Gender issues does not always discriminate women

Most discrimination based on gender is negative for women. That is generally accepted. But is it true? Yes, in most cases it is. Women are paid less for the same job. Women are less represented in the halls of power. Women are more sexualised, and more often seen as objects rather than individuals. All this is true. But....

In some very important aspects of life men are discriminated. Women often has a "natural right" to the children. In Sweden, this is seen in lots of aspects. Examples: If the parents have different family names the child is automatically given the name of the mother. Public child support is always paid to the mother, even if the parents are separated and have shared custody. Those are some examples of the discrimination against men by the state.

But almost more importantly, but very hard to measure, is the fact that the father often is "the outsider" in the realtion. Just the other day I heard a few teenagers talk on the radio. They were a teen-panel, answering questions from the listeners. One mother called and said that her kids always came to her to talk about sensitive stuff, while the father were left outside in the cold. All of the teenagers in the panel agreed that this was the normal situation, they all preffered to discuss things with their mother. Their father had to ask the mother what was going on, since the child did not talk to him. As a man I fear this deeply. It would feel terrible to be left outside. To see that my child has a problem, or is depressed, but not being able to talk with the kid. Being forced to ask the mother what is going on. Horrible.