But men are saying that - I hear them say it every damned day and falsely claiming that men are considered expendable when women are not is another version of this.

Anybody who is stupid enough to voice that things were never bad for the average woman would get a derisive laugh and a lengthy history lesson (beyond the tidbits I already included in the OP). Men were never routinely forced into insane asylums because their wife didn't like their attitude. It's never been legal to rape your husband or to beat him. Men could always get a credit card or a home loan in their own name, and could apply to Ivy League colleges, and to work in white shoe law firms. Men could vote... Up until about 50 years ago, men had more than 300 more rights than women by law in the US. That doesn't mean that everyday men don't face a lot of hardships - but most of them are brought about by a patriarchal dominance hierarchy and yet, most men are fucking IN LOVE with patriarchy. They think that one day they will get to be one of the elites and so they keep trying to climb that later, no matter how much it's made to clear to them that it is very literally killing men.

As I already noted in the OP, the red herring used to distract the average man used to be "but at least you'll always have more status and power than women." As that has eroded over the past 50 years, the distraction is now "It's all feminists fault." It's not up to women to wake you up to this stupidity and how it's a misdirection. We're still trying to not get raped and to have our basic humanity recognized.

Edit: It is quite possible to have both privilege and experience oppression. All women, no matter how rich, no matter how much they may be exploiting someone else, still do face systemic and deeply entrenched oppression. I have no problem talking about that same dynamic with men — in fact, I do it all the time but that’s not what THIS story is about. It’s about a specious narrative that misdirects men from the real enemy.