Not for women is an excuse for sexism and a Silencing tactic where the argument is that since something wasn't made with female audience in mind, women should not be offended about it. This rhetoric is closely related to the "You don't have to read it" excuse. Where "don't like, don't read" is based on Choice, "Not for women" assumes that:
- sexism has no indirect harm
- men will not be offended about sexism
- sexist content is a standard part of anything targeted at men, and that this is common knowledge
- women should not be interested in man-targeted things, and if they are, they relinquish their right to object to its qualities.
Another rhetoric "Not for women" closely resembles is "Not for children", however the latter is valid and not as closely related as it would seem. "Not for children" is based on the idea that there are imagery and topics that are potentially harmful for developing children, and the restriction is placed in order to protect the minors. "Not for women" can be similarly understood as a protection tactic following the antiquated thought of women being inherently more sensitive and fragile and needing protection other than their own sense and intellect can provide.
The much more common way to understand "Not for women" is that women should recognise and actively avoid male-targeted anything in order to avoid being offended.
Not for POC
Substituting "women" in this rhetoric with any group whose oppression has passed the PC horizon reveals its flaws in quite a concise way: for example, "This film is not intended for a black audience."
