Ummm, you'll note that guys _are_ constantly disappointed. They find out the hard way that women are human too - different (different socialization, instincts, etc.), but the same genetic material, and dealing with the same issues.
As to "men as pondscum"... no, I'm not. But I think you missed a key thing. It's not about what is in your head. It is about what you do with that. I find that the vast majority of men _and_ women choose, conciously, to _act_ better than the demons that run around in their heads. It's about freedom of choice.
At some levels, I guess it's a very fundamentalist attitude. We are, mostly if not "born in" sin, socialized into it, implanted with it. We are also socialized so that we recognize it, and so that, largelly, we choose not to act on what's in our heads.
You might note, largely the studies bear this out. If you remove all consequence, people turn _really_ nasty, _really_ ugly. Social censorship is a BIG restraint. Of course, the really, really hard one is when the only censor available is the one inside your head. That's when you find out what you're really made of - are you, at core, an angel with a lot of underlying demon, or a demon, with a thin veneer of angel.
Hell, look at the real world. In societies where there's no social restraint, what happens? It gets ugly, fast. When Fallujah was being run by AQ, briefly, it turned into hell on earth. Under Saddam, his senior henchmen basically had harems. Look at how your standard third-world dictator operates - money, women, and lots of evil to keep the wogs in line. No censorship.
Writ small, you see that throughout society.
But you've also tumbled to one of the reasons why, for example, most men REALLY HATE wife beaters, and abusers of children. They know the potential for that lurks within them - and they hate even more those who let that demon or demons out, to prey on those unable to defend themselves.
Anyway, enough of Charlie's "Underlying guy pshrinkology 101".
no subject
As to "men as pondscum"... no, I'm not. But I think you missed a key thing. It's not about what is in your head. It is about what you do with that. I find that the vast majority of men _and_ women choose, conciously, to _act_ better than the demons that run around in their heads. It's about freedom of choice.
At some levels, I guess it's a very fundamentalist attitude. We are, mostly if not "born in" sin, socialized into it, implanted with it. We are also socialized so that we recognize it, and so that, largelly, we choose not to act on what's in our heads.
You might note, largely the studies bear this out. If you remove all consequence, people turn _really_ nasty, _really_ ugly. Social censorship is a BIG restraint. Of course, the really, really hard one is when the only censor available is the one inside your head. That's when you find out what you're really made of - are you, at core, an angel with a lot of underlying demon, or a demon, with a thin veneer of angel.
Hell, look at the real world. In societies where there's no social restraint, what happens? It gets ugly, fast. When Fallujah was being run by AQ, briefly, it turned into hell on earth. Under Saddam, his senior henchmen basically had harems. Look at how your standard third-world dictator operates - money, women, and lots of evil to keep the wogs in line. No censorship.
Writ small, you see that throughout society.
But you've also tumbled to one of the reasons why, for example, most men REALLY HATE wife beaters, and abusers of children. They know the potential for that lurks within them - and they hate even more those who let that demon or demons out, to prey on those unable to defend themselves.
Anyway, enough of Charlie's "Underlying guy pshrinkology 101".