#tw: toxic masculinity

[strykingback]

"Women and children should kneel to men. That's all that they should be doing and servitude to the strong men."

[tamtam-go92]

Jonah: Yo dude, I hope we didn’t distract you too much. Must have been pretty loud out here, I mean the walls are like paper. But damn, your sister knows how to rock a guy’s world. Wish she would have let me taste those fruits of hers before but now she finally felt “ready”. Chicks, you know? No you probably don’t... Edwin: Urg, please, just spare me more details...

[ciderjacks]

Rule #2: The locksmith will not be required to participate in battle

(read this post and this post for more context lol)

[jazzstarrlight]

Razz meets Kaage

Finally after so many tooth pain breaks & junk, I finished this little comic! It's been in the works for a while.

Kaage's trips to the colony to make friends have never been successful as he gets nervous of big & loud crowds.

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

Every single argument of why men are superior in any way is always bullshit.

I love how this started with "hey I work crime and I've seen three sneaker related murders so yes man can and will be that fucking petty" and ended with Aaron Burr shooting Alexander Hamilton.

Like they call it honor, but call it what it is: petty drama.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

am i dreaming

To all Ruggie stans, I’m so sorry 🤡 You did not deserve this…

***Warning: suggestive image referenced and toxic person mentioned below the cut!***

NOT INFAMOUS ASSHOLE AND MISOGYNIST ANDREW TATE’S TWITTER ACCOUNT POSTING A STOLEN RUGGIE YUME FAN ART AS A MEME 😭 AND NOW RUGGIE IS TRENDING BECAUSE OF THIS

By the way, this is the original post and the artist of the work he stole; please consider checking them out!! (The artist has responded to the stolen artwork with a quote retweet and a comment of their own.)

ADDENDUM: The artwork was stolen and posted on the artist’s birthday too??? They’re going through something this shitty on their special day… 😭 Let’s support them through this stressful time and beyond!!

Is this really the time line I’m living in?????

The post is even funnier (and stupider) because Ruggie, being a hyena beastman from the Sunset Savanna, is a species with dominant females… and Ruggie willingly does a bunch of housework (something Tate looks down on as “a woman’s job”)… and he’s from a country where women are strong and respected… AND THIS IS ALL HAPPENING RIGHT BEFORE THE RERUN OF VARGAS CAMP FOR EN?????? Bro, this was NOT the publicity Ruggie needed 😭

[imallyoursssss]

put a pretty collar around my neck

tie my hands and legs

keep me on a leash

let me be your cute little puppy

[strykingback]

"So, Shinba... i heard you fought Cinderfall in Haven Academy with two other women....you were able to defeat Cinder Fall on your own and yet those two women were holding you back...."

"I am more than grateful for both Raven's and Yang's assistance with that fight. If it were not for them being there I would have been easily defeated."

"Then that means you are weak. Throw away those lofty ideals those who were once weak men placed in your head. One day that Xiao Long girl will die and you will be to blame for it."

"Would you like to see how much I've grown since that day. You fool."

[terrence-silver]

How would Terry in all eras teach his sons to respect their mother (beloved)

Look, whenever in doubt, I tend to go for Terry Silver approaching things through the lenses of a (toxic?) military structure, or in this case;

Mother (beloved) is the flag in the middle of the base camp. If someone captures it, disrespects it, steals it, tramples upon it or even touches it --- looks at it for too long --- means the collective has lost and losing is unacceptable through Terry Silver's viewpoint of things. If your flag is captured, the battle is over. And is that acceptable? No. I don't think it is. The group moral is gone, squashed, destroyed and that fact demands strict and immediate retaliation. Revenge. Such are the rules of life and warfare and such are the rules his figurative sons defend what's theirs with --- in this case, their mom. Each other. Their family. Their dojo. Their ambitions. Their schemes. You name it! Beloved's the flag fluttering on a pole, metaphorically speaking, in the middle of basecamp and if you allow someone to take what's yours from your own territory and from underneath your own nose without putting up a fight, you'll be losing every day of your life, always and forever, because how's anyone ever going to esteem or fear you for losing? How are you going to be able to esteem yourself? So, guess what? Best never lose. And if you do, you better go out there and vanquish, cheat, lie, deceive, do whatever it takes to defend your flag and fix things back to the way they're supposed to be by any means necessary. No mercy. In fact, I can envision Terry holding a speech somewhat like this to his sons, word for word. You can even very much read this tirade in his voice.

So, it's safe to say he'd not only teach them to respect their mother.

He'd teach them to kill for their mother.

[the-kuzusouda-hideyhole]

To me, a fundamental part of what makes Kuzusouda work as a relationship is acceptance of themselves and each other.

Both Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi seem to experience struggles with toxic masculinity, one way or another, with Fuyuhiko feeling shame over his short stature, baby face and love of sweets, and Kazuichi over-compensating for his social awkwardness (likely a result of autism!) by presenting himself to look more intimidating. These struggles would intensify if they were LGBT+.

