Who says femininity isn’t valued it all?

But while so-called “masculinity” is often valued in women: being occupationally successful, a leader, assertive, athletic, rational, mathematical (with some men feeling threatened by this), so-called “femininity” is nearly universally devalued in men. Women are seen as raising their status in all of the above examples. Men are seen as demeaning themselves.

One way to insult a male is to say, “You’re a girl!” One way to compliment a female is to say, “You the man!”

Women are not valued simply because they have children. If they are so valued, why are they stoned to death in Middle Eastern countries for being raped? Or for being seen with a man she is not related to? Wouldn’t you want to preserve women so that they can have children?

In cultures that do value women because they bear children, a double penalty is assigned to a woman’s death.

The first culture I’m describing is patriarchal, and values men over women. The second is egalitarian.

Mother nature and egalitarian cultures do value women very much because they can give birth. And try to keep women alive. Not so in patriarchal cultures.

Maybe men who feel the way you do — that men are redundant — decided to work hard to devalue women in hopes of raising male self-esteem.

Your point both distracts from the main point, and leads right back to confirming it.

It distracts in that if you take a list of human traits, we almost always value the “masculine” over “feminine.” So sure, on the question of “active versus passive” Black women are an exception in that they are not seen as passive. 

Yet more often than not black women fit the rest of the list. 

And black men are not thought of as being more passive than black women, so it’s not like there’s an actual switch.

But regardless, the stereotypes we have — and most people don’t think to recognize the exception of black women — act two justify the status quo for most men and women. Women should fall on the “lesser” side of the equation: compared with black men, black women “should be” less dominant, less likely to be leaders, more emotional… Justifying the status quo.

Yet black women’s exceptionalism leads right back to the point, confirming it:

The reason black women are in exception to the other races comes from two sources 1) racism has been harder on black Americans then any other ethnic group, And 2) we value men over women.

Black men have faced more discrimination and men of any other ethnic group in our country, making it impossible for them to take a job in the 40s, 50s, and 60s that could support a family. Men are supposed to be the heads of home, and part of that role involves providing for your family. 

But while white men could get high-paying union jobs — and feel like they were fulfilling their manly duties as household heads — racism excluded black men. Compared with their women, black men were more likely to get depressed and “drop out,” whether though alcohol, or taking out frustrations through violence, like rioting — and getting arrested.  

Psychologically, it wasn’t as hard on black women because they have lower expectations to live up to. They didn’t feel the same need to prove their status, because women, generally, tend to internalize taking on a secondary role. So the women just kept doing menial jobs that supported their families as best they could. 

Looking at younger kids, disempowered males of nearly every ethnic group in America have joined gangs. Males are told that they are supposed to be dominant and powerful. But disempowered males are neither. So these guys often join gangs which make them feel powerful as they fight each other and defend their turf — of fictional sense of owning property. And then the guy send a dead or in prison.

Because men of all colors are perceived as being tougher than women — and often feel pressured to live up to the expectation, creating a social pattern (doing things like joining gangs, criminality), the police also develop a stereotype that black men are more criminal than their black sisters. So black men are more likely to be pulled over for DWB: driving while black. Which leaves the police more likely to find drugs in the cars of black males than black females or white males (regardless of who actually uses more drugs).

So black men are more likely than black women to end up in jail.

It all leaves African-American women in a situation of male scarcity. These girls don’t grow up thinking that prince charming is going to rescue them. Their mothers teach them that they are going to have to take care of themselves. And so, compared to other ethnicities, these young women learn to be more likely to learn to be independent, assertive, breadwinners, Etc. All characteristics that we usually associate with masculine over feminine. 

By the way, your question gave me an idea to turn this into a couple of blog posts, probably for Black History Month, So thanks.

On your other point, women were greatly valued in early religions because of their ability to create life. It seems that the most ancient peoples didn’t realize men had a role to play. So early religions tend to be about “The Goddess.” As people started to understand the male role, the myths evolved such that the goddess bore a son (an immaculate conception) who would grow up to become her lover and consort. And from there intercourse, world were created.

After patriarchy arose — I’ll write about that later (preventing inbreeding and agriculture were key in creating patriarchy — not men wanting to hurt women) the myths begin to change and man become the mothers.

And so we end up with God the Father/(mother) who creates life. And then Adam bears Eve, as you say. Or, Zeus becomes the “mother” of Aphrodite and Athena.

After a while, women are no longer valued and protected so much for giving birth. So even though early peoples, religions, and Mother Nature (also an original Goddess) see men as more expendable, under patriarchy women begin to be seen as more expendable, and killed for crimes that men remain alive for, like rape, adultery, being unchaperoned.

As it turns out, the ability to give birth does not automatically give women value in a society.

This is another topic I’ve planned to blog on for a while, now.