And not in a good way unfortunately. I never go to certain websites or forums because I know that I will be infuriated by what I see, but I wandered into a corner of the net that shall not be named and saw thread after thread of the most absurd questions from women in relationships. Choice picks include:

'My husband spat on me. Is this forgivable?''I haven't received a gift in two years. Am I overreacting?''He asked for anal even though I said I don't like it??''My husband of five years is addicted to porn. What do I do?'

I see it on FDS a lot but for me, I always want to shake these women. 'Your man doesn't love you, moron! If you loved someone, would you spit on them? Would you even dare to spit on a stranger? Have some sense!' Then I feel conflicted because I know that part of why these woman put up with the audacity is because of the cumulative effects of society's misogyny. And THEN I get even more conflicted because I feel that I'm not giving enough credit to women's agency in the matter. I'm not a Utopian. I know damn well that women aren't perfect, and they are quite capable of creating their own demons (quite literally sometimes, given that women have sons who they raise to be misogynists).

I absolutely dismiss any comments or statements such as 'well, men are dumb/unobservant/simple-minded'. Men have successfully engineered a system where they are the normal and women are the other. No idiot can achieve that. They've completely gamed the system to suit themselves and given women barely a crumb. A few decades of autonomy for some women in the world is nothing compared to centuries and centuries of male hegemony.

Clearly, men as a collective are manipulative and Machiavellian in a way women can barely fathom. I can't think of a single man I know who would put up with being spat in the face, but unfortunately...I can think of several women I know who probably would. And even worse - she might even defend the guy who did it. Knowing that there are so many women out there who won't lift a finger to help themselves makes me so goddamn tired.