The more I hear people talk about it who aren’t cis-het men, the more I hear criticism about the concept. But so far, I’ve only heard people say that it’s stupid, that it’s not a thing, that it’s men’s own fault etc. But I’ve yet to understand where that criticism comes from. I don’t want to start a discussion on whether or not it’s real or not. I just want to understand where the critics are coming from.
It’s difficult to discuss this issue, because loneliness is so personal. This all is.
I’m glad you asked the question and are trying to genuinely understand where critics are coming from. All of this (like, society) is a mess and we’ve all been hurt and it makes doing better a struggle because, how do you see anything past the pain from your own wounds?
When I was very young, my father would hit me for crying, so when I was a little older, hearing that little boys weren’t supposed to cry just made me go “me neither.” But (without justifying my father) understanding that he did it because society and his own parents fucked him up on this issue, and his parents were fucked up by their parents, makes it possible to envision a way things could be different.
Not everyone gets past that hurt, though. Like a young man abused by his mother dismissing the idea of misogyny. The statistics are just statistics. The memories of that pain are visceral and real.