THREAD: When loved ones or friends are feeling distress, it can be very difficult for us to experience. We may feel unable to hang in with them, especially when we're stretched thin during difficult times. ⚓ anchor.fm/relational-pla… /1
We may try and quickly name and fix others' distress in order to manage our own anxiety at witnessing it. We may simply turn away or shut down. /2
How we can learn to better care for loved ones, friends, or co-workers who are feeling distress? Dr. Saliha Bava and Mark Greene, authors of The Relational Book for Parenting explore our relational capacities for for supporting our loved ones during crisis. /3
The latest installment of the Relational Play Podcast shares how to hold space for the distress of others. It's a powerful capacity that can reduce our own anxiety and create deeper more meaningful connections. Links to all major podcasting platforms. anchor.fm/relational-pla… /4
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The reason men in the manosphere are so angry at women? Because empowerment for women requires accountability from men. For men, being held accountable, and moreso, *holding ourselves accountable* in relationships where women have equal power requires self-reflection. /1
For men raised in our bullying dominance-based culture of masculinity, self reflection is forbidden, punished. Who we authentically are doesn’t matter in Man Box culture, We are trained instead to model our identity on a narrow set of rules for how to be a man. /2
“Don’t show your emotions. Be tough. Have control of women and girls. Be heterosexual. Never talk about anything deep. Be a breadwinner not a caregiver. Have lots of sex.” All these rules require we show dominance over those around us, including over the women in our lives. /3
“Protect women from other women” Bro, this is absolutely comical.
Men create the predatory capitalism that starves women, the culture of violence that assaults women, the systems of power that exclude women, and the tedious bullying caricatures of manhood that bore women.
The sad reality is that our Man Box culture of masculinity provides protection to no one. Bullying hyper-competitive dominance-based masculinity leaves boys and men deeply disconnected and isolated resulting in health impacts equal to smoking. We literally die earlier.
Men’s protection fantasies born out of growing up bullied and policed by other boys and men leave us unable to imagine any other system but rigid hierarchy. One in which we’re taught women are less, trained to see empathy, connection, community and care giving as feminine, weak.
@shannonrwatts In every election since Roe was overturned, Republicans have lost. Traditionally red states Kansas and Ohio voted to protect abortion rights by wide margins. Republicans performed very badly in the 2022 midterms. We can win if we vote! Register here. Vote.org
‘Too Many Women Are Going to College!’-There’s a narrative out there that more women are going to college than men because of educational bias, unfair advantages, and so on. It’s based on a male victimhood narrative, cuz that’s how male supremacy works. /1medium.com/equality-inclu…
These narratives always have a grain of truth. Yes, boys are struggling in many educational contexts. Yes, a lot of programs have been implemented to encourage women in STEM and other areas. Fine. We get that. We need to address what’s going on for boys. Thanks for that grain. /2
But why do women gravitate towards education? First and foremost, women and non-gender binary people pursue education because there is great joy for all humans in exploring the issues and ideas we’re interested in. /3
THREAD: has been posting about "femme phobia", men's fear of the feminine. Really important framing in that term. /1MamaMuse.nyc
I explore the harmful masculine cultural influences by which universal human capacities for connection, caregiving, empathy, are falsely gendered by our dominance-based culture of masculinity as female, and then bullied and shamed out of boys. /2
When boys express too many emotions or need too much connection we say to them, “What are you, a sissy? What are you, gay? What are you, a girl?” /3
I have spent years in the trenches of social media, battling all manner of MRA, inches, extremists. It is an art form to respond in ways that are effective. I'm here to tell you that @barbiethemovie is the most powerful act of gender aikido that I have EVER seen on film. /1
The @barbiethemovie movie flips gender privilege over and over as a driver for men, (women and non binary folks') self reflection. -->Male viewers feeling like men are second class citizens in Barbieland? Felt it myself "Gee imagine life being like that every day... Oh, wait." /2
@barbiethemovie The central tenant of the film, that once we name the insane contradictions inherent in patriarchal "never good enough" roles for women... once the words are spoken clearly, women snap out of the trance of patriarchy. And I firmly believe many men will too. /3