The Yin-Yang Fallacy
The Yin-Yang Fallacy
These two contradictory ideas often exist side-by-side in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" setup. When women are talked about in general, they are placed into a whatever-the-opposite-of-men wastebasket to appeal to some sense of balance and harmony between the genders. But when men are held accountable and when women are victimised, women are suddenly "just as bad as men" and just "normal flawed people" (the standard of "normal flaws" ofc being set by men) and actually they have the exact same motives, patterns, socialisation and pressures that men do.
For example:
Men murder their intimate partners out of rage and control. So women who kill their intimate partners must also be doing it for the same reason (even though they overwhelmingly kill their abusers)
Men are pedophiles. Or, men abandon their families. Women don't because they are all motherly caretakers who love babies (instead of, ya know, normal people with a shred of empathy).
Men are failing in schools. This must be because women are reverse-oppressing them. (apply this to any case of men being shit at something, really)
Men watch porn. Women don't like porn. This is because women are all asexual. But also porn is not misogynistic because it's made for anyone with a libido and so it's made for women as well and you're a prude.
The infamous study of the male monkeys that showed a preference for male toys. The female monkeys then must've gravitated towards feminine toys. (the female monkeys actually showed no preference)
Men are strong. Women then must have the physical strength of an infant. Or they have to have the exact same strength as men do.
I refuse to debate two obvious facts: 1. the patriarchy exists 2. and that's a bad thing
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YesYourNigel
Dec 14 2025, 1:25 PM #1Any time I see a discussion about women, I keep thinking about how much this tries to appeal to some sense of balance in the patriarchy. The conversation is always rooted in the completely androcentric idea that men set the standard, and any statements made about women have to be derived from that rather than what actually happens in reality and what would be beneficial from a humanist standpoint. So you get "Men are a certain way, so women must occupy the exact opposite end of the spectrum" or "Men are a certain way, so women have to be the same way as well and for the same reasons because we're all PeOpLe".
These two contradictory ideas often exist side-by-side in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" setup. When women are talked about in general, they are placed into a whatever-the-opposite-of-men wastebasket to appeal to some sense of balance and harmony between the genders. But when men are held accountable and when women are victimised, women are suddenly "just as bad as men" and just "normal flawed people" (the standard of "normal flaws" ofc being set by men) and actually they have the exact same motives, patterns, socialisation and pressures that men do.
For example:
Men murder their intimate partners out of rage and control. So women who kill their intimate partners must also be doing it for the same reason (even though they overwhelmingly kill their abusers)
Men are pedophiles. Or, men abandon their families. Women don't because they are all motherly caretakers who love babies (instead of, ya know, normal people with a shred of empathy).
Men are failing in schools. This must be because women are reverse-oppressing them. (apply this to any case of men being shit at something, really)
Men watch porn. Women don't like porn. This is because women are all asexual. But also porn is not misogynistic because it's made for anyone with a libido and so it's made for women as well and you're a prude.
The infamous study of the male monkeys that showed a preference for male toys. The female monkeys then must've gravitated towards feminine toys. (the female monkeys actually showed no preference)
Men are strong. Women then must have the physical strength of an infant. Or they have to have the exact same strength as men do.
I refuse to debate two obvious facts: 1. the patriarchy exists 2. and that's a bad thing
