#for a woman I have a lot of stereotypically male hobbies

[luckitteh]

I ride motorcycles and am on Biketok, I can help confirm it is not all like this. Mostly it's just people showing off their bikes, goofing off at stoplights(dancing, getting killswitched etc.), or getting pulled over/running from the cops/going way too fast. There's also a significant portion which are just normal tiktok videos (viral dances, talking at you, making jokes) that are done in front of/next to a bike. This is a small portion of biketokers, and even though motorcycling is a hobby dominated by sad straight men it generally isn't terrible for the most part. I follow a lot of women and queer bikers so that tends to help me avoid this sort of stuff; it also helps to just immediately scroll if you see booktok in the tags of a moto post. It's kinda really similar to cartok and guntok where there's a great amount of fun and cool content designed for people with those hobbies, and then a separate section of sad men whose personality is that hobby+hating women(or being republican)

come on man

[thydungeongal]

Okay, so we know that Gygax was a misogynist and fascist. I read the forum posts with the infamous "nits make lice", and yes, it's a description of in-universe attitude, but he then went on a pretty fash rant about an eye for an eye being just and pacifism being "slave morality", so I don't see reason in figuring out his specific kind of bigotry.

Arneson was also a fascist. Guy who wrote Tekumel was so as well.

Were any of founders of hobby not racists and misogynists? Tunnels and Trolls looks promising, because there is a woman who was always a player but is credited in all editions for her contributions, so I hope misogyny is not foundational of hobby, even for generic fantasy games. But also one of spells sounds as a very bad taste racist joke (mind control spell was called "yassa massa" until 5th edition included), and I remember that in his space rpg from 1976 there was an illustration that was a very bad taste caricature of Israel-Palestine conflict (spaceship with crew dressed in stereotypical Arab clothing is being chased by ship in the shape of Star of David, I don't remember what did speech bubble say).

But what about the rest? Do you know how normal were contents of early editions of RuneQuest and other games that are considered foundational? Classic Traveller looks fine, but only because it doesn't feature any topics where racism or misogyny could be obvious, so I am not sure. Was there like, a sensible amount of women early in the hobby? I know there were some from reading old ass magazines that occasionally published materials written by women. But do you know more about it?

Not gonna lie, this is just me feeling guilty and bad because of one article that takes a pretty gender essentialist outlook on everything, but thinking that I enjoy something "fundamentally male" is Not Nice, girl

First edition RuneQuest is refreshingly lacking in a lot of the casual racism and misogyny of its time, and Greg Stafford was genuinely interested in culture and mythology. It's not perfect by any means but I think RuneQuest does treat the cultures he takes influence from with a lot of respect.

Traveller is funny because first edition Traveller has a whole bit about "we default to using he/him pronouns for characters but that does not mean that they have to be men, by Jove!" which is a huge dub for the he/him lesbians.

As for whether there were a lot of women in the early days of the hobby, I don't know. But I know that Iron Crown Enterprises (creators of Rolemaster) had at least some women in their employ, some of them credited as playtesters (in addition to the charmingly eighties attribution of "and various other young dudes and dudettes).

But ultimately, screw Gygax and his gender essentialist ideas. There have been lots of women in the space since its inception and while the roots of the hobby may have been male-dominated the very fact that so many women have flocked into RPGs is all the evidence you need that this is not a hobby that necessitates a male brain whatever the fuck that means. Gygax may have managed to catch lightning in a bottle with D&D but that doesn't mean we have to give him the final word on everything RPG-related forever. Also because he said a lot of other really dumb shit besides the "RPGs are for the male brain," so like he wasn't the esoteric genius people sometimes try to paint him as.

[runerapier]

If you don't mind me asking, what makes you interpret Angeal as anything other than a straight man? He's the least gay character I've ever seen and he doesn't act gay either.

I'm going to assume this isn't sent in bad faith but this is pretty on point with the definition of stereotyping. I mean if you’re defining being gay by how someone looks or acts that is your first problem. Angeal has very outwardly masculine actions and appearance, I’m not really a fan of the insinuation that masculine men don’t “look” gay enough. Angeal isn’t even a hyper masculine or toxic masculine character, he is almost always described in a way that is seen as nurturing or caring. His own fan club compared his hobby of cooking to that of a wife. Things like gardening are often seen as more a “feminine hobby.” This isn’t to say Angeal breaks insane boundaries but Angeal isn’t this rigid masculine character in the first place. Besides my personal headcanons, Angeal and Genesis' stories take quite a bit from The Fall of Mankind (and religious and mythological symbolism in general but I'm going to try to stay on track). They purposely made two male characters represent Adam and Eve, and this isn't the first time they have done something like this in a final fantasy game. For example: while they are more developed than Genesis and Angeal, characters like Fang and Vanille are based on the Nordic myth of Ragnarok. There is a lot of information that couldn't be included in the final game of Crisis Core but is still intended canon, I'm going to be using a lot of that as a reference point. The full explanation is pretty extensive and I'm also not an expert on The Book of Genesis. I tried my best to do research for this, but it is possible I am still missing things and that this can still be expanded upon.

I'm going to start off by giving a deeper explanation on how Angeal represents Adam and how Genesis represents Eve. Genesis already has a very strong connection to The Book of Genesis because of his name. Rhapsodos comes from rhapsody, his full name is literally "genesis reciter". Genesis and Angeal were the first two attempts at an artificial “cetra” created by Shina representative of Adam and Eve being the first humans created by god. (While there is some debate if the first woman is Lilith, she is often been seen as a demoness.) The kanji for Shinra already is a direct reference to god, and is symbolism for how they like to play god themselves. The image below has a great explanation that is much better than what I can do, but to keep it short 神 (shin) literally means god or divine and 羅 (ra) is derived from 網羅 (mōra) which means "encompassing".

The fruit of knowledge is typically portrayed as an apple, which connects with banora whites. It represents temptation, Genesis offers the apple to others when talking about truth and revelation. Instances like in Nibelheim, Genesis offers the fruit to Sephiroth after telling him the truth of his origins. Sephiroth rejecting the fruit is a sign of him rejecting the truth, and we see he continues to go along with a story he is happier with. Sephiroth decides to believe misinformation that is less painful, the rejection of knowledge is indication he is not Adam or Eve.

