just treat women like human beings-what does that mean?

AMetal0xide · 2024-01-11T10:00:00+00:00

The "just treat women as human beings thing" baffles me as most men aren't treated as human beings either. I think that it needlessly genders basic empathy that should be afforded to everyone and overlooks the constant dehumanisation and objectification of men in relation to class and capital. Simply just looking at how natural disasters are reported on, for example, completely destroys this notion that it's only women who are somehow uniquely dehumanised, it's all "X amount of women and children killed", men don't even factored in to the statistics in such scenarios.

Vegetable_Camera5042 · 2024-01-11T08:31:56+00:00

I agree with that. Women should be treated like human beings.

But a lot of feminists think women still need special treatment because of benevolent sexism.

Last time I checked most humans aren't put on a pedestal, get the red carpet roll out for them every time, and most humans are treated like the default, just another number.

Similar to the phrase "equality feels like oppression when you are so used to privilege".

I would say the opposite now. Equality feels ordinary when you are so used to being unique.

After all why do men need to help women that are complete strangers pick up heavy things. Or hold doors for women. Or go out of their way to be super nice to women and be chivalrous. Normal humans don't get this kind of treatment usually. Normal humans usually get the bare minimum. Bare minimum being don't harass me or even talk to me.

I believe that's why a lot of women and feminists can get paradoxical sometimes when it comes to wanting equality. Because they know they have to sacrifice some of their benefits in order to be treated like human beings. Since normal human beings usually don't have those benefits.

ArmchairDesease · 2024-01-11T11:34:03+00:00

Men sometimes have prejudices on women (either putting them on a pedestal or doubting their capacities). And, since they are human beings, obviously women are absolutely not free from prejudices against men. The more I read about gender issues, the more I realize that the problem is always the same: irreciprocity. There's a demand for interest on one issue, and an utter lack of interest for another aspect of the same issue, which is unexplainably either deemed unimportant or non-existent. For someone who is genuinely anti-sexist, it's confusing and quite infuriating. To be clear, what I mean is that women can have a distorted view of men, just as men can have a distorted view of women. Both sometimes see each others as excessively good or bad. And this is harmful on both sides. The exclusive attention to men is grotesque.

MachoManShark · 2024-01-11T08:15:37+00:00

i have thought similarly.

i don't want to assume what's going on in other people's head, but i have a hard time seeing this 'like their human' line as anything beside trying to belittle men by presenting them as incompetent and their issues as petty, born out of a lack of understanding of the situation.

this advice is preposterously unhelpful, and can't even be confirmed as true or not, because, like you said, the human-ness with which someone is treated can't be measured.

presumably, the folks saying it know that. do they think that a man reading their comment will change his behavior based on it? i find that unlikely. maybe they do, but... what exactly do they imagine is going on in that guy's head?

2024-01-11T09:47:02+00:00

I've been taught to respect people and I grew up thinking there was no difference between a man and a woman.

I lived all my young life accordingly to those beliefs.

But once I was old enough to understand certain mechanics, I realized that in western countries there are a lot of differences and most of these differences favour women over men.

We are currently living in a paradox, where women are asking for even more privileges.

The current narrative wants us to believe that a tiny percentage of men (the "winners") represent the entire male population and for this reason we need to accept the idea we are living in a patriarchal society.

Pseudofeminists build their propaganda using inductive reasoning and they want men to pay for what women had to endure in the past.

But modern women have nothing to do with their great-grandmothers and they also have nothing to do with women who are currently living in countries where they are mistreated.

The truth is men are having the lower hand now and for this reason we need to expose the lies of pseudofeminists. I think this should be our first priority.

