Citations below. It's very, very easy to Google these, by the way. There are literally decades of research that, all things equal, women are perceived as less competent, less hire-able, and less intelligent than men.
I agree that there is bias against men when it comes to domestic and caretaking tasks. The point that people are trying to make is that the discrimination against men is far less painful.
Your examples are actually perfect. They're small issues that didn't bother you. But what if you're a single mother trying to get a promotion? That bias could affect where your kids go to school, how much you save for retirement, and other vitally important parts of your life.
A really important note: we'd rarely discuss inequality in STEM fields if those weren't some of the best-paying and most sought-after jobs at the moment. Context and circumstances do matter here. There are certainly issues of discrimination against men that are important (men are less likely to seek mental health care because it's not "manly" to have feelings or be "weak"). But those things are also caused by men, aren't they? Are women the drivers of any seriously harmful discrimination against men? (I'm genuinely asking here.)
The overall point I'm trying to make is that bias against women happens in ways that have a huge impact on their lives, and bias against men (while still a problem!) happens in ways that harm us far less.
That's all moot, though: if we move toward gender equality, all of the discrimination should diminish. Men and women will be affected positively.
I agree that there is bias against men when it comes to domestic and caretaking tasks. The point that people are trying to make is that the discrimination against men is far less painful.
Your examples are actually perfect. They're small issues that didn't bother you. But what if you're a single mother trying to get a promotion? That bias could affect where your kids go to school, how much you save for retirement, and other vitally important parts of your life.
A really important note: we'd rarely discuss inequality in STEM fields if those weren't some of the best-paying and most sought-after jobs at the moment. Context and circumstances do matter here. There are certainly issues of discrimination against men that are important (men are less likely to seek mental health care because it's not "manly" to have feelings or be "weak"). But those things are also caused by men, aren't they? Are women the drivers of any seriously harmful discrimination against men? (I'm genuinely asking here.)
The overall point I'm trying to make is that bias against women happens in ways that have a huge impact on their lives, and bias against men (while still a problem!) happens in ways that harm us far less.
That's all moot, though: if we move toward gender equality, all of the discrimination should diminish. Men and women will be affected positively.
Copious citations:
1a. (writeup) http://www.washington.edu/news/2016/02/11/male-biology-stude...
1b. (study) http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....
2. http://www.pnas.org/content/109/41/16474
3a. (writeup) http://www.amazon.com/Blindspot-Hidden-Biases-Good-People/dp...
3b. (video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL9__gD88xk
3c. (study) http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~banaji/research/publicati...
3d. (study) http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~banaji/research/publicati...
3e. (many more studies) http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~banaji/research/publicati...
4a. (writeup) http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/unofficial-prognosis/stu...
4b. (study) http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/09/14/1211286109
5. (research done by my incredibly smart friend showing that the gender wage gap is about $.10 on the dollar when controlling all possible variables) https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/labor/news/2013/04/0...