D-orbital says I think that some women are "so deadset on minimizing the significance of men getting their nuts crushed" because some (probably most) men think that they are much tougher than women and yet they cry like little babies at being hit/kicked in the groin and since women's groins are usually not the target of said hits/kicks (which doesn't actually help their case any), there is not much evidence that women will cry like babies after getting hit/kicked in the groin. But that's just my runon sentence theory :) Personally, I wouldn't target the groin as a point of attack. That (of course) is something you taught me :)

I'm not sure. It seems to me that if women are irritated about men believing that we're so much tougher, they would be pleased to acknowledge this particular vulnerability. I could buy this if what I saw was women saying things like "well then... I guess men aren't so tough after all," when the subject of rupturing the testicles comes up... but what I see instead is just a frequent implication that getting kicked in the groin isn't that big of a deal.

Astralounge says I don't have any particular observation regarding the crushed nuts entry, except to say that once I had a male high school teacher who compared the pain of childbirth to a hangnail. So perhaps it goes both ways.

I'm glad that you pointed out that you don't have any particular observation regarding this phenomenon. If you hadn't, I might still be trying to puzzle out the relevance of your high school teacher's comment.

We all know that men demean women and minimize the validity of their experiences all the time, in every way possible, at every opportunity. That's old hat. No need to waste your breath or strain your fingers pointing it out to me.

I will take a moment though to note with interest that immediately after I pointed out how some women mistreat men in this regard, someone felt obligated to inform me that the same sort of thing happens to women. That bears a striking resemblance to the aforementioned "it hurts women just as much to be kicked in the groin."

Mytwocents says Maybe women who downplay the pain just want to believe that men should be macho all the time and never show pain. Maybe it disgusts them to see their symbol of strength and power doubled over and retching from a good swift kick.

Maybe. But my experience has been that the women who are most likely to do this are also the ones who are inclined to view men as "the oppressors." As I noted above, one would think that such women would be inclined to relish the existence of this vulnerability.

Of course, on further consideration, the correlation between women who downplay testicular damage and women who view men as "the oppressors" is pretty circumstantial. These days you can't throw a stone without coming close to pegging some empowered wymmon who will immediately proclaim that you were throwing stones at her in an effort to keep her and her sisterhood down.

Here's what I've been thinking about. I'm not sure if I buy this, but I'm kind of trying it on for size. I'd like to hear what the rest of you think about it.

I think that it's obvious that there's some power inherent in being seen as a victim. I could argue for that point, but unless anyone has any specific objections, I'll just let it pass as a premise.

With that premise in mind, I think that it's possible that some women resent the idea of male vulnerability or weakness because it bestows the status of "victim" on men... and that status has always been the exclusive domain of women and minorities.

I think that some women might very rightly fear the concept of men as victims, and fight it tooth and nail... because they've learned that there is a power and a status that comes with being a victim.

Now, obviously none of this is overt or explicit. I don't think any women are worried that men will band together on the ball-kicking issue and demand concessions or social change... but I think that for some women it may be an unpleasant shock to see men assume the role of victims in even a small way. I can very easily see how some women might view that as threatening, or presumptuous... or even how it could be seen as a sort of theft. In some ways it might seem as though men are trying to appropriate a portion of American culture that has always belonged to women.

Looking back over this, it seems kind of ridiculous. Like I said, I'm not sold on the idea. Nevertheless, there's something about it that rings true, at least a little bit.