HyakuBikki · 2024-01-11T18:48:35+00:00

It just shows how much lonely men are villanized. it's automatically assumed we are terrible people who don't see women as people just because we have trouble finding a date. It's ironically enough dehumanizing in of itself.

simplymoreproficient · 2024-01-11T10:42:47+00:00

It‘s just a virtue signal. A woman would never give you that advice 1o1 because it’s stupid and no one struggles with treating women as human beings. It’s always said to men in front of other people or about men to other people in order to vaguely gesture at some nebulous oppression where it’s supposedly common place to not treat women as human beings.

triple_skyfall · 2024-01-11T15:00:54+00:00

A lot of women give this advice to men as if it's some kind of revolutionary advice. It's another way to imply that men who aren't romantically successful are all dirty evil misogynists who are planning the next mass shooting.

If a woman tells me "Just treat us as human beings" or "Just respect us!" I would assume that she's only ever dated the most kind and respectful men, right? But probably not, as most women have at least one ex partner that was abusive and/or mistreated them. So they tell us to just "treat them as human beings" yet most of them have a dating history of partner(s) who did not, at all, treat them as human beings. But not at all surprising. Remember actions always speak louder than words.

xijokayo · 2024-01-11T13:39:31+00:00

I would ignore the advice. Nobody treats women as "human beings." If they did, all bathrooms would be unisex and they'd have to tear down Wellesley.

To be charitable, the advice seems to be a kind of pressure release valve for men who are anxious about interacting with the opposite sex -- the idea is to just relax.

It rings a little hollow since at the same time feminism raises the stakes on these interactions by emphasizing the power imbalances between men and women and alerting you to the ways in which your presence might make the woman feel threatened. "But relax!"

It's also just conceptually strange. You want me to treat women as "human beings" as distinct from treating them as "women." Does that mean you want me to treat them like men? Straight men do not often flirt with each other. It's silly. Obviously there are types of interactions that only occur between the sexes (only talking about straight people).

I think it's cruel to suggest to someone who is anxious about interacting with women that their nerves are really a form of sexism. First of all, they're not. Second of all, how is that supposed to make them less anxious? Now if you're feeling awkward, you're also a bad person? Feminism sure does like to pathologize normal emotions even as they claim to want you to have them.

It's people shouting contradictory platitudes at the top of their lungs, making demands while pretending to demand nothing at all, and ultimately leaving us to figure out how to make their paradoxical desires harmonize. And when everything doesn't work perfectly, it's sexism. Or--more appropriate--it's "failing to treat them as fully human."

Clockw0rk · 2024-01-11T08:25:07+00:00

This mentality comes from the indoctrination of feminism.

Many women are told absolutely outrageous lies to the effect that men see they as less than human, objects, property, or worse. They're quite literally groomed to believe that the average man is a monster just waiting to dehumanize women.

In reality, these women are confused and, if they had better understanding of the situation, would understand that they're demanding respect without reciprocation.

Yet another fucking instance of Female Supremacy.

anaIconda69 · 2024-01-11T08:57:30+00:00

I think a charitable interpretation of this phrase is that it's a kind of an intuition pump for people who behave awkward around women or signal benevolent sexism.

And in time it evolved into another victimhood cliché

G_E_E_S_E · 2024-01-12T01:48:19+00:00

I’m going to go against the grain here and say it’s not some sort of anti-men sentiment. Based on the context when I’ve come across it, i think it means don’t try too hard when talking to women you are interested in. Basically, don’t psych yourself out because they’re just people. I could definitely be wrong here, though.

Akainu14 · 2024-01-11T16:59:23+00:00

It’s just them projecting

Song_of_Pain · 2024-01-11T18:10:00+00:00

It's a way of trying to put all of a given man's dating woes back on the man. If he's having trouble dating it must be that he's not talking to women like human beings, regardless of the evidence.

WesterosiAssassin · 2024-01-11T13:59:44+00:00

Most charitably, at least when I first started seeing it come up (specifically in the context of dating), it just means treat women you're interested in the same as you would anyone else rather than severely overthinking every single microinteraction and getting all awkward around them. (Of course, if you're like that with everyone else too, it's completely useless advice.) But in more recent years I've oftentimes seen it used as an implicit, baseless accusation that you're being a creep and treating them as objects rather than humans.

