Whilst men and women each have their own struggles to contend with, there are certain advantages in life for each sex. Recently, one user on r/AskReddit wondered what these were and asked, "What is easier to do if you're a woman?"
There are some surprising answers, including ones where we'd never imagine that the physical difference gives them the upper hand. There are also a few that bring up some interesting points about how men are considered in society compared to the ‘fairer’ sex. Check out the best answers that we've collected below.
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Work with children.
As someone who works in early childhood education I've had the cops called on me three times when I took my kiddos to the park. Thankfully I know the beat cop quite well so it has never caused me any real issues, but the fact that people see "Adult man...interacting with children???" and assume I'm a violent predator honestly hurts a lot.
My team is all big, burly, heavily tattooed men, but we are all insanely qualified to do our jobs, but that all means nothing to some random Karen who sees scary-looking me give piggyback rides or do a girl's braids. I had a bad childhood and just want to care of the little ones, kindly [screw] off.
By no means do women have it easier than men but there are a few unique points that stand out. If we look at the answers more closely though, they also raise some questions about why some situations are like this.
With “being able to ask for help” or “show emotions” as a couple of the answers given, we need to look at why these are difficult for men. Maybe it’s due to the societal pressure that’s put on them. The prevailing idea of what a man should be is self-sufficient and steely, so the answers mentioned don’t go hand-in-hand with that image.
Get support from others.
I tend to feel completely alone in my suffering, most times when I talk to someone they just wanna tell me to "tough it out" and "be a man".
Sorry, I'm in grief from my son dying in my arms and my chronic illness has taken a turn for the worse this year and I'm just [freaking] depressed all the [freaking] time.
Yet everyone wants me to continue my life and my job as if everything is honky dorey.
This is sad. We women don't have exclusive rights to pain / grievances. And I hate "man-up".
"Man-up" is one of the most damaging and disgusting phrases to say to any male-be they a child or an adult.
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And we wonder why many men don't show their emotions and have higher rates of suicide. Things need to change.
I know what this is like myself. When my wife died everyone stayed away for over a year, including my family. One of my sisters only got involved again when another of my sisters came to me for help and I ended up in hospital needing facial reconstruction but I still had to discharge myself from hospital early as no one wanted to look after my daughter whilst I was in hospital. Also hearing people say to me as a widowed father when talking about my daughter that it's always worse when the mother dies. I heard that one so much I stopped telling people I was a widdower unless my daughter or someone else mentioned it, and even then I would try and change the subject just in case someone said it to me again.
OMG what a sad story. That must have hurt and you must have felt so lonely. Are you and your daughter ok now?
Load More Replies... This, so this. My brother reached out about some issues to a family member and male friend. Was told to "man up." He died of suicide with in a month.
I'll jump on that bandwagon. If we ever meet, you've got a hug coming from me too.
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It is scientifically proven in men that because since early childhood they don't talk about their emotions, they can't identify them and it cause frustration in young boys and long lasting effects (not knowing what you really want, more easily getting frustrated and the loneliness).
I'm related to the man that started 'The Proper Blokes Club'. A group which aims to break the stigma surrounding men's mental health. They organise local walks and other events where the goal is to be able to ask and answer 'how are you?', and destroy the 'man-up' attitude.
I wish there was something better to say than "Sorry for your loss" because it's nowhere near enough to help with the pain. Just know that there are lots of us wishing you find happiness again. Perhaps your son would say the same thing?
Right? When my uncle died my aunt was devastated and I wanted to comfort her. But I am so awkard that I really didnt know what to do or say. If it was a friend i would have huged her. But with my aunt it felt weird.
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Jesus, what kind of a-holes are around this poor man!?? I feel so sorry that in addition to his grief he has such idiots and no support from them. Is a little compassion too much to ask already? This world is so f****d up. 😮
I feel you. My wife died yesterday and I've already had more than one person tell me to "be strong ". And they mean be strong for them. And I also hate "man up ". I'm a man. What else can I do?
You are allowed to feel emotions. If someone told me to man up when I'm down, I'd break their legs then tell them to walk it off.
You need time and a lot of Love and care. I don't understand those people. It's tuff.
I wouldn't tell you that, I promise. We'd cry together until we couldn't anymore. Men deserve all sympathy especially in the death of their own child. No one wants to bury their own.
Gosh this is sad . No you don’t have to do what others expect from you . It’s time to lay down and have a good cry . I hope you have someone at home with you . I feel for you .
