You bring up an interesting point about men being more harsh on other men than women.
I have to disagree however. Most insults that men direct to other men attack their masculinity, which is implicitly sexist. When men put other men down by likening them to females or female behavior, they are putting down both men and women, but under this model I'd have to say females appear to suffer more, if only because a man can (and is encouraged) to change his behavior to align with masculine values. A woman cannot do this (or cannot easily do this) because she is ultimately perceived as female regardless of her behavior.
You can argue that men are more openly critical of other men than women, but under the model I explained above, men are overwhelmingly more critical of other women, which really gets down to another core issue - men conflating sexism with open, explicit criticism ("it's okay for me to do this with guys but not girls") and ignoring the vast underbelly that is subconscious, unexpressed (but no less acted upon) sexism.
I'm open to arguments refuting this, but this seems to be about the size of it - ultimately, many men innately regard females to be lesser to the extent that they use femininity as an insult.
What about females telling other females that they are "bossy", mothers discouraging their daughters from being "such a tomboy", the need to look pretty, etc.
These insults work both ways - males use them to encourage other males to adhere to the stereotype, but so do females (in a less direct way perhaps).
I have to disagree however. Most insults that men direct to other men attack their masculinity, which is implicitly sexist. When men put other men down by likening them to females or female behavior, they are putting down both men and women, but under this model I'd have to say females appear to suffer more, if only because a man can (and is encouraged) to change his behavior to align with masculine values. A woman cannot do this (or cannot easily do this) because she is ultimately perceived as female regardless of her behavior.
You can argue that men are more openly critical of other men than women, but under the model I explained above, men are overwhelmingly more critical of other women, which really gets down to another core issue - men conflating sexism with open, explicit criticism ("it's okay for me to do this with guys but not girls") and ignoring the vast underbelly that is subconscious, unexpressed (but no less acted upon) sexism.
I'm open to arguments refuting this, but this seems to be about the size of it - ultimately, many men innately regard females to be lesser to the extent that they use femininity as an insult.