Drugi seksizm

by David Benatar, Patryk Gołębiowski (Translator)

Seksizm ma negatywny wpływ nie tylko na kobiety i dziewczęta, lecz również mężczyzn i chłopców. Choć jego przejawy w przypadku tej pierwszej grupy są powszechnie znane, niewielu ludzi przyjmuje do wiadomości lub traktuje poważnie fakt, że mężczyzn dyskryminuje się – często i dość poważnie – ze względu na płeć. Podstawowym celem niniejszej książki jest zwrócenie uwagi na ten „drugi seksizm” i udzielenie odpowiedzi na argumenty osób, które zaprzeczają jego istnieniu.

Dyskryminacja ze względu na płeć nie dotyczy wyłącznie jednej płci; potrzebne jest ukazanie problemu z każdej strony, aby skutecznie przeciwstawiać się wszelkim krzywdzącym aktom i wyobrażeniom, dotykającym nas – ludzi, niezależnie od tego, jaką mamy płeć; potrzebny w tej sprawie jest dwugłos, aby pokonać polaryzujący konflikt, skutkujący wyłącznie niezrozumieniem i pogardą, budujący barykady i inicjujący wzajemne oskarżenia tam, gdzie ich nigdy być nie powinno.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Feminism, Politics, Gender, Sociology, Contemporary

420 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 2012

About the author

David Benatar (born 1966) is a South African philosopher, academic and author. He is best known for his advocacy of antinatalism in his book Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence, in which he argues that coming into existence is a serious harm, regardless of the feelings of the existing being once brought into existence, and that, as a consequence, it is always morally wrong to create more sentient beings.

Benatar is vegan, and has taken part in debates on veganism. He has argued that humans are "responsible for the suffering and deaths of billions of other humans and non-human animals. If that level of destruction were caused by another species we would rapidly recommend that new members of that species not be brought into existence." He has also argued that the outbreak of zoonotic diseases, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is often the result of how humans mistreat animals.

Benatar is an atheist and has stated that he has no children of his own.

Reviews

[Kaethe]

From the book cover:

While the manifestation of sexism against women is widely acknowledged, few people take seriously the idea that males are also the victims of many and quite serious forms of sex discrimination.

You know who takes sexism seriously? Feminists, who argue that sex discrimination is bad for everyone. You know who doesn't take sexism seriously? People who only complain when sex discrimination hurts men.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Second Sexism, a play on Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex, is a book that will piss off many women as evidenced by the only comment it has at the time of this review. Without even reading the book, the woman in question decided to assert that feminism cares about sex discrimination and therefor that men who complain about sex discrimination should not be taken seriously. Apparently only women have a say in the matter. This is exactly the type of rationale that we see in the feminist movement today; the interests of women are pursued in spite of everything else and this is justified trough a false and dogmatic feminist theory. In The Second Sexism, Benatar starts by defining key concepts like discrimination, sex discrimination and wrongful discrimination and then goes on to explore the role of men in society (past and present), the disadvantages that men experience simply because they are men, and the instances where men are wrongfully discriminated against. Throughout the book, Benatar debunks several myths that are seen as fact by feminists while at the same time engaging with the opposing arguments and responding to a myriad of objections. Just like in his previous book, Benatar's writing style is extremely clear and his arguments very carefully constructed. In essence, another great book by this great thinker. Recommended for anyone who cares about justice/social fairness, rationality and truth.

[Jody Lundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brave, honest and clear starting point for further discussion of sexism against males. Every self-proclaimed feminist should read this and be enlightened by what they find.

[?0?0?0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some reviewers of this book either did not read this book or they read a bit of it somewhere and ran to goodreads to express their disgust. These goodreads people, all women, see this book, one in which the argument that sexism goes both ways is provided, and it's as though their ideologically-poisoned brains simply stop working and instantly devolve into word vomit that's devoid of an argument, only a sense of confusion and anger that a philosopher would dare to look around the world and through history at the topic of sexism with both genders in mind and come to a conclusion that doesn't match the propaganda that they've been taught in their gender studies courses.

So, with a book like this, of which I'll need to review in full later, I might as well clarify first off that I despise both the ideology of the Mens Rights Movement and that of third-wave feminism equally. All ideology, including Benatar's pessimism (though quite often correct), is deluded.

And I'll need to stop there for now, and only add quickly that, "The Second Sexism", like any literature about sexism toward women, should, if we're being equal here people, be read rather than dismissed or skimmed through.

[Лора Дулова · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found some of the author's arguments quite convincing and thought there were a few interesting examples. Still, I'd like to point out some aspects of the book that I personally didn't like. First of all, it was too repetitive. The structure and persuasiveness can be kept in half the size of the book. Furthermore, there were only a few not too"mundain" examples of the second sexism. Would've definitely liked if there were more precise scientific experiments.

[Andrei Khrapavitski · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Benatar is better known for his antinatalism manifesto "Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence." But the claims he makes in "Second Sexism," in my opinion, are better argued but might seem just as controversial to many. I'd recommend this book to readers of both genders. Pretty good read even if you are not into philosophy.

[Jolly McFats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat rigorously academic, and not particularly polemical, this investigates what, exactly, can be considered sexism and argues that even by lenient standards men experience institutional and systemic problems.

