born and brought up in a culture where we wonder why women, in general, are so fem and men are so butch. That doesn't mean that men created this culture. Everyone creates the culture over great periods of time. No one thought it up or foisted it on anyone else. We just all struggle to find balance within it, whatever the perceived advantages and disadvantages. I'm sympathetic toward women but no way will I feel guilty or responsible for the situation.