#sometimes i'm just overcome with hatred against males

[friendlymathematician]

today i learned that analysis of adult skeletons from viking age scandinavia shows that 7% of males experienced childhood malnutrition versus 37% of females. and also that out of known rune stones listing families, most list 4-6 sons and not a single known stone lists more than 2 daughters. can you imagine how the childhood mortality rate must have skewed if those were the malnutrition rates for the women who actually made it to adulthood?

[beevean]

addendum to the 'Hector is a misogynist' being a very weird read of his character because i don't really want to put that person on blast or derail the OP lol:

Hector being an out-and-out -ist of any flavour seems odd to me because he himself was shunned and hated by society for some perceived flaw he couldn't help - i think he'd be intelligent and sensitive enough to not want to perpetuate that same kind of mindless hatred, or he wouldn't have defected

you could argue being raised in a vampire's castle that is a hotbed of evil and godlessness might have put some funny ideas in his head, and, yes, the time period certainly doesn't help but if we're going with the idea that 'church bad' and is the sole cause of misogynistic thinking, then would't that same godless environment promote beliefs that's counter to any religious doctrine? isn't that cultish 'we're all equals here' part of the appeal that made Hector stay for so long?

plus, the way Hector displays having gentlemanly manners (apologizing and bowing to Julia before taking his leave) leads me to believe that he was expressly educated against that sort of thinking - maybe only because of his role as a servant, and possibly Lisa being the only woman he'd encounter up until meeting Rosaly, coupled with her role as Lady of the Castle, meaning Hector would have to act respectfully towards her at all times, so it sort of becomes his 'default' state when interacting with any women from that point on

the most misogynistic thing Hector's actually ever done is kill his own mother, but we both know that's because she was physically abusive towards him on whats implied to be a regular basis and not just because she's a woman lmao

like. i'm not trying to be 'my blorbo is more socially aware and morally cOrReCt compared to your blorbo' but this is just. not a facet of his character that exists in any way

Like. First of all, getting over your dead wife that quickly is certainly morally questionable, but it's not what I'd call toxic masculinity. Wikipedia gives this summary:

The concept of toxic masculinity is used in academic and media discussions to refer to those aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, homophobia, and violent domination. These traits are considered "toxic" due in part to their promotion of violence, including sexual assault and domestic violence. Socialization of boys sometimes also normalizes violence, such as in the saying "boys will be boys" about bullying and aggression.

The topic of male hegemony doesn't belong in the series at all. The absolute worst you can say is that Hector reacted to his pain with violent rage, which is a stereotypically masculine response and yes, could lead to harm. But:

unlike Dracula, who spread his misery through all of Europe and involved innocents, Hector only targeted Isaac, the primary culprit of his loss. Aside from yelling at some people, he never harms anyone who isn't directly involved in his quest.

it's stated in the game itself that that rage was exacerbated by Dracula's Curse, and when Hector realized what was going on, he was horrified, and said textually that "this is not me". It's not the same as a man killing his gf in a fit of passionate rage, because that rage wasn't even his! He was being corrupted by the Curse!

he doesn't even end up killing Isaac directly. Death uses Isaac as a vessel, which kills him, and Hector understands that he can't fully blame Isaac for his evil actions, because both of them were victim of the same Curse and manipulations. Is that toxic to you?

Hector displays unmanly signs of grief as well. He's suicidal, cries when overcome by emotion, and thinks he has to pay for the right to be loved. This is the complete opposite of toxic masculinity, that teaches men that they are entitled to women's love and sexual favors.

fucking Isaac displays more toxic masculinity than Hector. My man killed Hector's new lover out of jealousy. Sure, he also did it out of revenge and to lure him for his plan, but let's be real here: he acts like a dumped boyfriend lmao.

I wouldn't even say that Hector killing his mother was misogynistic. Aside from the fact that he also killed his father, that murder had nothing to do with gender. There is a difference between, for example, a male robber killing a female cashier during a robbing, and a man killing his ex-girlfriend because she broke up with him: only the latter is considered a femicide and an expression of misogyny.

Hector displays a chivalrous attitude towards Rosaly and Julia. He helps the former even when he didn't know how, and is almost impeccably polite towards the latter (he yells at her when he suspects she's Isaac's ally, but when she explains herself he's quick to apologize). If you want to see this as benevolent sexism, be my guest, but it is not, in any stretch of the word, toxic masculinity. It's just, well, politeness and respect.

And no, even assuming that he and Julia do end up together post game, that's not toxic masculinity either. Disrespectful towards Rosaly? Sadly yes. Disrespectful towards Julia if the main reason Hector grew attracted to her was her resemblance with Rosaly? Also sadly yes. But it is not toxic masculinity, it's not about male hegemony, it's not about normalizing male violence.

Anyway, going into headcanon territory: while Dracula isn't certainly jugging Respect Women Juice lmao, he's not an outright sexist (especially not pre-Lisa's death), so he might have taught Hector and Isaac to respect Lisa and by extention the women in the castle (except succubi, no one likes succubi lol). And yes, it could be precisely to fight back the Church-influenced sexism of the time. I can imagine Hector seeing a bit of Lisa into Rosaly too, which might have influenced him to be more respectful than he would have been at that point in time.

i also find the idea of dracula teaching his boys to not be homophobic with the exact same logic hilarious. i mean the logic flows :P