Jeremy Stangroom

This isn't to demonize individual men, or modern man, it's just about reporting history accurately. I tend to think of this stuff as being about structures or systems. It's not really about the morality of individual people.

If you want more examples of this sort of thing, you could take a look at a book I wrote with Ophelia Benson, "Does God Hate Women?". I think you'd be horrified at some of the things that happen to women in the name of religion.

Okay, well this is quite a difficult topic. Basically, you're absolutely right, you can't say something like men tend to behave badly, therefore Tom is bad. You can't even say, men tend to behave badly, therefore Tom is probably bad.

But sociologists (and feminists) tend to think in terms of structures & systems & classes. These are abstractions, to do with the way in which societies are organised, and reflected in the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of people - *but not inevitably* (which is your point).

So, for example, if you look at say Saudi Arabia, the freedom of women is hugely restricted (they can't drive, for example - though that might be changing). The vast majority of Saudi men will think this is okay, because it's all they know. It's what they've been taught.

And these patterns of behavior & belief are reproduced generation after generation. In this sort of context, it makes sense to think of men and women as classes (having certain kinds of things in common, certain interests, patterns of behavior, rights, beliefs, etc).

However, it doesn't mean - and this again is your point - that the Saudi man who thinks women should be able to drive is morally responsible because many other men think differently. He's not contaminated by the guilt of other men (though the complication is he might benefit).