If I were the person you went to you would get just as much support as any other person, female, male, or anything else.
Because they are more open to get support from others. Not because of how others treat them.
Not trying to minimize, but women aren't excluded from thus either. Me and most of my high school friends were all taught that showing emotion was weakness, talking about emotion was weakness, etc etc. I still escape to a bathroom to cry rather than break down in front of someone else.
I don't think it's fair to downvote this comment. I hope people who have experienced a toxic environment can empathize with anyone who have the same experience.
Load More Replies... Its not a competition. Men are told to not express vulnerability. That does not mean that all women are allowed or we all get comforted.
Load More Replies...Men are expected to keep up unrealistic standards which are especially damaging in the long run. What’s worse is that it’s not an idea that comes completely from within — it’s the result of other men perpetuating it too. We know it best as 'toxic masculinity' and it goes on to affect women too.
Changing babies in public. Many men's rooms do not have baby changing stations.
Physical contact? If I feel like it if I need a hug, I can just cuddle with my girlfriends. I don't think it's that easy for guys...
Small thing but telling what a lotion/deodorant/body wash/shampoo smells like by the label. Women’s is just labeled like vanilla or lavender but men’s get dumb names like wolf hawk or champion.
Can I have wolf hawk champion beast slayer shamppoo for outside mountain woods, please? Most of this crap smells horrible. I personally prefer neutral soaps and shampoos.
Compliment any complete stranger. As a dude, I have to very careful complimenting strangers. I will actually tell my wife, “check her hair out, it’s super cool. Will you tell her?” And she will, and it made that stranger’s day. Just wish I could do that more often without being seen as creepy.
This especially applies to children. It’s a big no-no for a 41 year old guy to compliment a child saying they look super pretty. Woman - no issue.
If you sincerely compliment a woman (or anyone, really), by just saying 'hey, cool hair' and move along, I personally am way less likely to be creeped out than if someone stands too close and says something like 'hey, I don't mean to be creepy, but... your hair looks so soft...' the way people sometimes do. People have said to me 'hey, cool tattoos/makeup/whatever' while passing, without slowing down. As soon as someone lingers, I am creeped out.
Consoling a lost child in public (more to the perception of male threat, no matter how unfounded)
And men of colour get treated with particular suspicion. There’s an episode of Black-ish about it.
Getting their hand into a Pringle can.
Why reach into the can at all, your hand gets greasy and salty. Just lay can on its side and keep shaking them toward the opening.
Fun answer - Its easier for women to learn how to rock climb. Men will use their upper body strength as an early crutch and muscle their way up a wall, while women have to develop correct form and technique to do as well when first beginning. This leads to much better climbers from my observation.
Sad answer - physically abuse the opposite sex. Many times if a man is in a physically abusive relationship others will assume he isn't or can't be abused. There are numerous videos where actors has shown women hitting men in public and at best no one helps, some will even laugh. Switch the roles and everyone comes running to help a women being physically abused by aman.
BEING A SINGLE PARENT: my parents have been divorced since i was 6 (i’m 19F now) and my dad has always been the more stable parent in the situation so my siblings and i always lived with him and travelled with him as kids. TSA would always look at us weird and interview us kids about who we were traveling with, making sure we weren’t being kidnapped? or something? idk. people would look at our family weird in public every time we went anywhere. it’s hard to be a single dad these days for some reason but it makes no sense to me bc men are just as capable of parents as women are. one other example i can think of is the fact that a lot of men’s bathrooms don’t have changing tables for babies… like wtf? it’s honestly astonishing that society basically assumes that men are completely incapable of caring for a child smh.
Sit down on a chair without accidentally sitting on yourself.
Apparently women fighter pilots handle g-forces better than men, mainly due to being shorter and their heart not having to work so hard to pump blood to their brains (short men also handle g-forces easier for the same reason).
Tons of martial arts throws. Female center of mass is lower down in the body than male center of mass, even before accounting for height differences, and it's absolutely crucial to certain martial arts throws.
Like, you know that one throw you see all the time in movies where someone grabs a person from behind, and that person just leans forward and rolls them over their shoulder? Yeah that's almost impossible for most men to do unless the stunt person grabbing them is helping with it. But for your typical woman it's literally as easy as leaning forward, it takes basically no strength, it's all leverage.
I'm a man who practices mixed martial arts and four times out of five when I'm sparring a woman and I lose against her, it's because she threw me.
Binaural Hearing. Using headphones, play different recordings per ear which each contain mostly gibberish with the occasional intelligible word thrown in.
