How the media portrays women's 🆚️ men's finances😡

YES. This is a great point.

I will also add-there are some costs associated with being a woman that men do not typically bear. I struggle with categorizing these costs as “needs” or “wants”, which is why I have a hard time listening to financial advice given by men (such as Dave Ramsey). Men tend not to understand that, depending on your culture & profession, not spending money on certain things CAN hurt you professionally or personally.

Examples: makeup, hosting dinners & such, nails, waxing, certain clothes, hair dyeing, diet programs, designer handbags, gifts for colleagues, self defense/security measures, etc.

Separating "finances for men" from "finances for women" like this is a huge part of the problem.

Apart from some basics that are due to men being scrotes, budgeting, investing and being financially smart does not work differently for women. Telling them it does is part of the problem. The "for women" part of financial advice should include things like:

Do not marry a broke man, a man with debt, a man without a stable career or a man who is irresponsible with money or engages in financially risky behaviour (e.g. gambling).

Do not have a child unless you are able to cover 100% of the costs by yourself or are married to a generous, HV man.

Do not sign a prenup that screws you over financially.

Always have your own money only you can access.

Have your own retirement plan only you can access.

Do not compromise your career or earning potential for a man you are not married to.

If you compromise your career or earning potential for your husband/your family (e.g. by taking a break from work to raise the kids or moving for his career), make sure he compensates you for that in some way (e.g. by paying into your retirement plan or savings).

Do not contribute to your boyfriend's/husband's mortgage without being on the deed.

Do not let your boyfriend move in with you or move in with your boyfriend.

Do not pay off a man's debt, co-sign loans that are just for him or take out loans for him.

And so on...

Instead it's basically all "Don't buy so many designer bags!" and "Drug store beauty products can be great, too". Yeah, because the $100 I save that way is sure going to save me from any of the above.

The biggest financial risk for women is not and has never been buying too many clothes or spending too much on getting their nails done. It is and has always been becoming the wrong man's baby mama. Pretending otherwise is the definition of "penny wise and pound foolish".

My father who inherited 3 million dollars worth of land and assets and had $4K/moth VA benefits left us NOTHING. My mother, who was a single mother, is leaving us a million dollars. Who's more frivolous? Once again, it's upside down world when it comes to the truth between men and women. Men project their faults upon women and even write articles trying to tempt women to act like they do.

I think this is also why men seem to be doing so poorly financially right now compared to women — like she says, they’re just told to make money but not advised on how to cut back on excess spending.

I probably buy makeup too often; I have more than I need. But buying a $20 tube of lipstick here and there isn’t the same as buying a brand new iPhone every year and racking of credit card bills on tech gadgets and really expensive hobbies.

BAM