In defense of men

Heard in Fast and Testimony Meeting:
“We men, we’re idiots. The women are smart and spiritual and have it all together. They condescend to be with us and I’m grateful for that. We men really don’t have anything going for us and there’s no way we could ever deserve our wives.”

Heard at work:
“The I.Q. of the room gets lower with every additional man who comes in.”

Heard in class:
“You can’t blame him. I mean, he’s a guy. Of course he’s stupid. What do you expect?”

Yes. They’re for real. You have undoubtedly heard the same kind of statements. And yes, all of these come from the mouths of modern, American, Mormon men. What do we learn from these astonishing remarks? (Other than the fact that I’m strange and compulsively write down the conversations of those around me…Beware!) That there is a vicious and destructive tendency toward the demoralization of men. To put it plainly: sexism.
What astonishes me, though, that this discrimination seems to be perpetuated principally by the men. Sure, “man hating” women may spout off similar slander, but I think we see more often than not that men continue to demean themselves. It is, as the king of Siam would say, a puzzlement.
Perhaps this tend comes from the “reparations phenomenon,” the idea that men, having subjected women to thousands of years of discrimination, oppression, and general inequality, that somehow equality will be achieved by turning the tables and allowing the men to become the punching bags. We see this idea manifest in many forms, notably the prevalence of “white guy” jokes in the media. If this were truly the cause I could let it roll off my back. If this reversal is what it will take to develop true gender equality I can let things like “According to Jim” go. However, I’m not convinced this is the case. First of all, the idea that further polarization will help us live together in peace is flawed in logic. Second, this “anti-male” sentiment is so widely embraced and actively furthered by the “victims” of its claims. And third, when it comes down to it, it isn’t the women, but the men, who benefit in the long run from this widely-circulated myth.
What’s to be gained by a man who undercuts the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual capacities of his sex as a whole? A great deal of slack. Though few would admit it, the “I’m a guy” line is something of a cure-all for a lot of women. Why even try to communicate with your girlfriend when the simple fact that you’re a guy and the admission of that simple fact will make any oversight okay? Why try to live a Christlike life when we can sit in Elders’ quorum and muse on how inferior we are to the Relief Society sisters and how hopeless it is to try and measure up? Sure you’ve got to swallow your pride for a moment but that’s a small price to pay for the universal antidote you’ve been given courtesy of the genetic lottery you won as soon as the doctor said “It’s a boy.”
Nowhere are we taught superiority or inferiority of one sex over another. No verse of scripture or discourse of modern prophets or apostles even hints at the fact that some of God’s children are better or worse than others based on gender. Different? Yes. Better? Absolutely not. Sorry to burst your bubble, my fellow “insensitive,” “forgetful,” “negligent” men. But the time for excuses is over. Let’s live up to what we as PEOPLE are capable of.