Fragile Masculinity Requires More Armor

(A group of friends and I often get together to do adventure courses. On this day, we are at a white-water rafting course when we notice that the place also does paintball. I am female, and there is one other female and two males in this conversation.)

Male #1: “Hey, for our next day out we should do paintball!”

Me: “Yeah, I’m down for that.”

Female Friend: “Me, too!”

Male #2: “Yeah, same, but maybe at a different place. I went to that one for a mate’s birthday and it kind of sucked.”

Female Friend: “Really? How come?”

Male #2: “They were really sexist. They gave body-armour and protective gear to all the girls for free, but charged all the guys for it.”

Female Friend: “I mean, we kind of have a bit more to protect, ‘up there.'” *gestures to her chest*

Male #2: “But that’s like ‘built-in’ armor, isn’t it? It’s not like you’d feel anything when the shots hit you.”

(My female friend and I exchange looks while [Male #1] raises an eyebrow. [Male #2] doesn’t notice our looks, and continues.)

Male #2: “But for us, paintball really hurts, you know? Like, it hits you hard and leaves welts on your skin, even when you’re covered up. And then they make you pay extra for it! It kills, man, you have no idea. It hurts so much! It hurts!”

Me: “Yeah, sexism hurts, doesn’t it?”

(That shut him up pretty quickly.)