Why are some men so upset with the idea that treating women differently can promote and teach Sexism.

[marions ghost]

69. "Men treat women different than they do other men."

--And that is what we're talking about.

Can you accept that there might be occasions when "treating women different" might not be the right thing to do?

Women have been oppressed for centuries. What are the residual behaviors that reinforce that state? What behaviors support stereotypes and keep women in a box? Don't you want to understand how that works? Have you never seen cases of overly deferential behavior between men in business or political situations? If not, watch Madmen. Men use it in order to keep other men in a subordinate position--an elbow check, if you will. This is how some women experience certain instances of male deference. An elbow-check. Controlling. Many women will run away from it.

Of course I am all for common courtesy. But that's not the topic here really. We are not really talking about opening doors. You put your finger on it with the line, "Men treat women different than they do other men." We are talking about patterns of treating women as Other that keep them down. We are talking about the resentment that some men may feel at the expectation that they perform symbolic acts of chivalry even though they compete with women as equals (and maybe have no problem with that).

There is no one size fits all when it comes to inter-gender relations.