When I first heard that joke my initial reaction was to laugh, because I just thought it was funny. A day or two later, though, it started bothering me...just like it bothers WYSIWYG. Same basic reaction. I find it sad and kind of depressing how standard it has become in western society to denigrate and trivialize men. It seems unhealthy and kind of nasty...just as it is when denigrating and trivializing women.

I say this as no bad reflection on my friend who told me the joke, by the way. But I've been observing what's been happening in the general scene for the last few decades regarding the perception of males, and I don't like it, this constant insulting downgrading of men that's going on.

Then that got me thinking about something else. Living in this western society right now...in the present milieu, with our present freedoms...would I rather be a man or a woman, given the choice? (I am a man.)

Here's what I came up with after not much time required to decide. I'd rather be a woman right now. And here's why...

If I had been born a woman, I could have gone through childhood and adolescence and actually been encouraged by my peers to be mature, responsible, serious, articulate, neat, and polite, not ridiculed for so doing. That would definitely have been preferable to what I experienced as a boy.

If I had been born a woman, I would not have been required to engage in various aggressive macho pursuits like football, hockey, etc which I had no natural liking for...in order to "prove" myself to my peers and be considered attractive to the opposite sex.

If I had been born a woman, I would not have had to get publicly drunk and swear a lot in order to prove myself to my peers either. Numerous further examples of this sort of aggressive "acting out" thing for males exist, you get the general idea...?

Moving on to adult roles, if I were a woman I would get to choose from a far more interesting and imaginative set of choices in how to clothe myself, do my hair, and generally present myself to the world.

I would be encouraged to deal in the subtleties of life! I love subtlety, in any area of human concern. I would be encouraged to appreciate beauty, grace, poise, and other such values, and to develop those values in myself.

I would get to have a female singing voice. On the whole, I find that the better female vocalists have a more attractive and greater vocal range than most males with greater expressive possibilities...although...there are certainly some extraordinary male vocalists out there who would be exceptions to what I am saying. It's just a general observation, not an across-the-board rule or judgement on my part.

So there you are. I'd rather be a female, given the choice. I think it would be more fun. I think it would be more interesting.

Or maybe it's just that I think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence? ;-)