Jokapäiväinen miesten sovinismi

Oheinen julkaisu on tuotettu EU:n tuella (This publication was supported by the Daphne Programme of the European Union.) Everyday Male Chauvinism - mate Partner Violence Which Is Not Called Violence (pdf)

1.6 Reference to the supremacy of male logic

The man refers to “reason,” “logic,” or “proper” arguments with the aim of enforcing thoughts, behaviours or choices on the woman that are disadvantageous to her. The man who uses this manoeuvre bases his actions on the idea that his is the only or at last the best argument. He does not leave room for differing feelings or wishes, nor for alternative solutions, and presumes that solely by presenting his arguments he is also entitled to carry out his will. The man will not accept anything from the woman that is not a so-called logical argument (while of course the man thinks that the woman will never be able to come up with one). The woman, unless she wants to be overwhelmed, is forced to be absolutely clear about her position and the arguments supporting it. This kind of manoeuvre is especially efficient against women whose sense of reality is based on perception or intuition.

A typical example is the coercion used in choosing a place for holidays. If the woman does not like the place the man chose, how could she enforce her different wishes if those do not make sense under (male) logic?

4. Utilitarian everyday male chauvinism

According to social norms, men not only have the right to being loved, taken care of and having their needs met by women but also to hold this to be valid for themselves only and to deny the same from the woman. Thus, the man can exploit the life energy that the woman brings into the relationship, he gains social power through it, and can continue to dominate the woman thanks to the fact that he accumulates, for his own purposes, and abuses the energy snatched from the woman for which he gives nothing in exchange.

This is the form of everyday male chauvinism that is the most difficult to recognise as it is such a “natural” part of the relationships between women and men.

4.2. Abuse of women’s caring

The man adapts to the traditional roles (he maintains the family, the woman takes care) this way he exploits and abuses the fact that the woman is an “expert” at taking care of others. The following manifestations of everyday male chauvinism force or, what is worse, (by reinforcing her already socialised calling “to live for others”) “lead” the woman into the roles that are hers “by nature”: mother, wife, assistant, secretary, dispatcher, psychologist, social worker, telephonist, receptionist, cleaner and cloakroom attendant.