Not everything is for us is a concept that is counterintuitive to the main character syndrome baked into men (boys) at a young age. Huge problem in our society. Drives me insane and I wish I knew a way to solve it but holistic systemic changes will need to be made over generations to combat this
I like your posts every time I see them on the TL because you are spot on about everything and share similar opinions & values to me, a man. But I only rarely comment because, as is the whole point of most of your threads, my voice isn't needed here. Best to just support & boost yours and others.
Even in reading this I realize this wasn't necessary at all, I just needed to vent about the "not everything is for us bit" because I'm just so tired of it. Can't even imagine what it's like from a woman's perspective
I appreciate men supporting feminist spaces & y'all absolutely have insights & perspectives I don't have. What annoys me is when men who are clearly hostile to feminism & women in general storm in to assert their authority, which is as you point out, affirming their main character delusions.
I can't speak for everyone else but growing up strict Italian Catholic, the boys were treated like gold. We were coddled, got everything we wanted and nothing was expected of us. Completely the opposite for the girls in the family. I have personal reasons for running away from that upbringing but
I can clearly see how/why men with similar backgrounds would have this problem as adults. Individual self awareness & betterment is nice, but there needs to be some greater, more impactful change societally if we want to stamp this out.
I think the greatest "equalizer" is representation. It teaches kids empathy, to see someone else in the role of main character & themselves in support roles. The overwhelming majority of main characters in stories I was exposed to were white cishet guys. I also think diverse genres are important.
That's definitely huge, and clearly impactful. I don't know that there's a silver bullet here, probably going to take several major changes, but representation is one of them. Getting away from religion which is inherently patriarchal is another.
True, we need major reforms everywhere. It's just one I think about often for how easy it is to implement & how effective it is, similar to sheltered conservative kids going off to college & meeting people who aren't like them. Exposure/representation is natural & humanizing.
Very true. Well hearing from others that aren't in my shoes how important representation is to them all I can do is make sure I support that where I can. I'm a hiring manager in a white male dominated industry. If this is my small role to play, I'm happy to play it.
I see this a lot with white people too. I follow many pages on FB that are by & for Black people. Some topics are neutral & open for anyone but some are clearly about a particular experience that I do not have. Some even explicitly say their audience restrictions & white people will still chime in.
Some think we are extremely "privileged" to exist alongside them for some reason.