Quote:
Originally Posted by jwb
I don't necessarily agree.
I think that though there are some harmful aspects to it, that's not a reason to say we are better off trying to socially engineer it out of existence.
There are positive, benign and harmful aspects to virtually all of our basic instincts and traits.
For example, tribalism. Supporting a sports team is a form of tribalism. High school cliques and music scenes are forms of tribalism. So is racism. The fact that racism is bad says nothing about the merits of these other forms of tribalism.
So with regard to sex and gender norms, I just don't see a fundamental problem with group x being different from group y on average.
It turns into a problem when you're a member of group x but you have different traits than the average member and people pressure you to get in line. But you can be against that without thinking it's an inherent problem these group differences exist on average in the first place.
I think it's just as problematic to see some problem with women's mating preferences being different from men on average as it is to see a problem with a woman who doesn't fall into that stereotype.
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There is nothing harmful in women and men being different on average, that's true. The problem starts as soon as you base categories on it that people need to conform to. We agree about that I guess. I just think it's impossible to have those categories without the pressure, at least in practice