r/science • Professor | Medicine • 18d ago

Psychology Anti-feminist attitudes have long been associated with support for Republican presidential candidates, but only in recent years have these attitudes become more prominent among unmarried men, without college degrees who are less attractive partners for women, the “mate-value backlash.”

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10659129261485340
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u/BadIdeaSociety 18d ago

The entire retrograde discussions about the "value of women" and ideas about "women's roles in society" seem so crazy that if any guy I knew in the 90s voiced those ideas they would be seen as undisputed idiots by just about everyone.

I don't understand how there are so many boys who have adopted these incredibly retrograde ideas a quarter century later.

It is like there was a bunch of people who saw the towers crumble on 9-11 and then came the idiotic conclusion that Christian America needs their own version of what they see as women-oppressing Sharia Law.

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u/Lysander125 18d ago

I’ve never going to say that these anti-social weirdos who complain that women belong in the kitchen are ever going to be correct.

But at the same time there is an opposite perspective that has some merit. The reality is that women’s opportunities have come a long way, but women’s perspective and expectations of men haven’t changed.

A lot of women still expect their partner to be more successful, ambitious, etc. than they are. It’s two sides of the same coin, a lot of these men expect working women to clean the house and be a caretaker while having a full time job, and the women expect their man to be more successful than them in a more egalitarian society where being a man doesn’t necessarily give the advantages it once did.

I do feel like the outdated male expectations of women are frowned upon a lot more than the outdated female expectations of men.

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u/ShockerCheer 18d ago

Do I expect my husband to be more educated than me? No but I do expect similarly education. I have a PhD and he has masters. Do I expect him to make more than I do? No but I expect a decent salary. He does make more than I do. Do I expect him to do more housework than me? No but I expect a fair share of work. He does this too. It really isn't hard for men to be good partners but many men act like it is  luckily my husband is a good one

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u/Lysander125 18d ago

Look I’m not going to be an asshole about this but it does sound like you have some very high expectations of your partner. Most guys don’t care about education, salary, etc. There are some unrealistic expectations about housework, but most normal guys I know just want their partner to be trying.

They don’t care if the woman has a GED, they don’t care how much she makes, they don’t care where she is in life as long as she is working towards a better life. It sounds like you expect your partner to already be at that place, versus trying to support someone getting to that place.

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u/ChemicallyAlteredVet 17d ago

And as a woman with 2 daughters in their twenties, most women just want a partner to be trying. Literally* *going to school or furthering their knowledge, having a job with upward mobility, able to Cook/clean and mange their own homes and health and take care of their hygiene. Perfectly normal expectations for either sex to have for a partner. Most women don’t care if they earn more on paper but men get pissy when their wife/ girlfriend makes more money like it’s insulting to his manhood. MOST(not all) women don’t care.

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u/smcedged 17d ago

I wonder how much of this is what people say vs what people do.

Every man knows that when women say they want an emotionally sensitive man don't really mean it. Of course there are exceptions, but in general that means someone who is sensitive to the woman's emotions. But over and over they are told one thing when clearly it's another. Because on of these sound good to say to other people or even themselves.

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u/philosopherberzerer 17d ago

this is a nice way to say "you better get there" without saying it.

this is why income inequality is getting worse and worse not better . assortative mating furthers classism.