Banora is heavily connected to the flow of the lifestream, which is what makes Banora whites grow any time of year. The lifestream is said to contain knowledge of the planet and its people, that being what powers the fruit further reinforces the idea that they represent the fruit of knowledge. Banora being the source for what is essentially miracle fruits powered by the planet, it is clear Banora is meant to be Eden.

Minerva is said to be sleeping in the caves of Banora, she represents the will of the lifestream. Though Minerva is connected more to Roman Myth and Sophia from Gnostic belief, I would still say she emphasizes the holiness of Banora's land.

Angeal has a story about not stealing to reflect Adam trusting god and not taking from the garden. God's words to Adam were "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat from it, you will certainly die." (Genesis 2:17) Angeal stole from other trees besides the big one that had the most delicious fruit. While it can be argued Angeal didn't steal from Genesis in general, Angeal's story focuses solely on the biggest tree with the most tempting fruit, that tree represents the tree of good and evil. At the end of the game, Zack eats an apple under this same tree with Genesis, protagonist and antagonist sharing from the same tree. Shortly after eating the apple Zack learns the truth about how long it's been and leaves to meet his fate.

Hollander approached Genesis with the truth of his origins, convincing Genesis to help him with his plans in exchange for a cure that Hollander never had. Eve was afraid of eating the fruit and dying because of what God told her, but the serpent convinced her she would live. “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5). Both being deceived, they were convinced that they would live if they defied God, and become the catalysts for knowing the truth. Eve did not want to be alone in her defiance so she looked to Adam, much like how Genesis approaches Angeal to persuade him to take revenge against Shinra.

Besides Eve being referred to as Adam's wife, Adam also placed his trust in Eve above god. He decides to listen to her and trust her despite his creator telling him he will die. Angeal places his trust in Genesis above Shinra when he decides to defect, believing he can rationalize with him despite this being high treason.

This has happened before already, Angeal placed his trust in Genesis above Gillian and defies his mother to join Shinra. Gillian didn't want her family to be connected to Shinra and despite how highly Angeal respects his mother he still defied her wishes for the sake of following a dream with Genesis.

This leads into the next part, less about how they parallel The Book of Genesis and more about how they parallel other characters in the narrative. This makes me a little nervous to talk about so I’m going to put a small disclaimer that I am not arguing for any canonicity of ships because I think it is a waste of time. However, I think discussing characters' feelings that push their motivations is important.

In the narrative, Angeal also greatly parallels Cloud, I feel like this isn’t something that is talked about enough in general. They share a great deal of small parallels like both enjoying landscape photography, being associated with wolves, and elementally representing lightning. Besides surface level things, both Angeal and Cloud have a guilt complex and feel responsible for the people around them. The main parallel that’s important to this conversation is their childhood friend from the same countryside town.

Cloud was inspired by Sephiroth and his desire to protect people he loved like his childhood friend, Tifa, to join soldier. This is similar to Angeal joining to be with Genesis; their childhood friends are motivators for both of them.

This is something that’s pointed out in DFFOO as well, Angeal hears about Tifa and immediately draws the connection.

Both Cloud and Angeal feel responsible for protecting and looking after their loved ones, Angeal is seen as a caretaker type for this reason. Both Cloud and Angeal want to help fulfill the dream of their childhood friend, Tifa's was being saved by a hero and Genesis' being to share an apple with his hero Sephiroth. We see this when Cloud berates himself for not being the hero Tifa wanted and Genesis telling "Angeal" the dream has been fulfilled implying it has been something he knew about and wanted to help him achieve. Angeal's will in Lazard only fades away after Genesis said the dream came true, like there was a sense of fulfillment and that he could finally pass on after holding on for so long.

I find it interesting they intentionally draw parallels between Genesis & Angeal and Cloud & Tifa, people who have more explicit romantic feelings. I think Angeal and Genesis are supposed to represent a more “genuine” version of Cloud and Tifa’s relationship. Angeal represents the story cloud wanted to have throughout ffvii, having a childhood friend who never grew apart, who stayed together, and who followed a dream together. Angeal genuinely made soldier, and for a time he felt like he was in control of protecting others unlike Cloud. This contrast stays until the end, Cloud and Tifa learn to repair their relationship while Angeal and Genesis fall apart. Despite having everything Cloud wanted, it was not enough to sustain. This contrast is important in emphasizing that it is not about your background or your past, it is about what you do now and having people to fall back on. None of this is meant to be used as proof Genesis and Angeal are canon, but rather talk about Angeal's strong devotion and feelings for him since he was at least a teenager. They do not perfectly replicate the fall of mankind but it is interesting nonetheless. Here's to hoping we get to see more of how they interact in ever crisis.

[broken-clover]

I can't help but find Amane compelling. For a lot of reasons, really, but his use of gender as a character motif gives him a surprising amount of texture the more you look at him (Especially for a series that admittedly veers into gender stereotypes a lot, but that's neither here nor there).

Which I guess seems obvious at first glance. I've often seen him lumped in with a lot of other 'trap' (ugh) characters, but in a way it's sort of funny, because it couldn't be more wrong as a takeaway. At a glance, yes, Amane is an androgynous man who wears dresses and makeup. Thing is, though, the point of it isn't to trick anyone- Amane is entirely comfortable in his gender and how he presents, and his choice of wearing 'feminine' things is entirely out of passion.

His visual appearance might offer confusion, but his personality doesn't offer the same sort. For someone that presents himself so gracefully and beautifully, Amane is outright described as

speak(ing) in a rather crude tone at times, and has a manly personality

While I don't know about 'crude' in particular, he has a tendency to speak very directly, and takes pride in his masculinity. His moveset is filled with references to super sentai series, which are often associated with young boys and filled with stereotypically 'boyish' motifs, like martial arts and giant robots. He makes no effort to obscure his gender identity, he perceives himself as a man, and corrects people who mistake him for a woman. But, clearly, being mistaken for one doesn't bother him, as he still happily partakes in his art form and makes no attempt to dress more 'masculine' for sake of having people perceive him as such.

(Even in terms of his non-dance hobbies, Amane leans toward 'feminine' things. He makes candies and is seemingly the only parental figure toward his numerous adoptive children, whom he loves and cares for in the sort of nurturing way that one might more typically associate with motherhood than with fatherhood.)