While I personally headcanon Kazuichi as bisexual, I do think there's merit to the idea that he is gay and that his infatuation with Sonia is the result of comphet. He likely played up his crush on her for all it's worth in a misguided attempt to convince himself and his peers that he is straight – that he is "normal."

Fuyuhiko, meanwhile, would be so deep in denial over who he really is that he would lash out at anyone who's more confident in their identities, especially their queer and/or GNC identities. This is especially prone to occurring pre-character development, before he begins to have a more cordial relationship with his classmates.

Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi getting to know each other on a deeper level, and realising their shared struggles with toxic masculinity and internalised homophobia, would serve as an important step for them to overcome those issues and learn to love themselves for who they are. The process would be long and arduous, that's for sure, but it'd be worth it in the end.

I can just imagine the end of a fic or something where all this character development has taken place, where Kazuichi has returned to his natural appearance and Fuyuhiko has softened up a little more, and they're just happily snuggled up eating candy together. Actually, come to think of it, that sounds like a good idea for a piece of fanart...

[suffersinfandom]

Okay. At the risk of sounding really petty... I think that you can be critical of OFMD with little to no chance of being called a hater or a racist if you're not being a hater or racist. I would argue that calling the indigenous lead "a homicidal psycho" when he is not shown to be that isn't not racist or hateful.

Ed is not a psycho who tortures his whole crew for fun.

Big "Ed needed to be put down like a wild dog" energy.

No, that is not the message the show was sending.

Everything else was hate for David Jenkins and disdain for the "GBs" and their cult-like behavior.

Like, girl (gn). Friend. Have you considered that people are calling you a hater and racist because of the things you type? That maybe this is not something that everyone who is critical of OFMD faces? You go on and on about how the show and David Jenkins are abusive, racist, and ableist while grossly misinterpreting everything about Ed's character in season two in a way that feels kinda racist.

For the record, I have nothing against people who just don't like OFMD in a normal way or have actual, substantive, genuine criticisms to offer. Unfortunately, most of the criticism I've seen comes from people who have decided that it's "racist zionist slavetrader yaoi" or people who were obsessed with it up through S2E7, but then decided that the whole thing is morally reprehensible after the final episode dropped. There's nothing to be gained from entertaining people who hate the show without watching it or people who, like this individual from Twitter, demonize Ed in a way that canon absolutely doesn't support.

[shalom-iamcominghome]

So, I've been a bit open about my mental health on here since it affects how I experience and interact with judaism, but I'm wondering how you all balance it? I've found that antisemitism does not specifically cause the recent episode/s I have been having, but it makes them worse, and I find that it makes it even harder to engage with judaism, so I'm currently in a Sisyphean spiral. I guess for me, my brain has been so high-alert about this stuff that it completely shuts down, but not engaging with my jewish community is just as detrimental to my health as antisemitism is. Plus, I'm just angry at the thought that something like antisemitism would prevent me from being with my community.

[enypneion]

i keep thinking about ailun and his arc of unlearning everything his father had taught him because the abuse he went through had affected him to a point that he harbors both negative and positive emotions towards him, but there is also a lot to unlearn behavior wise. there is an internalized messages about weakness, shame and expectations that his father gave him. it taught him that affection or validation is only given conditionally or that love must be earned by enduring pain or mistreatment. these ingrained beliefs made it incredibly difficult to trust, to be vulnerable or even to feel deserving of kindness and respect in any of his relationships, both personal and political. there was also the challenge of detangling identity from what’s been taught. for ailun, a father’s role is pivotal in shaping his self - image and confidence, but in the context of his abuse, their relationship distorted self - understanding. he struggled to find his own identities, especially since he's been told (implicitly AND explicitly) that he's not enough and that he should be a certain way. this struggle was only intensified when unlearning as it required him to let go of the need for approval that has been deeply embedded since childhood. it's such a long process but !!!!

[goobtacular]

Be warned, longish mini essay about the Netflix Daredevil show from someone who hasn't finished season 1.

I think the similarities between Daredevil and Kingpin go hard. Both have very similar motivations and backstories. Ironically, Kingpin has a more traditionally good backstory. His harsh taskmaster was his father, and he rose to defend his mother, killing him in the process. But throughout the whole process, the torment of his father's rule, and dealing with the aftermath, he is in the company of his mother.

There is one thread throughout Wilson Fisk's life: he always has a companion. Not someone who can order him around, not always someone he can order, but always someone he is above in some way, and always someone who plays the role his mother did. Before he meets Vanessa, he has his assistant who chooses his meals, plans his itinerary, and is part of every difficult choice or conversation he must have.

