"Whenever I hear people emphasise the awfulness of women/ children being hurt, or killed, part of me really worries that we're devaluing the value of men's lives. I understand why people emphasise those groups, and of course it's horrifying. But how do men & boys feel hearing it?"

Found this post on BlueSky and felt it was worth sharing. I posted it on another sub and feel it fits here as well. I know I post a lot about my disdain for the "women and children" phrase, but it always feels like progress when this phrase is called out for being as blatantly sexist as it is for excluding men and de-valuing their lives. What makes this post notable is it was made by a female user, and it's always refreshing to see women standing up for male rights. I'm very liberal and I destest the "women and children" phrase for how it's equally misandrist and misogynistic; misandrist for the obvious but also misogynistic with how it infantalizes women and absolves them of any sort of agency. Plus the implication male deaths are perfectly fine and acceptable when that's someone's son and may also well be a father, husband, brother, someone's close friend, etc. it's a problematic phrase that needs to be stricken.

As a man, how do I feel hearing about it? It's a terribly sexist and exclusionary phrase, equal parts misandrist and misogynist. Time for it to be erased from the public lexicon and mindset. I also want to add to this it's even worse in recent times with how it's now become "women and girls." Not even young boys' are having their lives and safety valued anymore, which is a whole other level of infuriating, cruel and plain evil.

It's still so infuriating hearing about how men supposedly "hold all of the power" or more power in society when the "women and children" narrative is a prime example of just how under-valued and underpowered most actually are.