Amane's use of dance as a motif also leans heavily into this concept. Art forms like dancing often get written off as 'girly' with the unspoken implication that something with that descriptor is less important or even easier in comparison to stereotypically male-oriented hobbies. But dancing, especially in the professional world, takes an unbelievable amount of physical and mental training in order to do well and create a visually captivating performance. Amane's design being based on an onnagata kabuki actor, or a man who plays female roles, also ties into this. Though it sounds simple on paper, onnagata techniques can take years to master, and include learning a wide range of techniques, from makeup styling to posture to vocal training. The fact that Amane is a seasoned professional dancer means that he would be fully aware of all this. While he may employ those techniques on stage, he does not use them in casual interaction. In Amane's perception, he is a man, and having a ladylike appearance does not do anything to the contrary. He is merely himself, perfectly comfortable with both identity and presentation.

Likewise, it feels like these themes are deliberately contrasted with a more stereotypically masculine character in Bang Shishigami. Blazblue has multiple 'hypermasculine' characters such as Azrael and Kagura, but Bang seems to be the one the narrative most frequently draws a parallel to, as they encounter one another multiple times- And, fittingly, both are themed around very stereotypically Japanese motifs, kabuki and ninjutsu. While both seem to embody very traditional themes visually, Bang is a character that adheres more to those traditionalist traits in terms of personality, styling himself as a manly, physically impressive hero who tries to win a woman's heart through acts of valor. When Amane encounters him, as the first dialogue in the first game he debuts in, Bang confronts him not because he has any real business with the man or has mistaken him for a troublemaker, but because Bang finds him 'strange.'

"What kind of attire is that for a man to wear around...!? It screams 'frail' and 'weak'! I can hardly believe my eyes..."

Amane, just as a concept, confuses him and contradicts his idea of what a 'proper' man should be. It's something that Amane even calls him out for later

"Never you mind! It is a crime for a man to look so...so...so beautifully feminine! I shall smack some guts and conviction back into you as a representative of Ikarugan masculinity!" "Whoa whoa, don't you think you're being just a little prejudiced?"

Obviously, Amane sees nothing wrong with how he presents. He sees nothing wrong with a man being beautiful the same way that Bang does.

Though the gag reels are non-canonical, the 'Contest of Manliness' from Chronophantasma seems almost designed to highlight the concept. Amane enlists in the contest to display his sense of endurance, making it to the finals to the surprise and shock of Bang, who views him as a 'gentle-mannered pretty boy,' at one point bringing up a similar point from their encounter in the arcade route

"Despite your appearance, you are actually quite tough..."

Even in combat, he displays this sense of duality. He battles using fans, his scarf, and a parasol, all more stereotypically ladylike implements compared to something like a sword or firearms. He can hit has hard as any other male character, but his movements are graceful and agile, with a sense of elegant poise. It isn't that he is powerful *despite* his feminine presentation. His power is his own. It is simply a matter of what medium he uses to comfortably express that power, regardless if some might view it as weird.

Amane is not a man trying to 'trick' anyone into thinking he's a woman. Amane is Amane. He is a very pretty man who likes to dance, and he is very manly while doing so, and is also very pretty while kicking ass, thank you very much.

[barbatosgossipsection]

A lot of people headcanoning Asmo as trans-woman, demi-girl, genderqueer or something like that and i think THAT IT'S SUPER STUPID AND RUINS THE ENTIRE IDEA BEHIND HIM! Yall literally see a character whos main idea is "clothes is just clothes, hobbies is just hobbies, being a man doesn't stop you from wearing skirts or enjoying makeup. MAN DOESN'T HAVE TO BE MASCULINE TO BE A MAN" and be like "oh yes, he is trans girl!"

IT'S THE SAME AS TAKING A STRONG, INDEPENDENT AND POWERFUL FEMALE CHARACTER AND HEADCANONING HER AS A TRANS-MALE WTF?????

And no, im not transphobic, IM LITERALLY TRANS, but i think it's super annoying how people see a man being feminine and immediately headcanon him as a transfem even tho HIS CONCEPT IS LITERALLY THAT MAN DOESN'T HAVE TO BE MASCULINE TO BE A MAN 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I saw a headcanon that demons are genderless beings and they just look as they like, and i actually like it. But it's only in some parallel universe, OG/NB obey me demons are faaaar from that😭

As Asmodeus hardcore fan and a giant lover of feminine guys, i really think that transfem or demigirl Asmo is really stupid. In my eyes he is fully Cis man, in fact, even more cis than cis men. OMG, if you like makeup it doesn't make you a girl. OMG, if you are a guy who calls himself princess, it doesn't immediately turn you into a transfem. And OMG, if a cis guy will stop feeling like a guy if he will wear a pink dress, then he is not a cis guy!!!

Clothes are just clothes, hobbies are just hobbies, Asmo is never been shown as transfem and for me, he will always be the cissiest guy in the world, whos masculinity cannot be broken by society and stereotypes. If he doesn't look like a typical guy, he is still a guy. The max non-cis-guy headcanon that i think is okay is something like Demi-boy, but nothing else.

I love my dear boy Assmuah♡

— Anon

[butchpeace]

Hi I have a question! I agree with most of what you say on your page and it's such a relief to find someone else that thinks that way, and I'm sorry if you answered this before but I'm just really lost rn and I wanted to ask for advice. I'm a 18yo female and I usually identify as agender because I hate the concept of gender and the fact people judge me based on shit like my appearance, or when they assume I do stuff that are considered "traditionally feminine" because I'm a female. It makes me so annoyed and I feel like people don't understand how such a big part of the way we act and think and what we want is affected by phaucolooand socialization. I actually needed to explain to someone why girls don't naturally like pink.

I think the reasons people are trans are because they 1. Want to experience the world through a different gender (women want to escape misogyny and gender stereotypes ect) and 2. People associate personality traits and qualities with biological sexes bc of gender so if I feel more masculine I believe I'm a man because I'm my head being out society idea's of musculinity is being male. Perhaps some people would still feel like they belong in a different body if that wasn't the case but yeah.

I'm just rumbling rn, sorry, I did want to say though that I hate being seen as a women. I don't think it's internalized misogyny, I did consider it but I don't think there's anything wrong with being a female or doing traditionally feminine stuff, I don't think men are better, but I there's a part of me that wishes I was born a biological male to escape. I think that's how a lot of women feel. I hate calling myself a women because nowadays it feels like a personality type rather then something simply biological, and I don't care who people want to be but I'm just confused about myself and others and what I think.

