Gloves Off

[anonniemouse]

Please use this post for discussion of those contentious, murky, triggering issues too complex to discuss/moderate on the main post.

Note that this post is NOT a free-for-all and will still be modded for slurs, namecalling, doxxing and trolling. But fair warning that it will not be moderated for discussion of issues some find triggering (trans issues, mental illness, etc.) and that if you choose to participate here, you do so at your own risk.

Comments

Re: The Dichotomy of Man

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT

I wondered if it was dysphoria in the sense that like, okay, if you're a dude who looked extremely feminine for a good chunk of your life and that makes you feel less manly and good about yourself, your coping mechanism might be to play up your masculinity as a counterbalance, or, on the flip side, you might lean into and embrace the feminine/androgynous aspects of yourself as a sort of deliberate fuck-you to your own insecurity.

What doesn't make sense, to me, is simultaneously trying to be both, not acknowledging them as presentations, and not acknowledging nuance or grey areas of gender expression.

Like, it's not, "I am a man who varies my gender presentation," or even, "I am a man who has some traditionally feminine interests." It's, "I am a masculine manly dude, how dare you accuse me of being gay! Liking feminine things isn't gay! But also please acknowledge how transgressive my liking feminine things is! Notice how feminine I am to the point of being androgynous! But also NEVER acknowledge it, I'm EXTREMELY masculine!"

Like, it's not just the flip-flopping, I think. It's acting like the two presentations are diametrically opposed and never the twain shall meet, and then not acknowledging that this is a huge self-contradiction. (And now that line from Whitman about containing multitudes is stuck in my head.)