Fighting Gender Roles For Real

So I was having lunch yesterday, and two female co-workers and I were berating a male co-worker for not being a good feminist. Not an hour later, the male co-worker and I were being called "pansies" for watching "chick-flicks." See the contradiction?

Lately I've come to realize that as the gender stereotype for women has loosened (in some social circles, at least), for men it has become if anything more rigid. A big part of this is due to a defensive backlash by men who feel threatened - but they are not they only perpetrators. I know many self-identified liberal feminists of both sexes who embrace the idea of women doctors, women athletes, women "playas", what have you. But to these very same people, a man who likes romantic comedies, isn't good at sports, can't fix a car, and can identify when colors match - is hardly a man at all.

So enough with the double standard, all right? The core of the feminist movement, of liberal politics generally, is that people should be treated fairly and with dignity. Let's shuck traditional gender roles for everybody. Because I don't see how liberalizing them for one sex and strengthening them for the other makes a great deal of sense.