For me, I'm simply me. I'm a human being, I happen to be female, it affects me when I go to the gym or when I go to see a doctor, and that's it. I have a personality and hobbies, I don't care if they're traditionally what or who I like what I like. I'm a person. But people seeing me as a women, putting me in that box of liking pink and being sweet and nice and all that traditionally feminine stuff, it makes me feel so fucking bad. I tried to convince myself I'm just trans but it didn't feel right, nothing is ever that simple imo. I don't know exactly what I'm asking for, but I'm just tired. I know everyone will always see me in a way I don't want to be seen and I wish gender didn't matter as much as it does. It's unrealistic to abolish gender rn, and we also shouldn't, the world isn't ready for that and people wouldn't actually change the way they look at people and just use it to their advantage. I think if we were to do it, we'll need to do it slowly. But idk I'm just about to start uni and I feel so lost, every time I talk to someone about this I feel like they hate me, no matter I'm which side they are. Every time I try to question why people are trans people get mad. I'm not saying you don't feel traditionally feminine, I'm saying you're rn biologically a male and the reason you want to be a female is not being your soul is, saying you feel like a women is saying being a women is one thing you can actually feel like you are, which is in a way, upholding gender rules. Fuck I hope I made sense, I just really need an advice and I read a lot of stuff in your page and I really need your opinion on this please. Have a good day!!

- 🎃 anon

I don’t think you’re as confused as you think you are!

Who you are doesn’t fit neatly into society’s box of “woman”. You hate how people stereotype you just based on your sex. You’re a whole unique person, not a caricature of womanhood.

You’re right that this is the way most women feel. And it’s the same reason why so many other women are identifying as something else now too.

You probably feel it to a greater extent and more often than other women do because you fit in with the stereotype less. But almost all women understand that feeling. Ask anyone you know, she’ll have a story about when she felt that way too. Even the most feminine ones.

You’re right that it’s not internalized misogyny - It’s actual misogyny. You hate the effect that actual real life misogyny has on you. You hate the way misogyny has created this narrow definition of “woman”. You see it more clearly than lots of women do, so you feel it more.

Identifying out of womanhood isn’t the answer. That’s not really gonna do anything tangible. Even if you took hormones, you’ll still be a woman.

The answer is to be completely yourself. Don’t change or diminish yourself in any way. Don’t try to fit in. Show the world that women can be like you, and they just have to accept it.

[probablyasocialecologist]

I’m going to be honest straight away. I think “Gender Critical” people* are radicalised and I think there is a lot of danger for many cis people on the periphery to follow them down that rabbit hole. I’m writing this essay in an effort to prevent radicalisation of any feminists looking in on the situation who haven’t made their minds up yet. I’m speaking to people who consider themselves feminists and don’t consider themselves transphobic. I’m speaking to people who don’t spend time accusing trans people of having fetishes, who don’t think selfies with Proud Boys are excusable, and who don’t think soup is worse than Nazis. If that’s you, I hope you read on and consider what I have to say in good faith.

[...]

Here’s what else I know for sure. Trans people are real people. Their lives are not hypothetical. While we are discussing this topic on Twitter like it’s a theoretical game, they are truly scared for the future of their rights. So far in the UK there has not been significant legislative change, but we’ve seen hundreds of anti-trans laws proposed in the US, from threatening to perform genital testing on young women in high school sports to revoking the medical licenses of doctors who provide affirming care to threatening to take kids away from parents who even socially affirm their child’s gender. These are real children. They are not fodder for us to argue over. How many trans people, adults or children, do you know in person? And what aspects of their well-being are you willing to risk for a theoretical argument?

[...]

I don’t think I’ll have to work very hard to convince you that whatever so-called values Tucker Carlson, Matt Walsh, Jordan Peterson or ACTUAL NAZIS have do not align with the values of radical feminists. I would suggest that the reason they are interested in the issue are because they see something you don’t. Right-wingers recognise women’s liberation when they see it, because they hate it so much. They have never been on our side. They never will be on our side. They do not respect our right to our own lives, our own bodies, or our own minds, so if they are agreeing with you on an issue of women’s rights, THERE IS A PROBLEM. You might be thinking that you and Tucker don’t see eye to eye on the basics of the issue: he is pro-gender stereotypes and you are against them. But where does this all end up? It pains me to point out the right is very often several steps ahead of us; the devastating destruction of Roe v Wade shows us that. What is in it for them? They get to divide the left, something the gender debate has been extraordinarily effective at. They get to distract feminists from real issues (again Roe v Wade, the cornerstone of American feminist achievement, has fallen). On this very trip, Posie Parker has been spouting anti-abortion sentiment for the minors who need abortion and birth control the most, and since becoming radicalised, she’s claimed that lesbian mothers weren’t really mothers, and that trans men (whom she views as women) should be forcibly sterilised. They get to paint the left as the real agents of hatred, as the real homophobes, as the people really trying to shut down debate. They get to watch as lifelong feminists start criticising women’s appearance and behaviour for not being feminine enough. They get to watch as lifelong feminists start to argue that male violence is not a product of socialisation, of entitlement, of broken legal systems that do not view women’s bodies as their own, but as something inherent to men. Something they can’t help. Something we shouldn’t even try to change. And they get to recruit you. And they are doing that with remarkable success.

[foolish-lov3r]

this is also not something i post about often but im drunk so deal with it

mizu from blue eyed samurai is trans and idc which way. mtf or ftm that bitch is trans and its so OBVIOUS that this mfer is written to be trans coded but people ignore it all the time.

-has to live as a man (can be read as teansfeminine) during a premodern time period in order to have freedom (something many premodern trans men did bc they didnt feel like they fit the role of a woman)

-every time mizu wears makeup they are still portrayed as very masculine. (man in a dress stereotype, could also be read as how they feel when wearing feminine clothing)

-only time mizu is seen as feminine on screen is when they are completely naked (sexualization of trans people, feminine or masculine)

- when mizu lived as a woman for the first time they were uncomfortable and out if their depth. they gave up a lot of their 'masculine' hobbies (ie. swordsmanship) to fit into their role. they eventually grew comfortable with it and loved their life, but its stated that they felt something missing. they never got to be their whole self in this scenario, and when they tried they were almost killed. do i even need to explain this one?

