Still: women are more likely to be displayed in roles perceived as *de*grading, whereas men are portrayed with attributes perceived as positive
I'd like to see empirical evidence of this. Off the cuff, it doesn't ring true, and hasn't for a long time. The leading man in almost every comedy and drama is someone who needs to learn life lessons from his wife or another leading female role. In suspense, the villain is usually a man. Granted, there are certainly genres, most notably action, where women are damsels in distress and nothing more, but that idea does not uniquely appeal to men -- it also appeals to women who like the idea of having their own knight in shining armor. And, aside from some olympic events, most sports don't glorify women. Not sure what to do about that, or why the public doesn't like to watch women compete head-on, but is fine watching men try to stomp each other. I'm also not sure why we're squeamish about seeing women in combat. Why men are expected to earn more in dating, but the same on average, as if one were separable from the other. Why violence against women is generally considered to be *more* wrong, but violence against men is less wrong, despite being a larger problem statistically. Why men under 30 are less educated and earn less than women in the US. Why women's health issues dominate the media and popular culture despite the fact that women live more than 6% longer than men -- and that gap grew last year. Why men are punished more severely and women are forgiven more readily for the same offenses. Why men are less likely to pass on their genes than women, but are treated as if they were surreptitious philanderers, despite the fact that rates of infidelity are roughly equal, and that women are, in fact, more likely to have a child with someone other than their alleged mate. Why we ignore domestic violence and verbal abuse against men; indeed, we seem to expect men to tolerate and excuse bad behavior by women. Why child custody is overwhelmingly awarded to women. Why men are more than twice as likely to be homeless.