Didn't anyone spot the sarcasm?
Uh uh. It sounded exactly like things people who live near me say in earnest all the time. My mom's boss wasn't being sarcastic about firing someone. Next time use massive sarcasm quotes.
Oh. People usually miss my sarcasm. They tell me that it goes over their head. I was hoping it might be different here.
At least I feel I can relate to people here, even if they don't get my jokes.
I value strength, capability, intelligence, an internal sense of morality, quiet non-self aggrandizing confidence, and self-reliance. These are characteristics that are generally considered male in my society.
I would find all of those traits attractive in a woman. (And I'm not gay.) I would say other than intelligence, though, that I can't imagine saying those traits are not valued in women at large, no?
I also value these qualities in a woman, with women I work with, women I am friends with, and definitely women I want a relationship with. From what I have spoken to men, and from what I've read on the forums, I would say that most men want women with those traits. I would also say, that from what I've read on the forums, that young men who prefer to date older women, and there are a LOT of young men who want to date older women, prefer older women precisely because they find that those traits are not that common with young women, and are much more common in older women.
I would say that a LOT of men do complain about women being very aggressive, in their speech and their attitudes. However, a lot of women seem to talk about themselves as being strong and confident, even when they seem to be very strongly aggressive.
I have seen a very important difference between how men deal with men and how men deal with women. I've seen men take the p*ss out of women. But when the women aren't there, they were far, far worse to each other. I've spoken to those men about it. It's their way of bonding with each other. They throw insults, and put each other down, for fun. They respect the other person for being able to hold their own, and give as good as they get. Generally, they cut women a lot of slack. But they will still do it for women, because it's how they know other people are strong in themselves, and worthy of respect. If the woman handles it well, and gives as good as she gets, then she gets respect just like a man does. If not, then they are simply weak, like any man who cannot cut the mustard.
Women do it too. But women do it in an entirely different way.
I thus suspect, that women see this as attacks on their gender, simply because women and men generally use 2 different systems of group bonding rituals.
"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt"
