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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 17, 2023

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You make it sound as if compared to the life of the average man, the life of the average woman is like floating on a cloud of peaches.

"Average" might be doing a lot of work here, but this, unironically. In any given setting, adjusted for class, country, era etc., the lives of women in general will be vastly easier physically and psychologically than men's. This does not mean that "vastly easier" isn't still often terrible and tragic. But in the "average" case, it will be even more terrible and tragic for the males.

My wife's a tough indian from the backcountry (i.e. had a harder life than 99% of female Americans). She was abandoned as an infant by a crackhead mother and raised in poverty by her father: a drug dealer, poacher, and local wild man (shout out to my FIL). So, not exactly silver spoon territory, and yet she wouldn't last a day in my life.

This makes me extremely interested in what a day in your life looks like. Would you be willing to share?

It's simple logic. Any human community that is invested in its own future is compelled to provide a certain level of comfort to its female members, otherwise they won't bear and raise children, and the community disappears in one generation. With regard to its men, that calculus does not appear.

Obviously I'm exaggerating somewhat, not literally no days ever. That said:

A dozen miles a week, a thousand swings, a hundred pull-ups, three classes of BJJ, two range sessions. This is relatively lazy, but I'm old and just trying to maintain a bit of capability. Still, not a chance.

Your previous comment made it sound like she couldn't last a day because your life was psychologically tougher, or maybe that you need to go through intense physical trials to maintain an income. If your wife had to go through a day in your life, she would just choose not to do an exercise routine targeted at a physically fit male.

Ok mate, I'm trying to be a little coy here and not overdo it. Here's the outline from stuff I've already posted. Born in a faith-healing cult, three years in Russia as a MK, infantry NCO, purple heart, CIB etc. etc. I've worked manual labor jobs planting/picking crops, baling hay, detasseling corn, roofing crew, washing semi trucks, digging spot holes for excavation. Now in arthritic middle age, and officially "disabled", I work indoors and my job isn't nearly as strenuous. Mostly paperwork and shitty customers. So I keep my hand in with a bit of light exercise, which my wife still couldn't do.

"Average" might be doing a lot of work here, but this, unironically.

From your previous comment. Your life is not like the average western male's at all. I think most western men would collapse under the stress of being an infantry NCO in a position to get a purple heart too.

My wife hasn't had an average difficulty life either. I would say she's equally far from average for a woman, it's just that the male variation is much, much larger.

I also said:

In any given setting, adjusted for class, country, era etc.

I think being in a relationship is a good "adjuster" for age, geography, culture etc. It is my argument and thesis that in general, on average, with many exceptions, across cultures, countries and history, men have had the harder go of it and always will. It's just math really. Men are the higher variance sex, and there's more room at the bottom for failures than there is at the top for success. Also, males are disposable in a way that females are not in our species. We need far fewer males to continue than we do females.

https://psmag.com/environment/17-to-1-reproductive-success

Men are disproportionately rich for the same reason they are disproportionately poor. Women are inherently valuable, men can be an asset or a liability.

I'm curious too. As a pretty average male in a Western country, I personally feel like I do get a decent amount of advantages from being male. Mostly in the areas of not being terrified of walking through a city at night, and not needing to worry about if friends are just faking friendliness to try to get into my pants.