"rape is a human issue. Humans shouldn't rape humans. Stop making everything about gender"
The argument typically follows this bend of logic; since men get raped as well, that automatically makes the issue gender neutral. The main problem here is that this argument is one-sided, or is used as a one-sided argument because it's never applied to when the topic of discussion is men, only women. It's become yet another way to derail the conversation and to tell them pesky womz that they should suck it up.
But wait, you might say, what about men killing themselves as higher rates? What about most homeless people being men? What about all of those problems? What about men being drafted? Why aren't they considered gendered issues if men are at the forefront of victimhood?
IT'S ALMOST LIKE THERE'S MORE TO MAKING AN ISSUE A GENDERED ISSUE THAN JUST SIMPLY SUFFERING FROM IT MORE.
You see, in order to attach gender or race to something, the principle must be rooted in a hierarchal idea. Suicide, homelessness, and military services were not built upon the idea of men being inferior. Things like rape and spousal abuse were in fact built upon the idea that women are weaker and are to be dominated by their husbands or boyfriends. Even when women started doing the inverse, it was still widely regarded as a woman's issue, thus requiring we feminists to fix it.
Which brings me to my next point. Gendered issues are important to recognise as gendered because it's the easiest way to combat them. Being "colour-blind" or "gender neutral" is stupid because you're essentially turning a blind eye to white supremacy and misogyny. How are you meant to attack your enemy if you know nothing about them or are not willing to see them for what they are? I'll give you an example of that. Rape is sometimes referred to as a gender neutral issue. The fraction for women getting raped is 1 in 6. The fraction for men is 1 in 71. Yep, TOTALLY gender neutral there. That's why there's violence against women and not people. Women are attacked because of their gender, men are not.
Perhaps another more recent example was last year's X-Men Apocalypse billboard poster which showed the titular villain Apocalypse strangling the female villain/anti-heroine Mystique. It rightfully was met with outrage from women's groups and predictably they were met with backlash from masculinists. They were all like "OH BUT IF IT WAS A GUY THEN IT'D BE FINE". They didn't understand that the problem wasn't Apocalypse strangling Mystique. The problem was that it was being used as a selling point for the film. We know villains do bad things, that's common knowledge. But that particular poster was almost glorifying violence against women, which is kinda a widespread problem.
Which brings me to my next point. Gendered issues are important to recognise as gendered because it's the easiest way to combat them. Being "colour-blind" or "gender neutral" is stupid because you're essentially turning a blind eye to white supremacy and misogyny. How are you meant to attack your enemy if you know nothing about them or are not willing to see them for what they are? I'll give you an example of that. Rape is sometimes referred to as a gender neutral issue. The fraction for women getting raped is 1 in 6. The fraction for men is 1 in 71. Yep, TOTALLY gender neutral there. That's why there's violence against women and not people. Women are attacked because of their gender, men are not.
Perhaps another more recent example was last year's X-Men Apocalypse billboard poster which showed the titular villain Apocalypse strangling the female villain/anti-heroine Mystique. It rightfully was met with outrage from women's groups and predictably they were met with backlash from masculinists. They were all like "OH BUT IF IT WAS A GUY THEN IT'D BE FINE". They didn't understand that the problem wasn't Apocalypse strangling Mystique. The problem was that it was being used as a selling point for the film. We know villains do bad things, that's common knowledge. But that particular poster was almost glorifying violence against women, which is kinda a widespread problem.
So the next time you hear a topic about gender politics come up, instead of butting in with your gender neutrality bollocks, hear them out for a minute and listen to their language. Look deeper than the surface. An iceberg is more than what you see above water.