Women are consistently better at recognising the words, particularly when two intelligible words are played at the same time. Men have more difficulty with this.
The reason this experiment is fascinating and repeated many times is that cis women and trans* women perform just as well as each other, with trans* men and cis men together doing generally worse. We don't know why.
I'm not afraid of getting accidentally hit in my private parts. It can hurt, but not nearly as much as men I believe.
I have no idea what being kicked in the groin feels like but if I see it happen to a guy I cringe and feel sorry for the dude.
Here’s a fun one! Women are generally better at conserving air while scuba diving. I teach scuba and 95% of the time my female students could stay down twice as long on their first dive than their male counterparts.
It’s a big pick me up for so many tiny women who think all the heavy gear is going to set them back from the big muscular guys.
Find nice pieces of clothes full of colours. It is so hard being a man in many clothes stores. Next time you wonder why men are not interested in shopping clothes, look at the choices we have and the minimal amount of variety and fun in men clothes compared to women !
Why at weddings or parties, do women get to actually express their personality in their dresses, but men have to wear generic tuxes?
Distinguish between colors.
I can't find the reference now, but I once read an article where some fraudsters were sneaking into a conference with fake badges. The fake badges had a slightly different shade of color. Women could spot the difference, but men couldn't.
Shoot a gun. Women are willing to be taught and men think they already know how. Any gun instructor will tell you that women first time shooters are better than men.
In most instances I’ve personally as a man found women to be more self-aware and have a greater understanding of their emotions and how to identify their feelings. Not to say I don’t have male friends and acquaintances who possess these traits.
Daycare worker. Really any profession to do with kids
It's kind of a shame that all the workers in my younger kid's nursery and all the teachers in my older kid's primary school are female. They are all perfectly good at their job, and they are great with my kids, but it would be nice to have a few more male role models in their lives.
Touch your friends I think
Yha, it is easy for girls to touch both genders without hesitation and no one misunderstands it.
Gaining sympathy sometimes
"Just man up" doesn't really help
Neither does "Suck it up, buttercup." My old manager, a woman, said this frequently. A thoroughly unpleasant person.
Ask for help.
Men can have problems with abuse, rape, etc. as much as women. Men, if you need help, this is a sign to go and get it. Everyone needs help, we aren’t perfect and if anyone you love is hurting, don’t worry, you will find a way out. 🙂❤️
Read people.
I don’t mean auras or anything woo. I mean READ people and read rooms. I’m not saying men don’t do it but every woman I know does this. We’ve always had to I think. Our instincts have to be attuned even if we don’t always heed them
Women have better fine motor control. People who assemble circuit boards that are to small and delicate for a machine to complete are predominantly women. I've also heard they pick up things like flying helicopters faster as well.
Thrift shopping. Aint nothing in the mens section but 2007 fun run t shirts in bright neon colors.
Survive the NICU -- apparently, girls do much better in the NICU than boys do and tend to have fewer health complications. We heard that time and time again as parents to a 29 weeker girl.
Floating. It’s a fact because women’s fat is deposited differently in our bodies, mainly in our thighs. My husband tries to float but instantly sinks whereas I can just float all day long. Exception is if your a bigger male with a lot of fat around your thighs
Sales. Seriously females salespeople are on average much more successful than their male counterparts. In my industry (industrial sales), it's an open understanding that our typical sales contact (older middle-aged male) is much more interested in talking to females than males. Huge sales buff if you are young AND at least a little attractive.
If you are a hard working, quick witted and social young female looking for a high paying job without education requirements, I would strongly encourage you to look into B2B sales. All of the technical knowledge you can learn on the job.
Selling can also be very stressful and emotionally draining. Keep in mind :)
Get complimented.
Yeah but for what. I got complimented for how handy I am because I knew how to hold wrench. I did not get complimented (or appreciated) for being only one in international company willing to test hundreds of servo motors coming back on warranty in terrible conditions trying to find out what really happened before other s**t happened (when motors stopped working mostly they were thrown on side, sprayed with water with open connecting holes and I was supposed to find out if warranty applied and if they were handled correctly, that often meant connecting them to power and having them literally explode). But sure I know how to hold wrench, thanks...
Note: this post originally had 43 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.
