Hm.
Well, I think a lot of people think women always have ulterior motives. They try to read what they're really saying behind what they're saying. It's hard sometimes. It seems like people think women are out to manipulate everyone with mind games. And sometimes, it looks that way. Trust me, no woman is meaner to anyone than another women. Cat fights are purely brutal. So are the "dog fights" with men, but for some reason that's different. It's less nasty. It doesn't involve the petty acts of revenge and devastation that cat fights have...
Men are trusted to "know what they're doing," supposedly, and that they're "strong enough" to handle it themselves. I see that women often are given too much extra help, as if they're some sort of mentally handicapped. This lower class mentality really bothers me. Women are perfectly capable and don't need help in every freaking thing they do.
Socialization between men is strange and indirect. A man won't sit across from me. He wants to be by my side. He doesn't like to be touched for any reason. Guys can't be close, intimate, or even friendly in a lot of ways. They also don't get very deep into conversation. They scrape the surface, as if they're scared to find what's underneath. Often they're just trying not to be seen as gay or weak. The last thing a man wants is to be a "pussy" or even worse, a "wussy."
Women get preferred sometimes. If she's tired and can't finish her work, she'll get the break long before us guys. I could be sweatin' and bleedin' and have slime oozing out of my ears before they think I look done. My lips will be blue before they're convinced that I'm tired. "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." "Be a man." "You work like a girl. Pick up the pace." Men are expected to be strong. If they're too emotional, then someone will just call them a woman. I never understood that; why men aren't supposed to have emotions.
When a man is mad, he is just being a man. When a woman is mad, she's being a bitch. That's at least what most people say. Personally, I think that when a person is mad, they're mad, and I try not to label it. Society, however, loves labels.
If a girl has sex with a lot of men or women, she's considered a whore. If a man does not have sex with enough people, he is considered a prude.
Often in my experience women seem pretty unheard, in most situations. In the end, the decision will usually be made by the man in the room. If it's a group of girl's, the girl with the most robust attitude will make the decisions. I don't understand why femininity isn't a powerful thing in our culture. It really should be. Sometimes, it can be. A man will fall for a woman's charm easily. Women on the other hand seem to fall in love quite easily. They seem affection where most men (transmen often the exception; we know what estrogen feels like) seem to just want to procreate. That is what nature intended, almost. It's difficult to accept, but I don't believe that men were necessarily designed to be monogamous. That makes relationships pretty... difficult.
Since I've been living as a male full time, people respect me more. Also, girls look at me differently. Hell, I can tell a lot of them are like, "Ooh, cute/hot" in their mind. It's really weird. I never got a reaction like that from boys when I presented as female. But now that I present as male, I get those little, "Oooh, aaaah," looks. Also, people expect more from me. They expect me to be stronger, faster, bolder. They are surprised when I get mousy and shy. They wonder what's wrong with me, sometimes tell me to "man it up." Also, now I know what it's like for skinny nerdy guys. Other guys who are bigger than me and stuff kind of puffy out their chests around me. They are sure to open their chests and legs real wide and put themselves on display. I feel them spreading their territory and trying to push me out. Being male is living in a pretty competitive social structure.