Impressive_Gap_3490 · 2024-01-11T10:25:32+00:00

Its mostly an outdated quote that derives from the integration of men and women in the work force. A fun catch fraise of sorts that was once useful in other historical contexts but cannot be affective in the current reality.

We have evolved quite a lot since the first introduction of this type of language but the language itself may not have necessarily evolved as well. Think of it like trying to cure COVID with a home remedy from the 60's.

curiousjourney · 2024-01-11T18:22:53+00:00

it means treat them special compared to males.

DrewYetti · 2024-01-13T12:01:30+00:00

It really means in feminism or womanese language is to place women on a pedestal where are recognised as wonder angels that are beyond reproach, above criticisms and free from consequences. If women want to be treated like human beings, then they should criticised for the flaws and condemned for their wrongdoings like a human being and be responsible and accountable for the actions like a human being.

le_ramequin · 2024-01-11T10:42:18+00:00

i think men and women are both dehumanized but each in their own way. men are seen as machines that can be used at will for work or war, and women are seen as sex objects that produce babies.

i think the problem is that a lot of times, when we give advice of treating humans like humans, it's in a context where people that are present already know that. maybe it's better to state the fact that people are dehumanized rather than say it in the form of an advice. but still, sometimes people need to vent and saying out loud that we'd like a better treatment can be needed, even if the audience already knows that.

Even-Cat3133 · 2025-11-05T01:02:10+00:00

I have been abused and used by so many men so many times that I have come to the conclusion that no decent men exist. I was recently sexually assaulted by a man who kissed me all over my face without consent. I feel nobody is taking me seriously because this man has a reputation for being, "touchy-feely," "sweet," and, "innocent," and that he meant no harm. In my book, anyone who touches people without consent is a predator who should be locked up!! This man has also touched a couple of female friends of mine. I don't want to see this bastard anymore, unless he is locked up! I just want men to treat me with respect and not try to make me their plaything! Is that TOO MUCH to ask for?

BloomingBrains · 2024-01-17T08:57:00+00:00

and it always seems to be something super obvious that a lot of men in relationships totally do but lonely men somehow cant seem to grasp, yet a lot of men who apparently dont treat women as human beings also dont struggle to date, in fact, with how many women complain about them, one would think they are actually very succesdull at it.

My friend, you're uncovered one of the great truths (or shall I say lies) of society.

As you pointed out, "treat women as human beings" makes no sense because most lonely men already do, but they're lonely anyway, whereas a lot of guys who don't, get laid. In fact, one could say that treating women as "human beings" (code speak for being respectful towards them in this case, even though not all humans automatically deserve respect) is actually more likely to make one lonely.

And also, don't worry about possibly being neurodivergent. I mean, maybe you coincidentally are, but that would be a totally separate thing. You don't have to be neurodivergent to pick up on this. I suspect you've internalized the toxic trope that a lot of lonely men who "just don't get it" are neurodivergent. Its a calculated strategy to de-legitimize the issue.

DesoLina · 2024-01-11T10:53:16+00:00

The issue arises from men and women having diff definition of respect.

Men: Respect means to admire and value person for its achievements or extraordinary qualities. Hence, respect is something to be earned.

Women: Resect means treat someone with basic human decency. It’s implied and universal.

ChargeProper · 2024-01-11T13:41:38+00:00

"like a human being", sounds like talk to me the way you would talk to your guy friends, nope, theres a reason why we meet away from women, not because of any weird sexist stuff, but its simply so we don't get judged.

queenAlexislexis · 2024-01-12T04:24:17+00:00

If they’re nice then yes

ratcake6 · 2024-01-12T22:39:52+00:00

It's a cliche, it's not supposed to mean anything. Or in other words it means "I HOLD CORRECT OPINION" :p

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