- upon seeing two men having intercourse, mizu thinks of a moment between themself and their love interest (male), taigen. (this argues the transmasculine point in my opinion, but im biased and i can also see how it would be a point in the other direction as well. (i cant express my gender and i have never even thought about sexuality, etc.))

- mizu is never interested in romance. or sex. not from men and not from women. "but aroace people exist" i know, im on the aroace spectrum. they show that they have feelings around these things but they are wholly unable to express them. this is common with transgender people prior to coming out of the closet. if youre not comfortable with yourself its really hard to give yourself over to another person.

- "you have to be a boy, bad men will find you if youre not a boy" need i say more? transfeminine people are way more scrutinized than transmasculine people AND mizu is being told by her mother here that theyre not allowed to be a girl. transfem icon.

i could add so much more but this is already so long

[sexisdisgusting]

i dunno if you can relate or not but being a girl into nerdy "male" hobbies is isolating. a lot of the girls into that stuff suck up to men to an ungodly degree. I dont think that part is talked enough tbh. and then with the whole trans nonsense, its even more crazy bc then we got a bunch of TiMs pretending to be lesbians because they have no personality and think being a girl who likes that stuff makes them "cool" and not a loser lol and then ofc the other women eat it up! sooo revolutionary 🙄 youre a guy who likes stereotypically male things whos ALSO addicted to porn, woah!.. how quirky. how unique.

its like literally most of my interests/hobbies are male dominated rip. Comics, animation, photography, stuff like Star Trek, Horror, anime, fishing, etc. The only one I can think of that isn't male dominated is diorama/dollhouse miniatures and girlblogging.

it sucks because that shit triggers my GD, like man I hate cults. I hate the fakeness of these people. I pray for every trans man. lesbian or otherwise, to stahp what they are doing and rise up. We so need an all-girls GNC community when it comes to "male" interests where any man, trans or not, is gatekept. SO tired of feeling alone.

OOHHHHH I DEFINITELY RELATE LMAO

its very unfortunate for all the reasons you listed and also when youre a girl into more 'male" hobbies esp in this day and age youre almost ushered into identifying as anything other than female bc "uhhhhh how can a woman be into that men mostly are into?? you MUST be a transmale or at least nonbinary lol" and unfortunately many girls, especially the ones with low confidence fall for it

im sooooo with you about the community idea, im tired of feeling like either other women think im a threat when im literally a lesbian or men think im out of place

[gracefulblabber]

I'd be down to hear you out on why you consider "gender critical" different from "gender puritanical". From my experience with the GC movement, a lot of it is very motivated by transphobia.

Id be more than happy to explain my perspective! For a bit of background: I used to be very anti-terf and would have agreed with your statement several years ago. I changed my mind due to reading what radical feminists actually thought, since prior to that point I had not really engaged thoughtfully with anyone deemed transphobic. I will NOT attempt to change your mind with my words, however, and it is not my goal to convince you of anything. Rather, I want honesty and clarity, since throwing barbs around on the Internet is totally useless.

I consider myself a feminist and rather gender critical, although I don't like labeling myself as a radical feminist in order to avoid the possibility of group think. Rather, I like to develop my beliefs and opinions based on what I learn and read, and allow them to change if necessary.

To your question: how is gender critical different than gender puritanical?

Being gender critical means being critical of gender roles and the concept of gender identity. People who are gender critical do not believe in gender identity, full stop. Some are transphobic and reinforce gender roles while claiming to be gender critical. These individuals are usually conservatives and are not feminists.

I do not believe in gender identity because I do not believe in souls, spirits, or integral aspects of the self that are not tied to the body. When I considered myself non-binary (for approximately 2 years), it was due to internalized misogyny and the belief that my lack of adherence to gender roles made me not a woman. I do not believe this anymore. I believe that "gender" is solely gender roles and socially enforced expectations based upon a person's sex. Most of what I see on the Internet about gender identity seems to be an expression of personality (clothing, hairstyles, etc). My belief is this: a woman can wear whatever she likes, act however she likes, engage with whatever hobbies she likes, fuck whatever sex she likes. None of this makes her less or more female. I am not less of a woman (less female) because I am child free and engaged to a woman: I am just as female as the most feminine straight woman. When I used the non-binary label it felt cloistering, like another set of standards and expectations I had to fulfill so people wouldn't recognize my sex or enforce gender roles on me. I am gender critical in the same way I am an atheist: I do not believe in it but do not get angry with people who do.

A person's sense of self and identity is very personal and I would never tell someone how they must think about themselves. But just as I have never seen proof of God, I also don't see proof that gender identity is anything more than personality and reactions to the pressure of sex based stereotypes.

The inevitable followup to this is, of course, what about trans people?

I believe in bodily autonomy for every adult. The trans people I know personally (who I love and care about!) express deep distress about their sex characteristics or gender based stereotypes, and seek to get rid of it through medical or social transition. Whether it helps their distress is not my business, I just want what's best for them

On the whole, I feel trans people deserve the same rights and freedoms as every other person. Violence against trans people is unacceptable, and I (along with every radfem I've ever heard from) thoroughly reject it. I believe that a person's sex is usually unimportant but occasionally has a meaningful impact. Someone who has gone through male puberty, for example, should not compete in the women's sport category because of the impacts of testosterone on skeletal and muscle growth. But these aren't issues of life and death for trans people.

I hope you were able to get through my massive wall of text! I tried to be as comprehensive as possible. As always, I'm happy to clarify any points or have further discussions.

