Original by u/Oncefa2 on Reddit. Still very relevant today:

This is something I noticed in a thread where men were asked what it meant to them to be a man.

There was only one response, which could probably be summed up as, “meh”.

And I honestly think this is how a lot of men feel.

You are yourself first, but also you’re a man, if you’ll even admit to it.

Women on the other hand seem to be proud of their gender and actively celebrate their womanhood. You see this in popular media and on places liked Twitter. And it even shows up in psychological association tests. Women are associated with traits like “good” and “valuable” whereas men are associated with traits like “bad” and “worthless”.

Men are never told that they can be proud of who they are. And many are made to apologize just for being alive. Instead of celebrating men, we attack and demonize them on a daily basis. And I think this difference in treatment and identity has an overall negative effect on their mental health.

Society thinks we are useless, and it is time for a change!

  • Pons_Aelius@kbin.social
    0·
    1 year ago

    Counterpoint: Being proud of something you did not choose to participate in is a post-hoc rationalisation and just a bit self-delusional.

    The statement: “I am proud to be a man”, makes as much sense to me as “I am proud to be right-handed”.

    I am proud of several achievements in my life and ashamed of my behaviour in others. A statement I assume applies to most people. My gender has nothing to do with either.

    I do not take credit for the achievements of others of my gender (or of the right-handed…) the same way that I am not responsible for their crimes.

    Humans, by our social, tribal nature, love to divide the world into in-groups and out-groups usually to the detriment of all.

    • wagesj45@kbin.social
      1·
      1 year ago

      Being gay or trans is also inherent, and because of societal push back, we’ve decided that being proud of those immutable attributes is appropriate. Masculinity gets a bad wrap in a lot of ways, and the healthy expressions of it should be something to be proud of, in my opinion.

    • a-man-from-earth@kbin.socialOP
      0·
      1 year ago

      We don’t use incel as a slur here, nor do we use the toxic term ‘toxic masculinity’ unironically here. Comment removed.