Its funny how the sexists who whine about "feminism doesnt care about men" are the ones downvoting you for caring about men
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While I strongly disagree with some of them I find this article super important. Sexism affects negatively both sexes and its time that people realise. Men deserve to live in a society that allows them to express fear and sadness, to be caring with friends and family, and to not be treated as an emotionless person.
and it's also important to notice sexism not only comes from men, but also women, in the sense that, bs like "men only wear blue" is not only passed from men to their sons, but also from their moms. I mean, it goes both direction, female and male stereotypes are reinforced by both men and women.
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Kind of unrelated but I remember one time when I was at a pool, there were large dressing rooms for everyone (so no separate stalls), only separated by sex. In comes this dad with his little daughter, maybe three years old, while I was there with my the female half of my class of teenagers getting undressed. The dad had his back turned towards us the entire time though, but at that time we were weirded out by this man, why couldn't he just have gone into the men's dressing room? But now, many years later, I figured he probably just chose what he thought was best for his daughter at that time. I'm not sure whether I would've done the same thing had I been a mom with a young son (or a dad with a young daughter), but I guess that only proves my point that it's different for men to be in this kind of situation. I feel kinda bad about how I reacted to that situation (we didn't say anything but I think we threw looks).
Yeah. Me and my partner had the same. We took out once his nieces when they were very young. They still needed help to wash their hands and not make a mess. My partner couldnt take them to the mens bathroom (urinals and penises everywhere) but couldnt enter the womens one. And back then I spoke next nothing of their language so it was very difficukt for me to help them. Its absurd. We need gender neutral bathrooms with closed stalls.
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On the one hand, I think it's not okay that men are being judged by a different standard in most of the ways mentioned above. On the other hand, as a woman who has had to fight for my rights, and who has been judged and repressed personally and professionally for refusing to play ball with limited societal expectations and acceptance, I am struck by the irony that men are facing the consequences of all the gender standards they created to keep women subordinate to them. So for the young men who weren't part of creating that world order, just step out of the shadows and be who you want to be, and you will just have to learn the way every woman has had to that equality does not come easily, and if you believe in something, you have to be prepared to stand up for it, and accept that the consequences are not always favourable, but if you want something badly enough, you will deal with it.
As a gay man who very much had to stand up and fight for my rights since early childhood, I have to inform you that your notion that men as a group ever had it easy or held special power is delusionnal and self centerd. Yes including straight, white, cisgender men. We didn't "create the gender standards". The only divide in our societies is between the rich and powerful and those who need to work to live. That ideology of yours is a cold war propaganda tool to divide the working class.
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A lot of these are so wrapped in misandry (and little misogyny as well) which is really sad tbh !
Getting tips. Even an average looking female will earn more than her male counterparts, with everything else being the same. This of course has to do with the fact that males are still most often paying service staff. The tip pay gap increases exponentially if the woman is attractive and/or flirty. If you ever get a lecture from a man about how women waste money on frivolous things, just point him towards the nearest Hooters bar and make him justify how much money gets tossed for some mediocre wings.
Sexist: Treating anyone differently (good or bad) because of their gender.
When it came to the end of primary school, we’re talking 2003, all the girls and a female relative were asked to attend a talk about periods/menstruation etc. There was one girl who had to sit in by herself because they wouldn’t allow her dad to come in just in case it made everyone else feel uncomfortable. She didn’t have anyone else. It was really sad :(
I'm trans, so I'll wear women's clothing regardless of people's opinions.
There is nothing inherently feminine or masculine about clothes. By saying this things you are just perpetuating sexist stereotypes. Dress as you like but you cannot 'dress as a woman'
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Your intentions are good, but just because you think he looks bland doesn't mean he thought he did. It's a bit hurtful to just assume that someone is in need of a touch-up without them having expressed such a need.
Load More Replies... Most were very valid (about toxic masculinity) but the bleeding one (and a few others) are infuriating
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I could go on and on and on and on, listing examples of various issues women in various countries deal with, but I digress. I strongly believe this article is still feminist, because men’s rights and feelings should not be demolished in order to fight for women’s — feminism is about gender equality, not the supremacy of one. And so to achieve this equality, men’s voices deserve to be heard, too. Most people in this whole wide world do not have it easy. Yes, thanks to feminism and protests over the decades, things are looking better for women, but we still have a long way to go. Women still have struggles. Men have struggles. People beyond the binary have struggles. They all deserve to be heard. I just love how on an article about men, you chose to try and make light of female struggles.