[mr-ribbit]

jokes are funny and all but I'm getting so fatigued with bits about "lmao I love my trans partner but no way am I gonna learn mtg/play league of legends/watch indie films/deal with their weird collection/insert whatever stereotypical queer nerdy interest"

like sometimes it's lighthearted and funny and it's fine when it's self-targeted of course, but a lot of it just comes off as:

1. straight up unfiltered jock v geek bullying

2. weird misogynistic and binarist jokes about stereotypically male/female interests being unappealing to the other gender (often in a way that feels like stealth misgendering/bioessentialism)

3. "i hate my wife and everything she's interested in" style heteronormative humor

and idk it's just getting kind of exhausting to see it everywhere, particularly when it comes from people who claim to be allies or from other queer groups across the aisle

"i love trans women but not enough to learn that dumb card game lol"

ok so what do you think goes thru your trans partner/love interest/friend's head when they hear stuff like this?

you don't love them enough to learn about their interests? their hobbies, their favorite games? you hate what your gf does in her free time because its so stupid? your gf and all her friends like the same exact thing, bc of their gender, and you're mocking it at her expense? what would these things feel like coming from a cis dude towards cis women about stereotypical "cis woman interests?"

if you don't love them enough to respect their hobbies, what will you love them enough to do?

will you love them enough to keep loving them even if their appearance changes? will you love them enough to stay together even if your marriage becomes illegal? will you love them enough to move away with them if your hometown becomes too dangerous for them to stay? will you love them enough to stand by them against your family, friends, and peers if they're rejected?

grow the fuck up and stop pretending that negging is funny and cool if you make it Queer Coded. it's worse, actually. trans people have so much shit to worry about 24/7 can we normalize making more jokes about how Awesome and Cool they are instead?

[frogskelton]

So here is a fun analysis of Alejandro’s character and the ideas of hyper masculinity and gender that influence his character

Influenced by the femme fatale character stereotype, which is a sexist trope influenced by men’s fears of women’s autonomy. As the trope is positioned from a male perspective, total drama adapts this trope for a contemporary audience, genderbending it, using a female perspective. Alejandro is positioned as the villain for diminishing female characters like Bridgette and Leshawna autonomy within the narrative. The goal of the narrative and the final conclusion is the man who has diminished women’s autonomy is defeated, juxtaposing with the narratives this trope was initially found within where the woman who has expressed autonomy over her sexuality has that taken away from her after being villainized, subverted the ending and creating a more progressive narrative. Cody acts as a foil to Alejandro, as being introduced as the man who doesn’t fit into the hyper masculine mold of what is expected of a hetronormative society, due to being a scrawny short guy, who relies on other for help, this is shown through how his masculinity is constantly diminished throughout the narrative with the repetition of referring the the amazons as an all women team, making a joke out of referring to Cody as not a man.

Though as a partial ramification of the show being created within the 2010s the narrative is communicated from a cisgendered and hetrosexual lense, this is due to the way the show does not explore nuisances of the of any type of non cis-het gender experiences, which I’m not saying to criticize the show for, but rather think it would be that a natural progression of the themes would be to in a follow up season to potentially explore how this conflict may intersect with queer identities. As within the season there are many small quips and moments that briefly touch on characters internalized homophobia, like Tyler’s iconic line of “I like girls,” in episode 1, being a joke out Tyler disguising his attraction towards Alejandro (Because that’s not what someone who is only attracted to girls just after seeing a hot guy). Furthermore, there is also Alejandro’s comment asking Cody to “get off, before anyone sees,” while Cody hugs him, potentially implying Alejandro is actually rather insecure in his sexuality and masculinity, despite the show and other characters treating him as the pinnacle of what a hetronormative’s society’s idea of masculinity is.

For this I propose that a natural progression from this within the “All stars,” season would of been to unpack that internalized homophobia and fragile masculinity, potentially through the use of a character like Brick who is a lot more open and comfortable about defying hetronormative gender standard, as seen with this comment during Cameron’s finale being excited about being about to go to fashion school, and stating “Yeah, that’s right,” depicting him as being comfortable in enjoying hobbies that are typically associated with femininity, showing him as comfortable in his masculinity. Through using him as a foil to Alejandro, through contrasting their security about masculinity, potentially through having them on the same team and pitting them against each other in terms of fighting each in challenges until they are able to properly talk by themself and gradually learn to communicate properly and Brick helps Alejandro rethink his why he continuous pushes himself to be hyper masculine, and potentially causing him to lay off his behavior that constantly reinforces these hetronormative gender roles, and potentially even explore labels outside of just hetrosexuality, such as pan and bisexuality, as he is canonically attracted to multiple gender, due to va confirmation. (Which while not conformed by a director, the characters are created as a collaboration between the team working on the show so I would consider Voice actors as confirmation)

Furthermore the character of Brick, is a potential allusion to the 1950s play by Tenesse Willaims “Cat on a hot tin roof”’s Brick, who’s a gay man who struggles with his internalized homophobia. Furthermore, Brick in the play depicted as the idealized masculine figure for the conservative society

Due to the change in time period since the initial release of the season with queer people gaining rights throughout the 20th century, with discussing a potential all stars season, from a contemporary perspective, comparatively from while World Tour season was written, the potential subject matter and themes that networks may allow have changed significantly. So a potential continuing with written within contemporary times may be able to use the real world’s progression of queer rights being implemented within the narrative, through the acknowledgement of change of perspective surrounding queer people.

Elaboration of Brick’s connection to Cat on a hot tin roof

The character of Brick within ‘Total drama: revenge of the island,” i a potential allusion to Tenesse Willaim 1950s play, ‘Cat on a hot tin roof,’ as the character is a reference to the deuteragonist of the\ name within the play: Brick. The play stands as a critique of the 1950s conservative society’s perpetuation of the American dream and how this simultaneously perpetuates dishonesty and mendacity, especially in the reflection of the impact this has on gender roles. While Brick in total drama appears to be disattached from the ideas found within ‘Cat on a hot tin roof’, the writer does adapt some of the aspects in the critique of gender roles in the patriarchal society. Since total drama’s universe in a cartoonish reflection of our real world, the show does depict the subtle mentalities that perpetuate the hetronormative gender roles found within the play and the show partially explores the way that gender roles and while minimizing discusion about compulsory hetrosexuality about how this affect the character of Brick. Brick, just like the Brick from ‘Cat on a hot tin roof,’ is representative of the idealized version of the hypermasculine man, while total drama does take this in a more comedic route, which is used within “cat on a hot tin roof,’ through the subject matter the play discusses about Brick being gay and struggling with internalized homophobia within the 1940s Southern American society is used to critique the conservative society’s assumptions about masculinity and sexuality. In total drama the writers use these intertextual parallels to discuss gender roles and the concept of masculinity in a patriarchal society impacting people’s presentation with implications of queerness through stereotypes relating to the hobbies

