alt Hacker NewsWe need to distinguish between "representation" in the sense of belonging to the group vs advocating for the group.
For example, most politicians in the West are White. However, zero of them dare to openly advocate for White interests. Many of them openly champion the interests of other racial groups, often to the detriment of Whites.
Likewise, most politicians in the West are men. However, zero of them advocate for men. Many of them openly advocate for and prioritise the interests of women. They are quick to condemn any of their peers who might actually represent men's interests.
So, yes, a lot of politicians are White men like me. However, I genuinely feel as if I have zero political representation. Zero. And they take every opportunity at press conferences and photo ops to rub it in my face.
I’ll do the forbidden on the Internet thing and give a nuanced answer.
There are some “woke” policies that might harm groups they’re not designed to help, and some that just do nothing but make people feel good… like the social reform equivalent of trying to save the ocean by banning plastic straws.
Then there are some that do work well and don’t harm anyone else. Every policy is different and has to be evaluated on its merit, which is a big reason I don’t like hyper partisanship. It’s rotting everyone’s brains.
What I said is that the blanket statement “men have no representation” is obviously false, as is the idea that all politicians only try to appeal to women and minorities. I certainly don’t see that in the USA. Don’t know where you are from.
But you said something else: that it feels this way to you. I could see that, but I have to ask: are you sure the people telling you this aren’t full of crap? Or are they telling you this to sell you their own agenda? All media is biased. No exceptions. These days all media tends to be selling something.
I also think what you feel might have less to do with gender or culture war stuff and more to do with the general impoverishment of our societies by a mixture of kleptocracy and incompetence. This harms everyone regardless of gender, race, religion, politics, or a sexuality.
The corrupt and incompetent politicians though… they want us all to blame each other instead of them. So on the right they feed male resentment and on the left they feed female resentment (“femcel” ideology is a thing too). They fan racial and cultural resentments. Anything to keep you from blaming them for the fact that you can’t afford a house and prices keep rising and, at least if you are in the US, your leadership just decided to piss away another heap of money on another war in the Middle East.
Get everyone arguing while you rob them is an old scam.