#masculinity tag

[ednyfedfychan]

“From the king’s own perspective, Catherine Howard’s casual promiscuity had rendered him a laughing stock and he emerged from this encounter irretrievably winded and worn. It had been clear, in fact, from Jane Seymour’s death onwards that time was ‘coming fast on’ for Henry, and the burgeoning population growth of the sixteenth century, which meant that by the later years of his reign at least half of his subjects were under the age of 18, only served to heighten, in its way, the king’s increasingly painful awareness of his own finite span. The court teemed, after all, with youngsters and the emphasis upon youth, vitality, tourneying, hunting, glorious warfare and, for that matter, vigorous impregnation continued unabated. It was enough to dampen the spirits of any sickly has-been. But now to compound his growing gloom, Henry had yet again felt the full force of the old adage that marriage is not so much a word as a sentence.”

— John Matusiak, Henry VIII: The Life and Rule of England's Nero

[inkskinned]

the thing about some men is that they want you to remember, at all times, that you are underneath them. that with one word or look or "joke", you will stay beneath them. that even "exceptions" to the rule are not true exceptions - the commonly cited statistic that one in eight men believe they could win against serena williams.

women's gymnastics is often not seen as real gymnastics. whatever the fuck non-euclidian horrors rhythmic gymnasts are capable of, it's often tamped down as being not a sport. some of the most dominant athletes in the world are women. nobody watches women's soccer. despite years of dancing and being built like a fucking brick, men always assume they're faster and stronger than i am. you wouldn't like what happens when they are incorrect. once while drunk at a guy's house i won a held-plank challenge by a solid minute. the party was over after that - he became exceedingly violent.

what i mean is that you can be perfect, and they still think you're ... lacking, somehow. i hope you understand i'm trying to express a neutral statement when i say: taylor swift was the possibly the most patriarchy-palatable, straight-down-the-line woman we could churn out. she is white, conventionally attractive, usually pretty mild in personality. say what you will about her (and you should, she's a billionaire, she can handle it), but a few things seem to be true about her: 1. she can write a damn catchy song, and 2. the eras tour truly was a massive commercial success and was also genuinely an impressive feat of human athleticism and performance.

i don't know if she deserves the title of "woman of the year," i'm not debating that in this post. what i am saying is that she was named Woman of The Year, and then an untalented man got onstage at the golden globes and made fun of her for attending her boyfriend's football games. what i am saying is that this woman altered local economies - and her dating life is still being made into a "harmless" punchline. the camera panned, greedy, over to her downing a full glass of champagne. congratulations taylor! you are woman of the year! but you are a woman. even her.

fuck, man. write better material.

a guy gets onstage at a college graduation and despite the fact like half the crowd is made up of women, he spends a significant proportion of it warning these people - who spent possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars on their education - that they were lied to. that the "real" meaning of femininity is motherhood. that they shouldn't rest on the laurels of that education-they-paid-for but instead throw it away to kneel at a man's heel. imagine that. sweating in your godawful polyester gown (that you also had to pay for!), fresh out of 4 years of pushing yourself ever-harder: and some guy you've never met - who knows nothing about you - he reminds you this "win" is a pyrrhic one at best. you really shouldn't consider yourself that extraordinary. you're still a woman, even after years of study.

god forbid you are not a pretty woman, but if you are pretty, you must be dumb. god forbid you are not ablebodied or white or cis or straight or good at swallowing. you must be beneath a man, or else they are not a man. the equation for masculinity seems to just be: that which is not a woman or womanly (god forbid). anything "feminine" is thereby anathema. to engage in "feminine" things such as therapy, getting a hug from a friend, or crying - it is giving up ones manhood. therefore women need to be put in their place to ensure that masculinity is protected.

