I think that's incredibly interesting, but it's also worth noting that the reason that those people feel that way is because they've been trained to see the world that way.
When friends, social media, charities, celebrities and even governments push the idea that a person's identity is a set of tangible things that can be seen and touched and bought, from hairstyles to clothing, then to flag pins and phone covers and stickers, then to be without that is to be without an identity. Without those gender identities, then they're ostracised from their friends and peers indulging in the same thing. Are they even real people at all?
I think it's less that it's a deliberate bridge to cross a social gap, and more a way for them to cling to something tangible that they can then point to in their own minds and say that is why I feel so different and ironically, that is why I feel so alone. Then, they can connect with others that feel just as alone, which whips the social contagion frenzy even higher.
The world right now is one that pushes the idea that to fix something, you need to buy something else. Actual, helpful introspection, figuring out what their hopes, dreams and even hobbies are to connect with others ends up becoming too daunting.
If you're afraid, why on earth would you go out of your way to risk being ignored or hurt or laughed at by someone in the real world, when you can safely buy things and slap flags and different pronouns onto a social media account? Why risk engaging offline with anyone when the online world has a safe echo chamber that tells you how good and valid and perfect you are, and underlines that everything that feels difficult or hurts you is because of others not understanding you? Is it not comforting to have such a strict set of rules to follow and lines to regurgitate, when, if left alone to think for yourself, you might be wrong and end up upsetting someone else and then ending up even more alone? Does it not feel good to be given permission to lash out and hate everyone and cut out everyone that tells you a harsh truth? Isn't it cathartic to tear apart others, just the way that the bullies at home or at school tore you apart?
It taps in perfectly to the stereotypical teenage angst, and it's addictive, too. There is nothing more addictive in this world than the taste of righteous anger and even more righteous hatred - directed, of course, towards the safe (and encouraged) target of women that see through it and just won't play along.
why do you people like gender so much? it's annoying
I might be being too cynical, but when I hear about male NBs, I immediately think that they're a predator of some sort instead of anything else, purely because of that pornsickness. Because no straight men have had any territory stepped on by any gender nonsense, I don't think I believe that any men have been gaslit into the gender koolaid like women have. I could be wrong, but I keep thinking that every single male genderist knows exactly who to wish rape against.
If you’re ever feeling insecure about your intelligence just remember there are males out there who call themselves bisexual because they’re attracted to females and trans-identified females
I saw a post asking about whether there was a woman or women in your life that changed your view about misogyny in society, or made you realise that women needed feminism, and I immediately thought of my abusive mother, the woman that gave me the CPTSD that I still struggle with.
She was the one that gaslighted me to avoid apologising for something that she had done wrong, but cried and apologised to my brother.
Where I was abused, my brother was excused, and when he stood by me and supported me, that was still my fault, and I was punished for it.
She was the one that eagerly bragged about being supportive of gay men, but was quick to share how disgusted she was by bisexuals, particularly bisexual women, and lesbians.
She was the one who screamed and beat me if I ever tried to stand up for myself, but when my brother stood up to her, she beat me again for not telling him to stop - and then absolved him of his words by deciding that he had been possessed by the ghost of her own abusive mother.
I was the one broken down and trapped into being a carer and homekeeper to take care of the family, and gaslit into believing that I was lucky to be able to be able to do that in the first place.
Feminism doesn't absolve women of their crimes. I'm glad that she's dead and gone and won't forgive her memory. But that wasn't random abuse. I was treated much worse than how she treated my brother and her husband because I was a girl and then a woman. She quite literally deluded herself to create excuses for my brother to forgive him and attack me. Even though she abused them, too, it was still nothing compared to what happened to me. The abuse had misogyny baked all the way through it.
I can't blame her for hating women, considering the patriarchy around us and other personal circumstances where she learned that hatred, and understanding just how strong and ingrained misogyny is, but I will blame her for her choice to abuse, because it was a choice. I think that sometimes, there's a belief that feminism means needing to protect or defend every single woman, even the most disgusting and evil women, and that isn't true at all. Evil women deserve liberation. No woman, whatever she does, deserves rape or abuse or oppression. What they deserve is to face true justice instead.
So yes, a woman made me rethink misogyny around me and the need for feminism, just not in the way that others would expect.
The greatest trick of the patriarchy was to teach countless generations of women to be kind.
We can talk about statistics all day long, but the weaponisation of our compassion is what keeps us on our knees.
When we see studies about violence, the immediate reaction is but men can be victims, too, and examples like that are why the false ideas of the patriarchy hurts men, too and feminism is for everybody are so prevalent. Women have been so broken down by generations upon generations of manipulation through be kind that is feels wrong, that it feels psychologically painful to centre ourselves.
Instead of women being able to come together and fight for our rights as one, this malicious forced compassion makes us sideline and silence ourselves, with the reward being tricked into feeling like I'm a good and selfless person. When women dare to centre ourselves and put ourselves first reasonably, then we're gaslit into believing that we're being selfish, cruel and even violent, and when other women snap and snarl, tired of our treatment, then they're entirely dismissed as being any modern version of hysteric.
Men like to hide behind the idea that we're the manipulative ones that psychologically damage, but without a thousand generations of men reinforcing that we should think again and actually have kindness and compassion for others, women as a whole would be able to see through the blinders of oppression.
After all, to be anti-prostitution has been reframed as hating sex workers.
Fighting against systemic violence and rape against women is ignoring male victims and supporting female perpetrators.
Protecting female-only spaces is excluding a vulnerable minority's right to exist.
Few ordinary women want to be made to feel like they're hateful or cruel. As soon as we talk about women's issues, examples of individual men are brought up, and women are tricked into talking about them by either proving how kind we are ("of course I don't want anyone to be raped, male victims deserve help!") to distract us from our issues and re-centre men again, or women dismiss that obviously malicious call for compassion ("feminism isn't about men, sort your own issues out!") and then men use it as a reason as to why feminism is evil, because anything without kindness and compassion is wrong.
Women need to be taught that it's not unkind to put ourselves first, and that men use our compassion against us.
In feminism, our kindness and compassion must be reserved for our fellow women.
Women can be kind and compassionate to men in their private lives if they want, but that isn't part of feminism - and they need to be reminded that they won't get that kindness and compassion returned.
why did none of you tell me that India Willyboy said he was ABDUCTED BY ALIENS AND EXPERIMENTED ON
I guess if you believe a man can become a woman you can believe anything
a small reminder to questioning people that it’s okay to read opinions you don’t agree with. there’s nothing immoral about reading and considering what other people have to say. taking in information and learning is not in itself a transgression and your beliefs won’t be shaken by reading things unless you do, in fact, think that they are accurate, which is okay and you should be free to explore that further without anyone breathing down your neck.
anyone who attempts to make you believe that you can’t read things said by certain people is trying to control you, because they know that alternative opinions could cause some people to stray from being under the influence of their own group, and they don’t care about these individuals’ well-being at all, only their own status and how many people will uncritically listen to everything they say.
it’s always okay to question. there’s nothing you aren’t allowed to think about.
Like they were about the ban on prostitution and slavery.