Elaboration on the Hypermasculinity and fragile masculinity

Through the narrative of total drama use of Alejandro and Cody as foils in terms of the concept of hypermaculintiy presented int he show, wth Alejandro representing the hypermasculine archetype that fufills societal expectations of what masculinity is and is worshipped by society for this, juxaposes with the presentation of Cody due to being portrayed as fraile, does not live up to societal expectations surround masciulinity, causing his worth in society’s view to be tarnished

The narrative uses Alejandro and Cody as foils concerning the ideas of hypermasculinity and how society responds to people depending on how well people conform to gendered expectations presented within the show. Alejandro is portrayed as the peak of hypermasculinity and at the beginning of the show is praised and viewed highly upon due to conforming to the masculine archetype, enforced by the patriarchal society. The screenwriters juxtaposed this through how Cody, not conforming to hyper masculine archetypes, continually is diminished in worth by their society, as he is continuously forgotten as part of the team as with the amazons being referred to as “A team with no men”. The narrative comments on this juxtaposition and through the conclusion of the show with Cody receiving a happy ending and through helping Heather, subsequently defeats Alejandro, the narrative concludes that hyper conformity to toxic gender expectations is ultimately destructive, by showing the way Alejandro’s character arc ends in a tragedy.

[velvetvexations]

One thing left out of the socialisation discourse is that people tend to have hobbies similar to their friends/close circles. It's literally no weirder than a boy with older sisters being likelier to have a "girly" hobby. If you hang out with a bunch of nerds your hobbies are gonna be those of a bunch of nerds, and this describes a lot of nerdy trans women and nerdy cis women just as much. (Nerd masculinity itself is kind of an interesting concept, b/c it's where the old debates about warrior vs scholar masculinity live on, and is racialised on multiple axes, but that's a whole different conversation.) This is just conjecture, but until coming out, a trans woman might have an easier time avoiding the stereotype threat of "being a girl into video games" that ends up chasing nerdy women out of those hobbies through having their interests constantly policed and being shit tested by their own communities until they give up trying to find community. I assume this hypothetical trans woman would instead experience it as a pressure to stay closeted and then having it leveraged against her post-transition as a way to further police her gender expression. (It's also funny how this has flipped -- people used to roll their eyes at trans people having typically feminine or typically masculine hobbies like oh, of course you'd be a gender faker tranny, you were never good at being a man/woman so you just switched teams! I would say I like the acknowledgement that trans people can be gender nonconforming, but that's not what this is, it's just gender essentialism of the "guys are cool and rebellious, girls are twee and square" kind, dressed up in trans-affirming language) Tbh trans girls into games and programming makes me so happy because they make it easier for *all* women to be into those things.

Personally I'd love it if I helped cis girls see themselves in typically male spaces! Regardless of *why* my tastes generally run stereotypically masculine, it's a good reminder that gender doesn't necessarily dictate interests and I'm happy to encourage other girls to like what they want rather than what they're told to. It even goes for other trans women, for whom the pressure exists to maintain a perfect image of femininity at all times. I'm a butch trans girl who likes action and kink and shit like that, and that can be anyone, regardless of the sex you were assigned at birth.

[floralovebot]

helia is obv meant to be androgynous and bishounen but I get why people would think he was designed to be a woman initially because his name is a woman's name actually. helia is a girls name. also, compared to avalon or other long haired characters, he's also somewhat more different.

I don't think it's too far fetched. some language groups like greek fans could have other pov. in latin american spanish his name was changed to helio for this very reason.

i know his name is feminine. that still means nothing tbh

sky is a popular girl's name in the west. does that mean he's automatically a girl? like no of course not. no one is arguing that sky is a woman just because of his name. griffin is a masculine latin name. don't see anyone questioning her. if his name is the Only proof people have that helia was meant to be a girl, that's weak when other characters also have feminine/masculine names that don't align with their canon gender.

also, you need to ask yourself, what is different about helia? like actually answer that question. what exactly makes helia different from characters like palladium, valtor, or avalon. it's not his body - helia has the same muscular body the other specialists have and he's one of the few male characters we see shirtless on screen. it can't be pacifism - he's not a pacifist and pacifism is not a feminine trait. it can't be art or poetry - neither of those things are feminine traits/hobbies. it can't be his fashion - he's just wearing a shirt and jeans. if anything his wardrobe would be considered more masculine compared to the crop tops the other specialists are wearing (even for the time). it can't be his personality - nabu is also wiser and gentler, timmy is also a simp, brandon is also caring.

so what exactly makes helia different from other long haired male characters?

nothing. that's your answer.

the only thing that makes helia So different is that other long haired male characters are often coded as white Or specifically have darker skin, so fans don't feel the need to question their masculinity (which is a Whole other discussion). helia is not coded as white. even fans who don't consciously realize it are still picking up on that coding. these white fans then feel comfortable questioning his masculinity because they've done that to men of color for decades. it's not just asian men either. white people love to question the masculinity of all men of color, regardless of race or skin color. that's how they demean them. how they separate them from white men. they uphold certain racial and gender stereotypes and then demean any man who "doesn't fit that". which in their eyes, is all men of color.

it's like this: man of color doesn't adhere to western/white/european cultural standards > white people realize, don't like, insult them, and try to make them feel like they need to adhere > white men prioritize the patriarchy and feel the need to glorify it > in order to insult men of color, they specifically call out and question their masculinity > white people around the world think this is genuinely innocent because it focuses on gender instead of race > white racists get away with it

listen, i know at first this seems like a really harmless and maybe even amusing topic. "oh helia is so pretty people think he's a girl ahahah". and for some fans it is genuinely harmless. they just think he's too pretty to be a man. and then they realize, laugh it off, and don't question it again.

unfortunately, that's not the case for a lot of other fans. it's not innocent. it's not harmless. it's white people picking up on racial coding and questioning his identity because of it. you guys don't do this to other characters. you don't do it to sky, who also has a "feminine" name. you don't do it to palladium, who is slimmer and has a gentler, nicer personality. you don't do it to saladin. or nabu. or ogron. or gantlos. or anagan. or tritannus. or nereus. or king neptune. or king teredor.

all of those names are male characters with long hair.

i know it's nice to assume that this is innocent and genuine. but unfortunately, that's not the case. this is an example of something that isn't innocent for a majority of adult, white fans. even if they're not doing it On Purpose. subconscious bias is called that for a reason.

