I was not really sure what to expect from this discussion and was not planning to talk very much and was not sure if I would have an opinion. Once I joined the zoom meeting there was only six of us and I thought oh no I am going to have to talk. But as we got going I realized I did have an opinion and was able to have a good conversation. We talked about our experiences and many of us talked about experiences with our boyfriends or male family members. This was an eye opening experience for me and I actually enjoyed talking about masculinity and got some clarity with some of the issues I had with some of my male family members.
Rose Scholars Spring 2021
Endless possibilities
I’m glad this was an eye opening experience for you. There are many toxic aspects of masculinity that I wish more people knew about, such as the lack of compliments. It is extremely rare for men to unironically compliment each other on features that do not radiate masculinity, so when a woman compliments us, we (or at least me personally) feel a lot better, so much so that we might remember that moment forever. For example, if someone compliments a shirt I’m wearing, every time I’m picking something to wear in the future, I might feel much more compelled to pick that exact same shirt for the rest of my life just because of that one compliment.