It is so much work, you must admit,
to struggle with her husband's laziness,
to clean his house, to manage his chaos!
(Let us imagine it, if we can.)
He is useless and overweight,
yet he remains the master of the house,
because he is a man.

If she were to write a verse,
everyone would think
some man had composed it,
and she had merely copied it.
(Let us imagine it, if we can.)
But if he is no poet,
why should anyone accept this assumption?
Because he is a man.

A brute casts his vote on election day.
He, too, is a man, and that is the rule.
Yet brilliant women have no say.
(Let us imagine it, if we can.)
Teach him to sign his name, and that is all.
It does not matter if he is a fool,
because he is a man.

He plays, he drinks, and wears a scowl
whenever fortune turns against him,
while she suffers, struggles, and doubts.
(Let us imagine it, if we can.)
Yet she is called “the weaker sex,”
while he is reputed to be the strong one,
because he is a man!

She must forgive, if she is cursed
with a man who cheats and lies.
And what if their roles were reversed?
(Let us imagine it, if we can.)
He may kill her in a fit of rage
and claim that he is the victim! He is excused,
because he is a man!

The luckiest of mortals,
how thoroughly and truly
(though without justification)
you enjoy unquestioned fame!
Simply being born a man
was enough to make your name.