this is something i have struggled to explain to terfs - they are not doing the work of feminism, but rather the patriarchy. by asserting that women and men must be (on some secret level) oppositional and in conflict, they also assume that being a woman is akin to being another species. but bigotry does not stem from observational truths or clarity - that is what makes it bigotry. there was nothing in my childhood that made me fundamentally different from my brother. we are treated differently nonetheless. to assert there is some biological drive that enforces my gender role is to assert that women have a gendered role. men do not see women as equal to them not because of biological reality - but instead because the core tenant of the patriarchy is that women aren't full, realized people.

we are told from a very young age to excuse misbehavior as a single man's choice - not all men. it is not all men, just that one guy. all women are gold-digging bitches who belong in the kitchen - but if a man is mean, bigoted, or violent to you, it's just that particular guy, and that means nothing about men-as-a-whole. it is only one guy who got mad when you gently rejected him. it is only one guy who warns her this trophy is heavy, are you sure you can hold it? it is only one guy who smashes her face into the cake. it is only one guy talking into a mic about hating our bodily autonomy.

i have just found that they often wait until the moment we actually seem to be upstaging them. you sit in a meeting where you're presenting your own findings and he says get me a coffee? or you run to the end of the marathon and are about to finish first and he pushes your kids out in front of you. you win the chess game and they make some comment akin to well, you're ugly away. we can be the billionaire and get the dream life and finally fucking do it and yet! still! they have this strange, visceral urge to say well actually, if you think you're so great -

it's not one just one guy. it's one in eight.

[trans-androgyne]

“Women and non-binary people” stop. Do you mean people with marginalized genders? Do you mean gender-oppressed people? Then say that. Stop refusing to recognize the very much gendered oppression of other trans people. There’s not some chasm of difference between how our oppressors treat a very masc non-binary person and a more binary trans man. I’m also non-binary and very much oppressed for my gender but because I’m transmasculine I could never feel comfortable in a space that marketed itself like that. Tell me what the real harm is of letting gender-oppressed mascs into spaces discussing gender oppression is. Because the consequence of not doing so is denying them space for their experiences just because of their gender identity. Do better.

[cuntnikida]

found this masc positivity post n wanted to show all my boy followers n friends so now i'm gonna tag some of my transmasc mutuals to make sure they do: @hoicacti @emo-oreo @a-literal-frog

[ridibulous]

Hey. Hey. You. Person with breasts who's considering mastectomy and feeling anxious that they'll regret it after. Consider the following:

- No longer having to accomodate your chest when wearing clothes

- Being able to publicly go topless (ex. for swimming)

- Don't have to worry about bras and other supports

- Back pain from a large chest? Who's that?

- Laying on your stomach just got easier

- Less worry about potential breast cancer, especially if you may be at risk (if you are, talk to a doctor about it, prophylactic mastectomy is awesome and reduces the chance of cancer way more than FTM top surgery)

- You could get rid of your nipples, if you wanted

- And you could just get them tattooed on... or have a blank slate for whatever art you wanted instead

- Being able to move around (running, going up/down stairs, etc) without feeling any jiggle

- And if you wanted the appearance of breasts? You can wear fake boobs as long as you want, and be able to take them on & off whenever you want. And they can be any size, too. It's a much safer option, as opposed to binding.

If you really want it, why are you hesitating? Be happier built in your own image, instead of the one other people want to paint on you.

[factual-fantasy]

I woke up with a second wind of sorts it seems. So I rushed to my PC and drew my boys! AAAA Its so good to finally see them in color 😭💞💞

Though unfortunately that second wind was more like a breeze. Its not even been 2 hours and I'm already falling back down pretty hard. I'm glad I was able to draw this fun doodle while I had the strength!.. But now it seems like its back to the couch for me.. 🙂💔

[nevarroes]

page one | page two

now roll over already😖

[autism-swagger]

I sincerely hope you all know that when I say "baby butch Jackie Taylor who died before he had a chance to realize/explore it" I'm not just pulling that out of my ass. Literally just look at the outfits she wears over the course of season 1.

Are they the most masculine things ever? No, of course not! But when you compare them to the outfits we see her wear before the crash, when they're still in Wiskayok?

