Alex,
I agree that your article would likely be perceived differently if it were not specifically aimed at men. If you feel that these things are what it takes to be a good person, and that you only aimed it at men because that is the focus of your website, that makes sense.
There was one point, however, that seems to me not to apply equally across genders.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexjstrandberg  A man is strong. A woman needs to know that you are stronger than her and can protect her if the situation calls for it. If you aren’t strong, she will know and test you until she has completely lost ALL attraction for you. |
Obviously I can't know what you meant by this exactly, but I perceive it as meaning that women are weak and need the protection of a man. This changes the whole article for me, because now I'm looking at it in the context of "men and women are different, and men need to act this way to be attractive to women". I find that thought unfair to both genders.
I think that men and women are equal, so the thought of women being weak and needing men to take care of them doesn't sit well with me. Also, the thought that men need to act in a certain way to seem "manly" to attract a woman also isn't inline with my beliefs. I feel that every human being should strive to be a good person and should look for traits in a potential partner that compliment him/her well. The thought that there are a pre-defined list of traits that a man needs to display to be considered attractive to a women seems to imply that women are lacking in some of those traits (strength, courage, leadership), so need a man to compliment them in those areas. Also, the thought that a man can only attract a women by acting a certain way leaves a great deal of the male population feeling that they have to change who they are and act the way society wants them to in order to be valuable as a man. I think this is a big problem in our society right now; men are afraid to be themselves, because they have the idea of what it takes to be a "real man" pounded into them their entire lives. In my opinion, A man who is afraid to cry because "boys don't cry" is a man who is a captive of societal beliefs and who doesn't really know who he is. I can't put the blame on that man, however. How could he know who he is, when he has lived his life trying to fit into a mold that someone else created for him?
I realize that I may be taking your article completely out of context, and that the way I perceived it may be very different from what you meant. If that is the case I apologize.