this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2024
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menby
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A space for masculine folks to talk about living under patriarchy.
Detoxing masculinity since 1990!
You don’t get points for feminism, feminism is expected.
Guidelines:
- Questions over blame
- Humility over pride
- Wisdom over dogma
- Actions over image
Rules (expansions on the guidelines):
- Mistakes should be learning experiences when possible.
- Do not attack comrades displaying vulnerability for what they acknowledge are mistakes.
- If you see good-faith behavior that's toxic, do your best to explain why it's toxic.
- If you don't have the energy to engage, report and move on.
- This includes past mistakes. If you've overcome extreme reactionary behavior, we'd love to know how.
- A widened range of acceptable discussion means a greater need for sensitivity and patience for your comrades.
- Examples:
- "This is reactionary. Here's why."
- "I know that {reality}, but I feel like {toxicity}"
- "I don't understand why this is reactionary, but it feels like it {spoilered details}"
- You are not entitled to the emotional labor of others.
- Constantly info-dumping and letting us sort through your psyche is not healthy for any of us.
- If you feel a criticism of you is unfair, do not lash out.
- If you can't engage self-critically, delete your post.
- If you don't know how to phrase why it's unfair, say so.
- No singular masculine ideal.
- This includes promoting gender-neutral traits like "courage" or "integrity" as "manly".
- Suggestions for an individual to replace a toxic ideal is fine.
- Don't reinforce the idea the fulfillment requires masculinity.
- This also includes tendency struggle-sessions.
- No lifestyle content.
- Post the picture of your new grill in !food (feminine people like grills too smh my head).
- Post the picture of the fish you caught in !sports (feminine people like fish too smdh my damn head).
- At best, stuff like this is off-topic. At worst, it's reinforcing genders norms..
- If you're not trying to be seen as masculine for your lifestyle content, it's irrelevant to this comm. If you are trying to be seen as masculine, let's have a discussion about why these things are seen as masculine.
Resources:
*The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by Bell Hooks
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The kind of resonation that chapter one has with how I grew up is... Rough. From the ages of 4 to about 14, I was basically the buffer between my stepfather and his kids-- which means I didn't just take my own beatings, but theirs too. And all I can remember is how it felt when around the age of twelve, I just. Stopped caring if I ever earned his love or pride. Was getting... A simulacrum of that from an english teacher. (Lovely man. Genuinely cared about his students. Maybe one of the first casualties of educational standardization; I wouldn't be a writer or as invested in advanced fluency in the languages I speak if not for him and last I knew he went on to become a university professor instead.)
You never really stop to consider the void that leaves, when you grow up that way. And of course, in the course of trying to become my persecutor because I thought that might finally earn his pride, I became monstrous-- but giving up on being him didn't kill the beast that attempting to left behind. Arguably, I'd say the last ten years of my life now have been trying to live in a way where I don't still see his face when I look in the mirror.