Load More Replies... Its funny how the sexists who whine about "feminism doesnt care about men" are the ones downvoting you for caring about men
Load More Replies... While I strongly disagree with some of them I find this article super important. Sexism affects negatively both sexes and its time that people realise. Men deserve to live in a society that allows them to express fear and sadness, to be caring with friends and family, and to not be treated as an emotionless person.
and it's also important to notice sexism not only comes from men, but also women, in the sense that, bs like "men only wear blue" is not only passed from men to their sons, but also from their moms. I mean, it goes both direction, female and male stereotypes are reinforced by both men and women.
Load More Replies... Kind of unrelated but I remember one time when I was at a pool, there were large dressing rooms for everyone (so no separate stalls), only separated by sex. In comes this dad with his little daughter, maybe three years old, while I was there with my the female half of my class of teenagers getting undressed. The dad had his back turned towards us the entire time though, but at that time we were weirded out by this man, why couldn't he just have gone into the men's dressing room? But now, many years later, I figured he probably just chose what he thought was best for his daughter at that time. I'm not sure whether I would've done the same thing had I been a mom with a young son (or a dad with a young daughter), but I guess that only proves my point that it's different for men to be in this kind of situation. I feel kinda bad about how I reacted to that situation (we didn't say anything but I think we threw looks).
Yeah. Me and my partner had the same. We took out once his nieces when they were very young. They still needed help to wash their hands and not make a mess. My partner couldnt take them to the mens bathroom (urinals and penises everywhere) but couldnt enter the womens one. And back then I spoke next nothing of their language so it was very difficukt for me to help them. Its absurd. We need gender neutral bathrooms with closed stalls.
Load More Replies... On the one hand, I think it's not okay that men are being judged by a different standard in most of the ways mentioned above. On the other hand, as a woman who has had to fight for my rights, and who has been judged and repressed personally and professionally for refusing to play ball with limited societal expectations and acceptance, I am struck by the irony that men are facing the consequences of all the gender standards they created to keep women subordinate to them. So for the young men who weren't part of creating that world order, just step out of the shadows and be who you want to be, and you will just have to learn the way every woman has had to that equality does not come easily, and if you believe in something, you have to be prepared to stand up for it, and accept that the consequences are not always favourable, but if you want something badly enough, you will deal with it.
As a gay man who very much had to stand up and fight for my rights since early childhood, I have to inform you that your notion that men as a group ever had it easy or held special power is delusionnal and self centerd. Yes including straight, white, cisgender men. We didn't "create the gender standards". The only divide in our societies is between the rich and powerful and those who need to work to live. That ideology of yours is a cold war propaganda tool to divide the working class.
Load More Replies... A lot of these are so wrapped in misandry (and little misogyny as well) which is really sad tbh !
Getting tips. Even an average looking female will earn more than her male counterparts, with everything else being the same. This of course has to do with the fact that males are still most often paying service staff. The tip pay gap increases exponentially if the woman is attractive and/or flirty. If you ever get a lecture from a man about how women waste money on frivolous things, just point him towards the nearest Hooters bar and make him justify how much money gets tossed for some mediocre wings.
Sexist: Treating anyone differently (good or bad) because of their gender.
When it came to the end of primary school, we’re talking 2003, all the girls and a female relative were asked to attend a talk about periods/menstruation etc. There was one girl who had to sit in by herself because they wouldn’t allow her dad to come in just in case it made everyone else feel uncomfortable. She didn’t have anyone else. It was really sad :(
I'm trans, so I'll wear women's clothing regardless of people's opinions.
There is nothing inherently feminine or masculine about clothes. By saying this things you are just perpetuating sexist stereotypes. Dress as you like but you cannot 'dress as a woman'
Load More Replies... Your intentions are good, but just because you think he looks bland doesn't mean he thought he did. It's a bit hurtful to just assume that someone is in need of a touch-up without them having expressed such a need.
Load More Replies... Most were very valid (about toxic masculinity) but the bleeding one (and a few others) are infuriating
Load More Replies... I could go on and on and on and on, listing examples of various issues women in various countries deal with, but I digress. I strongly believe this article is still feminist, because men’s rights and feelings should not be demolished in order to fight for women’s — feminism is about gender equality, not the supremacy of one. And so to achieve this equality, men’s voices deserve to be heard, too. Most people in this whole wide world do not have it easy. Yes, thanks to feminism and protests over the decades, things are looking better for women, but we still have a long way to go. Women still have struggles. Men have struggles. People beyond the binary have struggles. They all deserve to be heard. I just love how on an article about men, you chose to try and make light of female struggles.
Load More Replies...