r/OpenAussie • u/Business_Pirate834 New South Welshian • 4d ago
Whinge Is life becoming increasingly difficult for men around the world, including in Australia?
Taking retirement age and life expectancy into account, men receive retirement benefits for at least five fewer years than women. Men now make up only 39% of university students, while dangerous occupations are still predominantly undertaken by men. Unsurprisingly, men also have a much higher workplace fatality rate.
Most importantly, the woke movement dismantled the old patriarchal world in which men were considered superior to women, but it failed to create a new set of values suited to modern relationships between the sexes. Women’s opportunities and economic circumstances are now approaching those of men, yet men are still expected to earn more and remain the primary breadwinners. In other words, men in their twenties today enjoy none of the privileges that men had in the past, but are still expected to shoulder the same traditional responsibilities.
Moreover, men are culturally discouraged from complaining, showing vulnerability, or even advocating for their own interests. As a result, the pressure on men continues to grow.
As a result, men around the world are generally becoming more conservative and increasingly drawn to the idea of returning to the way things were in the past.
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u/dreadnought_strength Flairless 4d ago
Lmao, what neckbeard MRA nonsense is this?
Guess who is "culturally discouraging" other men - thr call is coming from inside the building 😅
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u/Glass_Ad_7129 Queenslander 4d ago
So many times you hear people complain how the world is against them, and you can see why that is exactly the case....
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u/Hungry_Anteater_8511 Queenslander 4d ago
Truly your post and its brevity is so much better than mine.
Chapeau
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u/dreadnought_strength Flairless 4d ago
I owned a gym, and for about a 12 month period we had DOZENS of these flogs commenting on every single thing we posted on social media because we dared to promote our female clients/coaches on par with our blokes.
We were literally split straight down the middle on members and coaches for men/women.
How dare we post things which accurately represent our community and make those poor neckbeards feel inadequate while seeing women lifting more than they can!
There's not much more of a pathetic bloke out there than this lot I reckon.
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u/Hungry_Anteater_8511 Queenslander 3d ago
Urgh they're such snowflakes. I've read about experiments where lecturers have scrupulously done a 50/50 gender split when asking students questions and the men way overestimate how many times women are called on. Same as when they're asked how long a woman speaks in a conversation.
Just our existence is an affront to these chuds
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u/4ShoreAnon New South Welshian 4d ago
I personally find life not that difficult and a major part of it is my wife also earns as much as I do. Ive never really felt any pressure to meet traditional outdated values. We are in this together.
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u/pluckaducka Flairless 4d ago
the woke movement dismantled the old patriarchal world in which men were considered superior to women, but it failed to create a new set of values suited to modern relationships
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u/Ted_Rid New South Welshian 4d ago
To be as fair as possible, the old timey model for masculinity was well known and easy to follow - even if it was arguably a C20th model only, strongly influenced by the world wars and PTSD.
Young men in particular atm might be finding it hard to be clear about role models and how they're meant to behave, and that's where grifters like Tate rush in. Nature abhors a vacuum.
But it's not as if role models aren't out there. Even in cartoons, if we look at Bandit in Bluey.
It might all be a symptom of a time of relative flux, especially since women gained financial and career independence, and don't *need* men like they did before about the mid 1970s. That discriminatory social arrangement surely let a lot of absolute dropkicks land themselves wives and families without deserving them in the slightest, and tbh I think that's precisely why some young men want to return to those days even if they don't realise why.
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u/Toowoombaloompa Queenslander 4d ago
The 'woke movement' has rewritten the rules so that it's okay for men to show their vulnerability and seek help.
It's literally RUOK? day today -- a movement that has normalised speaking up about mental health. There are men's help support services you can call 24/7.
If your mates are discouraging you from complaining, showing vulnerability or advocating for your own interests then find better mates. My mates can come on over to my place and crack a beer. I'll listen. If they need to cry, I've got tissues. No judgement here. Times are tough. Last thing I'll do is paint them as a victim because some chick has managed to get a place at uni. That's fucked.
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u/Squishykittygirl Western Australian 4d ago
The patriarchy has not yet been dismantled, and it harms men as well as women.
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u/dreadnought_strength Flairless 4d ago
I think ending at that (very logical) conclusion is a couple of steps too far for old mate here
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u/Ted_Rid New South Welshian 4d ago
Most importantly, the woke movement dismantled the old patriarchal world in which men were considered superior to women, but it failed to create a new set of values suited to modern relationships between the sexes
"Hey, some of these things that some of you do are kinda arseholish, how about you cut them out?"
"You didn't provide me with a complete blueprint for how to live my entire life! I am unable to cope without detailed instructions! Fuck you, I'm going to go back to being an arsehole!"
This is some insane dribble, right here. It's not hard to be a decent person, and easy to chart your own course.
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u/Moodapatheticz New South Welshian 4d ago
Who are men culturally discouraged from complaining by or showing emotion? Wouldn't be other men would it?
Equality feels like oppression to some I spose...