Even Vanessa is, unfortunately, put into that mothering role, playing to the more traditional gender roles and even taking on the burden of the emotional turmoil his troubled past gives him. As long as he has his mother or a replacement, Wilson knows he's not a monster, and he can rationalize any sacrifice, usually on behalf of others. His decision to become a public figure is entirely out of his comfort zone, but also something he wouldn't have done if his assistant and Vanessa hadn't plotted to aid him in his turmoil. Functionally performing emotional labor on his behalf.

Daredevils, Mathew Murdock's, upbringing contrasts this. He had a loving, supportive father who had a violent career. Upon the death of his father to crime, he turns to another, harsher, violent father figure who abandons him when he gets attached. Every time someone fills a paternal role, they leave him. And there seem to have never been any takers for a maternal role. Instead, the influences on his life have always been highly masculine, sometimes soft, but always masculine.

In some respects, it seems as though Matt is a success story for toxic masculinity. He's a superhero and a lawyer, he's exceptionally romantically successful, he never lets anyone in, and he solves every problem as alone as he can with the strength of his body and his moral character. He suffers because of this, but even his downfalls still echo the toxic masculinity that's consumed his life.

But for all that, Matt and Wilson come at it from different angles, paternal and maternal, and they ultimately arrive at the same destination. They're both violent men trying to save Hell's kitchen through violent means. The only difference is the extremes they are willing to go to. And even then, Wilson is quite a bit older than Matt, and I'd be willing to believe a middle-aged Daredevil might kill.

Certainly, Kingpin's methodology is more classically villainous, but it is only Daredevil's superhuman abilities that allow him the moral high ground. They remove his ability to mistakenly target innocents, an advantage Wilson does not have.

It strikes me as interesting that the main difference between the two characters is what flavor of toxicity they were molded by: Wilson by a toxic level of support, by people egging him on when it might be time for introspection and pushing him forward when he turns inward and considers stopping. And Matt, by toxic masculinity, pushing him on even when he really should rest—not providing him the support he needed to heal from the trauma of his father's death or Stick's abandonment or even the emotional toll his vigilante career took. Forcing him to bottle everything up and 'stay strong' not to disappoint others, mostly Stick.

That's why I think, ultimately, neither should be doing what they're doing. Kingpin for, I think obvious reasons, he's doing just real bad stuff with vaguely good intentions, and Daredevil for less apparent reasons. He is doing good, and as Matt, I think his choices are solid, but as Daredevil, he's straight up using beating up people as a way to deal with his trauma. It's incredibly unhealthy and even if the violence doesn't take him out, he's still leaning on it to support him emotionally. I fear he can't stop, even if he wanted to. After all, if he did, he'd have to face his demons like the rest of us.

They're just two men running from their problems, and I guess I can't fault them for that. Wouldn't all of us if we could?

[poormeowmeowcollector]

I swear, men with a masculinity more fragile than a house of cards should be banned from watching Peaky Blinders.

Tommy Shelby was not a "sigma male" or whatever. He was (without erasing the fact that he did several questionable shit in the series) a victim of circumstances!

He was fucked since the day he was born, just like all Shelby siblings (honestly the only one who somehow escaped was Ada, and she was dragged back again). Tommy, from what we know in the series, could barely attend school due to his home situation, therefore he literally didn't have access to ways out via the academic route. The only "escape" he had before the series's events started was the army, and he literally ended up in WWI!

We see throughout the series that being a gang leader and the Shelby patriarch is literally destroying him. Do people think Tommy's thriving when he's constantly shown drinking, needing opium to sleep, at some point using laudanum to the point of Ada asking him to stop? Do we forget the literal suicide attempts?

Do we forget that at some point his family forced him to quit?

Even if we ignore how selfless he is when it comes to family (because a lot of his actions also have selfish reasons), he literally maintained his role because not having the distraction is more harmful to his mental wellbeing. Even after his break, he went on not because he's happy being in the Peaky Blinders, but because he's dependent to it. His trauma is just more harmful than that lifestyle, it's simply the lesser evil.

And even if, let's say at series one when the stakes were at the floor compared to the other series's. Lets assume Tommy woke up and decided to go off and do something that's actually fulfilling. Where would he, a man in an ethic minority in the 1920's, barely registered to the government, go? What other choice, apart from the army, would he have?

Hell, literally the end of the series is Tommy doing exactly that. His final act was just abandoning it all, pulling an enormous middle finger and burning his old life. It's clear throughout the series, being a Blinder kills Tommy, it's just less scary than his PTSD.

So, yeah, the people who idolise his actions as "sigma male" behaviour and as a proof that his patriarchal role is something to copy and admire literally watches half the show. Sorry, but your alpha leader manly man is suffering from being in that role, to the point of suicide.

[n1nthrule]

thinking about that exercise machine in narrator's apartment (especially from a genderbent au perspective) makes me sob. she's forcing herself to go through routine exercise to be appealing to Society and she can't even do it! fighting is symbolic of worshipping her own body and utilising it for her happiness and nobody elses!!!!