Men are from Earth, and women are from... well, also Earth.

There's a real trend at the moment that's drawing attention to the way in which women are portrayed in fashion, in media, in advertising, and in culture. This trend states something that we've all known for a long time: unattainable depictions of beauty and body have a negative impact on women's self esteem; there's a shortage of complex female characters depicted in film (check out Olivia Wilde speaking eloquently on this topic, as well as Natalie Portman); and girls' gendered toys move them away from gaining confidence in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and maths).

I get this outrage. I support it. I want to see more realistic depictions of women in the media and in the cultural artefacts that I consume. I'm tired of seeing women take a back seat in stories in video games and films because they are written as props for the male characters. I'm tired of women having their imperfections airbrushed out (as Cindy Crawford once said, "I wish I looked like Cindy Crawford."). I'm tired of there being so few women cast in stories that they suddenly find themselves having to account for all the variations of what a woman can be. And girls should be able to play with whatever toys they wish to play with, without having notions of what it is to be female foisted on them.

But I'm also tired of the way that men are becoming increasingly sidelined in this narrative. I'm all for equality. As long as it's not in the name of inequality.

If women are impacted by unattainable images of what the perfect woman should be, how are men impacted by the numerous images of toned torsos, bulging biceps, and adverts aimed at shaming men into being 'real men' for their ladies? If women are tired of being cast as the damsel in distress in video games, films, and books, how do men feel about being cast as playing the role of the knight in shining armour, albeit under different guises? And if women are wary of their girls adopting mainly nurturing and looks-based roles during playtime, should we not be equally wary of our boys adopting mainly hyper-macho and conflict-based roles? These are questions I'm genuinely interested in hearing a discussion about, but ones that I so rarely see.

I am, of course, putting forward an over-simplified, sweeping argument. There are countless children whose play doesn't conform to gendered stereotypes; there are cultural creations that aren't founded on gendered tropes; there are (increasingly) campaigns that give us alternative depictions of what 'beauty' means. This is all great and - even if some of the campaigns are driven by marketing goals - if it means we're seeing a greater variety of different types of people (male and female, as well as transgendered) then that is not a bad thing.

I am, of course, also aware that the reason there's such a focus on women is because it's been such a battle to get to where we are, and that there is still a long way to go. I am a feminist. I passionately believe that women can't be sidelined if we are to live in a rich society, and that it is dangerous for society if they are. The many development studies focused on the positive impact of educating women and giving them agency is testament to this fact.

But I also believe that, as we raise our voices against the way women are treated and depicted in the media we consume, we can't in turn sideline the other half of the population. Do we really want men and boys - who, believe it or not, also suffer from insecurities, who also constitute a whole spectrum of interests, sensitivities, neuroses, work/life concerns, hopes, dreams, and ambitions - to feel as though their voices are of any less value than women's, purely based on their gender? Do we really want to ignore how the mainstream so often fails to depict all the different nuances of what it is to be human, regardless of (biological) sex?

I don't know what the answer is. I do know that we could go for cries of boycott against that which we don't agree with; that the media delivers what it believes will appeal to the widest demographic; that we could create our own media to more accurately reflect the huge variations that exist within the experience of what it is to be human. I know that the Internet and user-generated content does a great job of serving 'The Long Tail' of niche interests and audiences.

But I also know that the issue isn't just in the creations themselves; it's also in the way in which we discuss those creations, and choose to shape our protests. Yes, we should speak out against one-dimensional depictions of women (as Neil Gaiman said, "...people say, 'Well how do you write such good female characters?' And I go, 'Well I write people.''). But in doing so, we should also encourage a discussion of one-dimensional depictions of men. Just because there are more of them in the media, it doesn't mean that those characters are always by default any richer. So, I'm all for equality. But not at the cost of equality.