It paints a very interesting picture.

[revoltinglesbians]

i'm writing a story on an incel for a creative writing class and i'm lurking r/truevirgin and it's so fascinating how these guys think and feed into each other. you are 18 you do not need to kill yourself because you've never had sex. it's gonna be ok!!!

[sad-leon]

(good future) Finding Home Pride edition <3

Trans Leo pride is something I see a lot, but personally, FH Leo wouldn't celebrate his gender. He grew up around Gali, who went through a lot of gender struggles, especially in his younger years, and with the brothers being so accepting, it's just another part of his life

But his lack of romantic attraction? That's something that stands out to him. He sees the brothers with their own attractions and crushes and such and realizes he stands out. He's different. But that's okay because he's still him and he's still valid

anyways~ it's pride month, which means i get to be even more annoying about aro pride ^-^

that final shot without text:

[krashlite]

"A stream through the valley to nourish these hills would lay all my troubles to sleep" A Field Song - Unfamiliar Things

Based off of CherriFire's designs!

[trans-androgyne]

People have insisted to me that masculinity is not punished in women/"women" because tomboys are accepted. This excerpt from Female Masculinity puts my thoughts on it into words really well:

Tomboyism may even be encouraged to the extent that it remains comfortably linked to a stable sense of a girl identity. Tomboyism is punished, however, when it appears to be the sign of extreme male identification (taking a boy's name or refusing girl clothing of any type) and when it threatens to extend beyond childhood and into adolescence. Teenage tomboyism presents a problem and tends to be subject to the most severe efforts to reorient. We could say that tomboyism is tolerated as long as the child remains prepubescent; as soon as puberty begins, however, the full force of gender conformity descends on the girl...for girls, adolescence is a lesson in restraint, punishment, and repression. It is in the context of female adolescence that the tomboy instincts of millions of girls are remodeled into compliant forms of femininity...as even a cursory survey of popular cinema confirms, the image of the tomboy can be tolerated only within a narrative of blossoming womanhood.

-- Jack Halberstam, Female Masculinity (1998)

Yes, it does look different from the way "boys" are punished for expressing femininity regardless of age or context. But tomboyish girls being accepted in some contexts does not mean we don't still get the gender non-conformity beat out of us when it can no longer be considered some girlish phase. And it certainly doesn't speak to how masculinity is treated in adult "women." All I'll say is I got called a dyke at age 11 and I still get called one now.

[jocks-n-cops]

[bizarreaizen]

"when the trans guy gets mad that i misgender him but he has double ds" so ?? he didn't choose what size his chest is gonna be and he either doesn't want top surgery or can't afford/get top surgery, just apologize and correctly gender him /srs

[ugly-anarchist]

Anyone who says that men/mascs aren't oppressed or hated for being men/mascs is wrong and kind of a shitty person

Anti-masculinity is a massive problem in the queer community!

Butch sapphics, trans men, masc enbies, transfems who don't pass or don't want to pass, intersex people, people who are just attracted to men are all demonized within queer spaces. And this stems from a hatred of men/masculinity and the idea that anyone who is masculine, physically, through presentation or gender, is the enemy.

Even people who allow masculinity into their lives are demonized. Do you know how many bi women are ostracized from sapphic spaces because they like men? People who are attracted to men are expected to bash their own sexuality! They're expected to go "ugh I hate that I like men"! Trans men are expected to hate the fact that they're men! Trans men are expected to go "ew I'm a gross man now I miss being a woman I wish I was cis"!

The anti-masculinity within queer spaces has gone so far that we've looped back around to homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. This is a problem! This is a problem that needs to be talked about! No one benefits from this shit! Women don't even benefit from it because if a woman decides she wants to present as masculine or be gnc in any way then she immediately gets shunned for being a gender traitor! This is just radfem shit!!!

And if you call me a fucking "transandrophobia truther" then you're a part of the problem!!!