Patriarchal societies are interesting when you consider the nitty gritty elements of gender roles and the things we find acceptable for both men and women.
There are things in North American society that we deem to be acceptable for men but unacceptable for women even though men and women aren’t really that different. Nevertheless, North American society is becoming more tolerant and progressive as time goes on, so maybe the things we consider weird right now won’t be so weird in a decade or two.
And even though society may not be progressing in a way that is beneficial to certain individuals it is important to remember that there are individual people who live progressively and are making strides and efforts to be more inclusive and knock down double standards.
On the AskReddit board a user posted a thread posing the question of ‘What can men get away with that women can’t?’ The responses were pretty astounding and the thread was filled with a variety of stories and opinions on the differences of expectations between men and women.
The Gloss
1. “As a man if I’m lazy I’ll just roll out of bed in gym shorts and the same shirt I wore to sleep, grab my keys, wallet and go right to my car and run errands. But most girls I know would be mortified if they did that and can’t even imagine doing that at all. There’s so much pressure on women to look pretty all the time.” (HarrysonTubman)
