Despite us existing in the 21st century for quite some time now, there are still a number of actions that really all of us do, but that are only “normal” for members of one gender. Someone asked “what’s something that both genders do, but is only socially accepted when one gender does it?” and people share their best examples.

From crying in public, to just existing without a shirt, be sure to upvote your favorites and get comfortable as you scroll through. If you have some examples of your own that weren’t listed here, feel free to list them in the comments section below.

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#1

Forget public, I cried very briefly in front of an older woman in my family last year while discussing my concerns for the safety of some children in my family I care about, and recently found out she and other women in my family labeled me as “emotionally unstable” because of it and had discussed my crying as if I had lost my mind.

Ladies, if a man cries in front of you, it does not mean he is crazy or unstable. Sometimes things are just sad.

#2

Smiling at children. I’m a Dad, if a baby smiles at me I’ll automatically smile back, and then inevitably get a glare from the parent because they think I’m some kind of creep (no, I just miss having small children!). My wife does it, it usually leads to a conversation about their children.

#3

In a non-sexual way, loving children. Women can always say out loud how much they love children and being around children. A guy does it and it’s time to grill him about what he means. I saw a comedian (I think Phil Hanley…) doing some crowd work and asked this woman what she did. “I’m a teacher.” “Oh, cool. What grade/age?” “Middle school. I like them younger.” “Nice. You know, a guy could never say that. There would be some serious issues with that.”.

#4

Crying in public. Women are seen as emotional while men are seen as weak. But let’s be real, we all need a good cry sometimes.

#5

Making jokes about domestic violence.

If a girl says “If you cheat on me, I’ll do x and y with your [private parts]”, it’s often laughed at and applauded, while if the reverse was said, the guy would be criminalized.

#6

Age! Men can age and still be desirable but a woman needs to try everything she can to stay looking 20 yrs. old. Which is impossible by the way.

#7

R*pe

Women can r*pe men too.

#8

>Being angry/screaming When a man gets angry, people assume that someone has wronged him. When a woman gets angry, people call her hysterical. >Being sad/crying When a woman cries, people sympathise with her. When a man cries, he is treated as a weirdo or a wimp.

#9

Be a full time parent. It’s normal for women, but when men do it, they’re either “babysitting” their own kids, emasculated for not being “real men” and “providers” or given the side eye and lots of distance at the playground from the clique of SAHMs who are all there with their kids as well.

#10

Have full autonomy over their own bodies.

#11

If a women tells a 5 year old boy about handsome he is and of course jokingly calls him her boyfriend it’s looked at as cute/funny but reverse it to a grown man and 5 year old girl he’s a predator. Someone else pointed this out and I had to agree.

#12

Battering the opposite gender. Y’all may say “nuh-uh” but it’s true. Women can casually slap, push, punch, elbow a man especially their partner and nothing happens. Let’s say the man cheats, and the woman with tears in her eyes slaps him in the face and walks away. Maybe sometimes consequences are faced, but more often than if the roles were reversed that woman just battered a man and gets off Scott free.

#13

Use [intimacy] toys. Perfectly acceptable, or even considered hot/[attractive] for a woman. If a guy uses a [intimacy] toy: he’s considered weird or creepy.

#14

**Playing with toys.** Some toys are marketed towards one gender or the other, but there’s no reason why anyone can’t enjoy any kind of toy.

#15

Choosing career over marrying – God forbid a woman wants to be left alone with her money. Being affectionate with friends – Men should be able to do this without fear of being labelled as weak every 5 minutes Promiscuity – I dont think it’s good practice, but I mean it for both gender not just women Not knowing any household chores – It’s a life skill, not a gendered one yet women tend to be on the harsher side of the stick Being financially dependent – Same with household chores except men to be on the harsher side this time.

#16

Office settings in my experience – middle aged women seem to get away with borderline, if-not-outright sexual harassment of younger colleagues.

#17

Men can’t wear women’s clothes, meanwhile in reverse it’s totally okay.

#18

Talk about emotions.

#19

Randomly touching ppl in public. For some reason its ok for women. My husband gets that often but if he says something hed probably be put up as the a*****e.

#20

Getting bald.

#21

Walking around shirtless.

#22

Hitting on strangers (in an unwelcome kind of way). Hitting on co-workers. I get this from both genders and it feels equally creepy, but women seem to think there’s nothing wrong with it.

#23

Invading peoples space and/or touching people in public. This goes for both children and adults. A man can’t just walk up to a child and rub their face or anything without people getting uncomfortable (Joe Biden for example). Women do this all the time. When my kids were little women would always just walk up and touch their fair, their cheeks, their chin. As far as adult touching goes I have several guy friends that are extremely muscular. The amount of times random women grab their biceps and rub them is hilarious. If a guy did that he’d get kneed in the balls.

#24

When a teacher sleeps with a student.

#25

Stare at / openly check out others. Unless a girl/woman is doing it, everyone will call you a creep.

#26

Having dating standards .

#27

[gas].

#28

Man over 30 who’s successful, decent looking, and single: “there must be something wrong with him”

Woman in the same situation: “she’s strong and independent” Lol what?

Well, that’s in real life anyways. On the internet the woman is shamed for not being a concubine for incels.

#29

Chatting with other people of the opposite [intimacy] when in a relationship. When a girl does it, she is just sociable and friendly and if her bf didn’t like it he’d be controlling and jealous. When I guy does it, he is a massive red flag, unfaithful and the girl should just dump him.

#30

Having casual [intimacy]. Being overweight/not conventionally attractive. Growing old naturally (grey hair, wrinkles). Abandoning your children.

#31

Pedicure.

#32

Hanging around in the park near the playground.

#33

Gardening as a hobby Say what you will about how times have changed now but I remember back in high school one of the first days there we were doing some of those get to know you exercises and one of the first questions they asked was what extracurricular activities you wanted to get involved in Saw that the school had a gardening club and so happily announced my desire to join this and to my surprise a bunch of kids mostly guys in the class started laughing like I was telling a joke and later one of my friends told me something along the lines of wow that was a really funny joke you made about the clubs you wanted to join And I just kind of sadly nodded and agreed because I was too embarrassed to just admit that I actually genuinely wanted to join that club and found it interesting and fun Kind of crushed any desire I had to do gardening or anything until years later as an adult I finally started buying my own plants and learning how to properly care for them and stuff and even to this day I still kind of feel embarrassed admitting to people that I like to do this because of the social stigma around it. But at the same time feel immense pride in my plants.

#34

Abandon their children.

#35

Rejecting someone. If a woman does it you need to respect her decision but if a man does it he’s treated like he just spat in her face.

#36

Stripper work. It’s hot when a woman does it. It’s considered ‘for the gay guys’ if a guy does it.

#37

Hate and Insult the other gender.

#38

Selfies. We know who does it.

#39

Getting bumped while walking . That day a woman clashed into my shoulder and ran away without even acknowledging the incident . It was a mistake i understand, but if it was the other way round , if the woman wanted it she could have had me beaten too .

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39 Things That Are Socially Acceptable For 1 Gender Only

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