Thread by @RemakingManhood

THREAD: Too Many Women Are Going to College - There's a male supremacist narrative out there that more women are going to college than men because of educational bias, unfair advantages, and so on. It's based on a male victimhood narrative cuz that's how male supremacy works. /1

Every male supremacist narrative is based on a grain of truth. Yes, boys are struggling in many educational contexts. Yes, a lot of programs have been implemented to encourage women in STEM and other areas. Fine. We get that. /2

Globally, women and non-gender binary people are pursuing education because it is empowering and because there is great joy for all humans in exploring the issues and ideas we are interested in. /3

But if you want to piss off men who are pushing this idea of anti-male bias in primary education and college admissions; the ones who point at college admissions where women make up 57% of college admissions, make the following suggestion. /4

Globally, girls and women have a second reason for pursuing education at whatever level is available to them. It is to gain financial and personal independence from controlling men. Education is freedom for women. Full stop. /5

I go on to say that men's systemic power over women can be counteracted with higher levels of education both in terms of women's freedom from needing to be married, to women's ability to choose work that is meaningful and validating for them. /6

"This is total crap. Every woman in college didn't go there to get away from the controlling men in their families." /7

That's not what I said. I said two things.
1) Higher enrollment for women is driven by their desire for independence.
2) Systemic sexism across every aspect of women's personal and professional lives is driving their focus on education.
For example: /8

Women being introduced for the first time in business meetings will often add their level of education to their job title as part of how they introduce themselves. This is something men don't do. Women do so to get men to respect them when they speak during the meeting. /9

Women also pursue education as a way to negotiate equal pay for equal work. "You aren't hiring a women, you're hiring a PhD," and so on. /10

MRA's and other masculinity extremists are pointing to the 57% higher college enrollment for women as proof the education system is biased against men. The implication is higher enrollment for women is something new. It is not. /11

From the New York Times: /12

Also this from the same article: /13

Oh, did in mention the title of this article? nytimes.com/2021/09/09/ups… /14

And finally, men have always been able to make a decent living in trades like plumbing and construction. Careers that women have traditionally been kept out of. Which goes a long way to explain the college disparity. Men choose to not go. Women have few alternative options. /15

Male supremacist narratives designed to drive men's victimhood narratives cherry pick data and then invite boys and men to set aside self reflection, accountability for their own choices, critical thinking and cultural awareness and collapse into white and male supremacy. /16

My suggestion that women pursue education to gain independence from controlling men is nothing more than an acknowledgement of women's willingness to work for their own betterment instead of blaming others. Would that MRA's had the ability to do the same. /17

I have books. I would rather you have them. All books are here: amzn.to/3iTG69H /18

For those who would prefer this thread in article form, it's here on Medium. /19 remakingmanhood.medium.com/too-many-women…

Like this wonky masculinity stuff? Want to support our work to break men out of Man Box culture? Pick up our new book. There's tons of good stuff in there. All books are here: amzn.to/3iTG69H /20