[Billy Fuss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5 - Must Read
I was actually lucky enough to have David Benatar come to my graduate classes in Psychology where we could question him on his books, so my thoughts on this book are heavily influenced by additional information he provided through questioning. First off, this book isn't about sexism as a whole. It has nothing to say about sexism against women. There are enough books that do that. This book is purely about sexism against Men and Boys, just like the title says. I think many of the reviewers of this book should look at the title again. I personally agree with everything in this book. My biggest problems were that a lot of the arguments and discrimination are tied so closely to socioeconomic status and racial discrimination. It's not Benatar's fault that these are linked and this book doesn't aim to cover those links. However, by not examining them one isn't getting the entire picture. Like looking at a problem through a keyhole instead of a window.

[Dio Mavroyannis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well argued book. Does a particularly acute separation of its chapters. This separation is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand if you are looking for notes this book is perfect, on the other hand, some things which you feel that ought to be together are not.

For instance, in the first chapter he explains that men are discrminated against but does not attempt to give "reasons" for this. If you are merely looking at aggregate stats it is of course true that men are more likely to go to prison but he only tackles "why" they are more likely to go to prison in a later chapter.

While I can see the appeal of grouping things into "discrimination, beliefs...etc" and putting things in one place, it is ultimately not pleasant to read because it makes the chapters unnecessarily disconnected.

Nevertheless, content is clear is incisive.

[Darnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tepid three stars. There's a place for this sort of book that carefully and methodically argues that things like "being conscripted into a war you don't want to fight" are negatives, but this isn't engaging reading for most.

If I were to try to formally state why I didn't love this, I'd say that I think few reasonable people disagree about the formal logic of such issues, and the majority of the discussion is in the specific facts of discrimination and efforts to alleviate it.

[Matthew Adelstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Convincing catalogue of instances of sexism against men and arguments for why they are unjust.

[Marrei · Rating 3 out of 5]

V některých ohledech velmi zajímavá kniha, protože - buďme upřímní - nad něčím se přeci jen tolik nepozastavíte. Zajímavé poznatky, místy děsivé argumenty ze strany feministek, kdy tak trochu vrtíte hlavou nad tím, co je někdo schopen říci.

Bohužel jsem ale nakonec z knihy byla spíše zklamaná. Je sice kratšího rozsahu, ale s ohledem na obsah je dlouhá až moc - respektive, autor často opakuje. Členění (krátce představím jev, pak něco, pak vysvětlím, proč si myslím, že daný je diskriminace,...) dost vede k tomu, že se na můj vkus až příliš často opakuje. Místy jsem z toho měla dojem, že pokud je něco dle autora skutečně špatné, tak to bude natahovat a natahovat, pokud je něco tak na pomezí, kdy to není tak zřejmé, tak je to spíše ve stylu - něco tam napíšu, rychle to odbudu, ale stále to budu považovat za relevantní a hodné zmínky. Tím nechci říci, že by se v těchto případech nemohlo jednat o sexismus, ale místy mi to skutečně připadalo ne příliš věrohodné. Téměř jako hledání něčeho za každou cenu - i když to tam může být/je, osobně bych prostě potřebovala více dat, lepší statistiku a ne dvě čísla, která autor prezentuje. Ale odkazy na další literaturu a studie jsou super, to nepopírám, pouze mi nesedl ten styl prezentace od autora.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very important book to discuss from any viewpoint: student, teacher, boy, girl, mom, dad, etc. I think everyone could learn something from this book. A book for any true feminist.

[Basma Salem]

أنصح الدكتور ديفيد بينطار يخليه في الفلسفة ويسيبه من الfeminist theory عشان هي مش طالبة بضان.
حزق رجالي بيور.

[Szymon Skalski · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys” autorstwa Davida Benatara to książka, która na pierwszy rzut oka imponuje bogactwem statystyk i przykładów, jednak jej argumentacja okazuje się powierzchowna i miejscami wręcz naciągana. Autor wprowadza dychotomię między dyskryminacją a, powiedzmy, „niekorzystną sytuacją” (ang. disadvantage), która stanowi podstawę wielu jego argumentów. Niestety, w wielu miejscach te rozróżnienia wydają się być konstruowane na siłę, a autor posługuje się uproszczeniami, które nie wytrzymują głębszej analizy.

Książka podejmuje ważny temat, ale sposób jego przedstawienia nie wystarcza, by przekonać osoby sceptycznie nastawione, szczególnie te, które analizują seksizm w kontekście strukturalnym. Zwolennicy tego podejścia – wskazujący, że seksizm czy rasizm wymagają istnienia systemowej dysproporcji władzy, aby mogły być uznane za pełnoprawne formy opresji – znajdą tu wiele argumentów, które łatwo poddać krytyce. Tak poważny temat wymaga znacznie bardziej pogłębionego podejścia, by uniknąć zarzutów o redukcjonizm i nieprzemyślane wnioski.

Książka może zainteresować czytelników poszukujących statystycznych danych na temat nierówności dotykających mężczyzn i chłopców, ale niestety nie oferuje solidnej podstawy do prowadzenia szerszej, dobrze ugruntowanej dyskusji. W efekcie lektura przypomina bardziej szybkie przeszukiwanie internetu i korzystanie z takich narzędzi jak ChatGPT, niż wnikliwą analizę problemu. Potencjał tematu pozostaje niewykorzystany.

[Sergio · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author plays the uno reverse card and applies feminist thinking to show that we live in a society that discriminates against boys and men.
For whatever it's worth, I'm glad this book was written.

[Notael Elrein]

I thought about reviewing this again as I noticed its not on goodreads for some reason, but I do not remember it that well now. It supports the second sex book and tries to establish a second discrimination, an altenative view to view cases where men get less advantages. It could be described as men hurting themselves and then getting their due, but there are a lot of men who can't contribute to the rules the other men make and so they are discriminated against their own. I guess I can get behind that concept.