Speaker 1
So that's one thing we have to really just automatically debunk with this conversation. I don't like when people use that because I personally don't believe that there is some consistent version of real quote unquote masculinity, mainly because they're all the research I've done from the cycle analytical side of things to the sociological side of things. There is no consistency cross culturally. Now, I have talked about this in depth in the foundations of masculinity. And this is something that we really have to understand. If we continue to have verbiage like this, we're being subjective ignorant dumbasses. And you're just showing how uneducated you are when you say a statement like that, like, Oh, this isn't real masculine motherfucker. You don't know what real masculinity is because you have a subjective version of masculinity that you're just trying to force on other people. There isn't a consistent theme of this. So just remember that if that's a statement you've said before you've heard before, it's time to call that bullshit out, because it doesn't serve us moving forward, evolving as men, it doesn't serve us moving forward, just impacting the next generation and what they're going to experience and how they're going to deal with their own controversy in how they present themselves to the world and how the world views them as society evolves, right? We're dealing with this right now, but you're not helping the conversation. You're not helping the situation when you're saying, Oh, this person saying this, and that's not a real man or that's not real masculinity, bro, you don't know what real masculinity is. It's the black kettle pot, whatever that statement is, I forget. But at the end of the day, that is where this comes from. And when we, you know, I see this comment coming on some of the books out there that, you know, men have written. Now, whether or not I support those books is irrelevant. I just don't like very subjective terms classified with somebody else's work. When they're not, I don't think particularly trying to paint masculinity in a corner and say here's the defining features. And then somebody's challenging that that's not what the content typically is what the content is is typically an opinionated version of what they believe masculinity to be or what they see around their own social circles or how they grew up. And then they write about that. And then somebody comes in and says, this isn't real masculinity. Now, the question I have to ask though is when somebody gets very defensive about this, and this is probably the bigger piece for me on top of it, is that when somebody's very defensive about what real masculinity is, I just from the work I've done on myself, I know that if that person asks them a question on why they had to make that comment, the prevailing theme and mindset behind it is probably going to be because they felt challenged in some way. They felt like they did not possess a certain feature in which this person was speaking about. And therefore, they felt inferior to that comment or to this person's opinion. And in that, that becomes a challenge because at the end of the day, that is something that they need to look at internally as to where that violated their version of masculinity, maybe a piece they've never developed in their life. So they feel like they're being attacked, they've painted a picture as if they're being attacked, and ultimately playing the victim in that conversation. That's important to note, because when you are making those assumptions and you're going on the attack, you're defending a position within yourself, that one, that person knows nothing about. And number two, you're defending a position within yourself that is insecure. It's one that is challenged because it doesn't meet whatever that mark is. And maybe you have respect for that person, and that's why you're challenging it.