AND MISERY LOVES COMPANY:

The misery of being a French man (Charles Bremner, March 07, 2003, Times of London)

FOUR decades of feminism have turned middle-class French men into miserable creatures who are intimidated by women and losing their way in an increasingly matriarchal society, a study says.

Men aged 20 to 45 believe that they have paid a heavy price for the social, legal and professional empowerment of women since the onset of the Pill and women’s liberation in the 1960s, according to the analysis for Elle, an upmarket women’s magazine.

“Men of all generations are suffering,” it said. “They feel diminished, devalued in a society where things feminine are perceived as positive and all-powerful values.”

Men under 35 in particular felt that they were being treated as sexual objects by predatory young women.

Elle was surprised by the sense of victimisation and the anger of men towards women — especially among the younger generation — revealed by the Centre de Communication AvancŽe study. “They think women have gone too far, too quickly, without setting any limit to their demands or ever questioning themselves,” Elle said.

Modern men see women as “castrating, vengeful, power-hungry and obsessed by men’s sexual performance”.

Who knew it was possible for them to become less masculine. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 12, 2003 12:16 PM