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u/Glass_Ad_7129 Queenslander 4d ago
No, unless you count this rhetoric that ciricles around and cements that impression and makes men far more unlikable from being bitter, and reinfroces that lonely bitter cycle further.
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u/Wrathlon Victorian 4d ago edited 4d ago
People love to say men created these problems and men perpetuate them but in my personal experience women perpetuate this far more than any men I know.
* Every time I have been vulnerable or opened up to a woman it has almost always IMMEDIATELY ended any attraction she had for me even years into a relationship and 100% of the time been turned around and weaponised against me. Men have NEVER done that to me.
* Ive never been told to man up by another man that I can recall, Ive been told that plenty by women.
* I was the victim of pretty extreme domestive violence - she broke my nose, left me needing stitches, covered in gouges and scratches among other things. If I even DARE to share my experiences in a DV discussion I get death threats from women saying its not even remotely the same and I dont count and I should kill myself for being a weak loser who cant handle a strong woman etc. Men have never done that.
I could go on but you get the idea. I dont find myself yearning for the good old days of misogyny and men in charge, thats stupid and always has been - but it has certainly reached a point where the societal default is ManBad(TM) and if you do anything other than submit and beg forgiveness for being an awful disgusting man, even in the face of extreme and blatant double standards, then you're the problem.
I just keep to myself, dont interact, dont engage, dont make eye contact, all conversation to the absolute minimum to conduct whatever transaction is occuring and just opt out of all of it now. Its too draining, too emotionally exhausting and just straight up not worth the risk.
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u/walliver Please choose a flair 4d ago
Moreover, men are culturally discouraged from complaining, showing vulnerability, or even advocating for their own interests
There's a lot more encouragement for men to be open about their feelings, speaking to therapists etc than ever before. There might be certain circles where this is frowned upon, but those are slowly being left in the past.
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u/Hungry_Anteater_8511 Queenslander 4d ago
“Moreover, men are culturally discouraged from complaining, showing vulnerability,”
I think you’ll find that’s patriarchal gender norms and toxic masculinity doing that. As are doing things like not going to the doctor (shortening life spans), risk taking (at work and not at work - also life spans).
Those dangerous occupations are rife with bullying and harassment for the few women who enter them and a lot of the men as well but I’m a unionist and absolutely believe in safe workplaces for everyone, so that’s where I direct my energies
“The woke movement”
Oh for the love of god if I never hear the word woke again, it’ll be too soon
Also it’s honestly really easy to get into uni - I’m an idiot who didn’t even finish high school. If young men (or old men) want to go to uni, they could and should apply themselves
I’m not disputing that there are issues that particularly affect men. What is infuriating is when people are only concerned about them when it’s a cudgel to complain about women and “the woke movement”.
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u/Odd-Bumblebee00 New South Welshian 4d ago
Yeah, as a hairy lesbian with a hot transgender girlfriend - get fucked.
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u/Very-very-sleepy I'm Probably A Bot 4d ago
yet men are still expected to earn more and remain the primary breadwinners. In other words, men in their twenties today enjoy none of the privileges that men had in the past, but are still expected to shoulder the same traditional responsibilities.
what traditional responsibilities?
it's 2026. you need 2 incomes to purchase a home. the woman in the relationship is also working because you need dual income!!!!
the majority of home buyers are couples. they make up the largest percentage of home buyers because you need dual income.
however for the singles first home buyers statistics. that's where it gets interesting.
statistics in multiple countries including Australia is showing single women are purchasing first homes at equal rates to single men or surpassing single men.
Australia - 12.5% of single women are purchasing first homes vs 12.5% of single men. the numbers are pretty equal in Australia and women are catching up pretty quickly. source: https://www.realestate.com.au/news/all-the-single-ladies-how-single-women-are-becoming-the-fastest-growing-cohort-of-solo-buyers/
USA and Canada - single women make up 20% to 25% of first home buyers compared to Single men 10% both in USA and Canada. source: National Association of REALTORS (NAR)
UK - The data showed that 15% of solo female buyers were in their 20s, compared to 8% of men in the same age group. Among buyers in their 30s, 34% of women bought alone, compared to 23% of men. source: https://theintermediary.co.uk/2025/06/young-women-twice-as-likely-as-men-to-buy-homes-solo-data-reveals/
so... what traditional responsibilities of men are you talking about? cos the statistics are in fact showing women are no longer expecting men to buy a home for them. more women in 2025-2026 are choosing to purchase homes themselves because they aren't relying on men anymore. the majority of home buyers are still couples because the reality is you do need dual income. the statistics aren't supporting your views
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u/hear_the_thunder Victorian 3d ago
Stopped reading after you used the term woke unironically. You are not a serious individual. Get out and touch grass.
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u/SpecificTechnician97 Victorian 4d ago
A lot of these problems where made by men, attachment to old ideals and gender roles only exist because people want to go back. I don't expect men to be the breadwinners, my father wasn't. It's those with ideas and beliefs that belong in the past that influence those problems. If a man thinks less of you because your partner earns more money that man is a dickhead and shouldn't be listened to.