[luvinmads]

Hannibal Lecter's femininity analysis

Before starting I want to make clear some points:

This essay/analysis is viewed from a sociological perspective, based on gender stereotypes and gender expectations in the context of 2013.

I am talking about the Hannibal we know in the series Hannibal from NBC.

I will not talk about womanhood as something immovable because I don't think there's a way to be more or less woman but I do think there are traits that are expected from women.

I will not include headcanons in this essay.

With that clear we can start.

Introduction

After I rewatched Hannibal for what felt like the tenth time I decided to watch some video analysis on YouTube, most of them talked about the clear queer "subtext" on Hannibal's and Will's relationship (I wouldn't say is a subtext at all, is very much vocalized in the serie). After I watched some of them I felt like something was missing, but what?

After I started to spiraling over it I knew, all those people analyzed the relationship between the characters but not the characters themselves, specifically not Hannibal (my favorite character), and I find it weird because Hannibal is a interesting character for a million things, but to me, the most interesting part of the character is the way he portraits femininity.

Hannibal has a lot of feminine traits.

Hannibal always talks gently, not even once louder his voice, he doesn't need it, he knows he will be heard by the ones who want to hear him, and the ones who don't aren't important.

He doesn't vocalize his annoyance, when something bothers him you notice it by a minuscule move in his eyes. He keeps himself polite over anything else, even with Mason Verger. He never seems to lose his temper, always in control of his actions, even when he is hurting others.

Hannibal is a caretaker over a protector, he is always finding a way to take care of people around him, mostly feeding them (human flesh, I know), but he also takes care of their wounds, he cleans them, he comforts them.

Hannibal also has some mannerisms which are pretty feminine, like the way he crosses his legs any time he sits (I want to point out that this is something Mads Mikkelsen gives to the character, if you watch any interview of him you will notice he always crosses his legs), or the ways he touches others, always delicately.

His hobbies too can be seen as feminine, his love for art, music, cooking and reading. Even though these aren't strictly feminine, it is indeed more likely to be seen as something a woman would like.

His fashion sense and his neatness too, he takes care of his aspect at the point he has a plastic suit he wears over his tailored ones at the moment of kill.

His love language is acts of service over anything else.

Hannibal's jealousy over any women Will has a relationship with is something I really wanted to point out, he lets Will make these connections but he always finds a way to take them from him, with his children too, because Will didn't accept the one he gave him.

All this traits are something that can be very striking in a man, but if Hannibal were a woman it would be something we expect, something we can see in Bedelia for example, in her all this traits don't seem to be extraordinary, but they made Hannibal to stand out over other men in the series and his social circle. Mostly if we have in mind that he was born in the 1940s 50s (couldn't find out his real age).

Conclusion

Maybe all of this is just an overanalyze from me, maybe it wasn't even thought to be like this. But anyway, I find Hannibal really resonates with the female audience (from what I see in different social media) more than the male audience because of these traits he has, and I very much like that.

I am sorry if this isn't what you expected though, I don't know if I did well, it has been years since I wrote something like this :((

What do you think about this topic? Is there something else you want to point out? Please tell me if you like. I would love to read others' perspectives.

tags: @trannigraham

[solarwynd]

Some pjms are immature and let their own desires and assumptions overtake. A lot of them need to remember jimin is a grown man and not their friend. They create ideas of him based on their own interpretations and run with it. It starts with his career. Jimin is not a clueless person. Yes he can get screwed over and he has by his label during his solo era but he's not a child that has no idea what choices to make and he's not miserable. Some solos love playing managers or think they know better than him. Even the art cover for closer than this, which is usual hybe work they were ranting about it but how about letting jimin decide what he wants to do? Idk but I feel like out of all pjms nitpick so much while other solos just eat everything up. Of course we aren't a cult and we don't have to like everything but let's have boundaries and respect him. Also, people need to know the difference between art interpretation and a real person. Saying Jimin's art is queer coded or even interpreting things in that way to is one thing but it's another to make statements on his life using that. We don't know him and it's unfair to speak on someone's private life without their consent. I say this as a queer person. However one express themselves isn't a sign to state things for them. And no I'm not saying he's straight and I'm aware of the bisexual coding. But that still isn't enough for me to speak on the life of a man I don't know. And using the he can't come out argument for me also doesn't work because not everyone even wants to come out or even tries to. As a queer person myself maybe my expression shows in ways I'm queer because it happens for some and it doesn't for others so once again not denying anything but I'm not asking people to speak on it without my consent just because of the way I express myself. That's the thing consent is a big thing with things like this. I know people are curious and I'm not saying this to come at harmless queer fans. But it's not all of us and too many are overstepping and treating him like a fictional character. I'll say it's especially white queer fans and it reeks of racism and western centric ideas targeting East-asian men. And the confirmation bias is a big thing. If you look for something you will find it. Like jimin himself said in his doc filter wasn't about himself personally and just a concept while some were asserting it is to make statements about him personally. I wouldn't care if it wasn't becoming risky for him. Some of the things people were saying on Jimin's behalf regarding his sexuality and private life he never disclosed to us ahead of his enlistment were disappointing to see because it's all projection and some move like they want it to have negative repercussions for him in real life just to validate their ideas. Let me not get into the fetishizing and overly sexual lens with which all of his interactions with men are seen it's like they can't see jimin in a normal lens or let him have male friends or interactions without legit sexually harassing him over it. And I single out pjms because that's his solo fandom and I expect them to be better but this is heavily on armys/shippers too. I hope everyone takes a step back and stop being so invested in Jimin's life while he's enlisted. Because stanning should be a hobby. It's not trying to live through someone else's life. I forgot to add: there's so much biphobia it's awful to see. Because it's really both queer/gay and straight people never acknowledging bi people. It's not lost on me how people react at the idea of jimin being with a woman or even reinforcing mlm stereotypes on him based on his appearance. All because he's a pretty man. Anyways this ended up being too long but I hope for a fandom cleaning in these 18 months and for everyone to get in touch with reality. For everyone's sake and for Jimin's especially. He deserves better and respectful fans and I know he has to talent and potential to have a long and thriving career as a soloist-the best out of korea - when he comes back. I hope fans can support him the right way.

.💯