More than once, it was brought up on reddit that in times and places of severe scarcity, gender differences between the sexes are magnified. The popular counter is simply that, "We live in a post-modern world, not the middle ages. Women can do just as much as men today. A lot of physical labour is automated now."

I can agree with that in some ways. There's a decent chance most of us will never feel what it's like to live in a post apocalyptic, dystopian world... but it highlights the fact that equality is a luxury. (IIRC, in discussions about Sterling and the gold-digger, more than one BPer claimed that she would never tolerate someone like Sterling. Life is too short and the money is not worth it. Frankly, that to me just means that these people aren't desperate. I can totally see myself gold-digging or even selling my body. It just depends on my circumstances and level of desperation.)

Also, too many of us forget that there are plenty of people in the world now for whom society might as well be or have been dystopian or even post-apocalyptic.

E.g. The homeless. Scarcity is felt more sharply by them, and gender equality goes out the window... especially apparent when vast majority are men, and for them prostitution/survival sex isn't an option like it is for women. Women have inherent value.

A homeless lady once asked me for change for a bus ride. She dressed normally and her vagrancy wasn't immediately obvious. I gave her a few bucks, and was subsequently laughed at and insulted for the rest of the 5-10 min I waited for the bus.

"AHAHAHA stupid nigger chink jew faggot!"

This went on for what seemed like an eternity. I never even bothered her. I had only said, "Sure" as I handed her the money before, so her rudeness was uncalled for. "Lady, half of what you called me doesn't even apply to me! I'm just here for the bus."

I met her again a year later when she spontaneously appeared and kicked a homeless guy's chess pieces across the sidewalk, ruining our game, and cackling away back into the darkness.

"Crazy fucking wench! What is her problem?"

My chess partner told me to just forget it, that's how she is. Apparently he knew her.

I couldn't let it go. "You know her? Is she always like that? How does she survive with such an attitude?"

(Now, I know there are lots of crazy homeless people. I hear the reason for a number of them has to do with spending cuts in the Reagan era. A bunch of mentally unstable people were let out early form the psych ward. However, I took that with a grain of salt, seeing as it came from ultra-liberal friends who have a habit of relaying communist propaganda (seriously). Also, most the homeless people, including the crazy ones, were relatively mild-mannered and polite, not out-right aggressive to random people.)

He explained what I already knew but just needed to hear uninfluenced. She's trusted more for being a woman. I.e. Male vagrants are homeless because they deserve it. Female vagrants are homeless because society failed them (... patriarchy, inequality, lack of empathy, whatever excuse under the sun).

Also, there's always homeless guys who'll offer her free shit. (Thirsty guys are everywhere. Hah!)

I won't go into details, but my own family history supports this view. The illusion of equality starts failing in the face of scarcity. People are too desperate to uphold such ideals.