Yes...Another Rant Book (OLD discontinued)

Gender Wars/ "Strong" female characters

"Well girls are tougher than guys because we get periods and have babies."

"Actually, getting hit in the balls is sixteen times more painful than giving birth."

"How come guys only like football and Call of Duty?"

"How come girls only like shopping and nail polish?"

What...what even is this? Gender wars; they definitely make it on the list of the stupidest shit on Earth. I don't understand why it's a constant battle between sexes in regards to how hard life is or whatever. There's no "superior" gender and if there was (but there isn't, not at all!) I highly doubt it would be dictated by our genitals. Seriously girls? You think we're better because we have to handle a biological process beyond our control? Seriously guys? You think having to handle getting hit in the balls somehow makes you tougher? This kind of stupidity makes me want to smash my head through the ceiling. 

Plus, it's not just our reproductive parts. The two sexes try to outdo each other with stereotypes as well. Not every girl likes shopping. Not every guy likes Call of Duty. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I heard stupid-ass generalizations on both sides. We make so many assumptions about each other and sit around complaining about the opposite sex so often, it's a wonder we're even still reproducing. I just don't get it. 

I recently watched this YouTube video (I go on YouTube a lot, leave me alone). There were two versions: "What guys think is great about being a girl." "What girls think is great about being a guy." They were both meant to be humorous. But lo and behold, the goddamn YouTube comments had to make it all controversial, as usual. The sad thing is, these comments pretty much represented all the gender comparison bullshit. For each thing the guys said, the girls got all defensive and huffy. For each thing the girls said, the guys got all defensive and huffy. Why? First off, the videos were jokes. They were meant to be funny! People just can't sit back and enjoy something, can they? But I'm getting off track here.

Then there's all these ridiculous societal requirements for both genders. "Oh the guy has to pay for the girl on the first date." <--Why? In fact, this is sexist on both ends. For the guy, it's suggesting that he must be the provider and it would be unmanly or cheap of him to not pay. For the girl, it's suggesting that she can't take care of herself and needs a man to pay for her. This is one of the idiotic traditions out there that really pisses me off. Now, I don't know if this was the intent of the tradition. This is just how I personally interpreted it, and I don't think I'm the only one. There are a whole bunch of other societal issues that are ridiculous too: emotional expression, roles in a relationship, salaries (but that's another issue that I don't wish to discuss here) and bunch of other crap. 

Now here's where we get to how this fits in writing. People get so concerned over having a "strong female character". Thing is, what they really should be worrying about is having a strong character. Whether they're male or female doesn't matter. It's not the gender that's important; it's the character itself. They always ask how a guy thinks or how a girl thinks, when again, it doesn't matter. Everyone's different. Our sex doesn't automatically mold us into this stereotype template for our gender. It gets so annoying when people debate over which sex has it harder. Also, why does a "strong female character" seem to translate to "girl who acts more like a guy". Like really? A girl can only be "strong" if she acts like a guy? That's bullshit on a special level. And why is it "gay" for a guy to express his feelings? First off, there's nothing wrong with being gay. Second, a guy can be completely heterosexual and still want to express his feelings. We always want to slap some label on people because we're judgmental human beings who need to organize everyone into groups and that's incredibly ridiculous.