this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2025
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Lesbian here, so maybe not the target audience for this. However this kind of meme and discourse makes me somewhat uncomfortable. Like, really? Pedro Pascal is -the only nice guy- in the world, every other guy is trash? Too often I hear women speak about men as if they're inherently bad people, rather than victims of the patriarchy just like them. It reeks of "that's just the way men are" and "boys will be boys", except now it's being used to shame and admonish. Shame isn't going to change mindsets, it's only going to make people defensive. It's not as if men are genetically assholes, but these kinds of memes sure make it sound like they are.
It bothers me because I have a son who will grow up to become a man (at least that's how it's looking right now). I worry about what he internalises when he hears that people expect he'll grow up to be a sexist asshole, just because he was born a boy. I have to defend against that just like I defend my daughter when sexism is directed at her, because frankly that's exactly what it is. If I were told from a young age that the default expectation is I'll grow up to be trash just because I have a penis, why bother to do better? I'd probably also listen to the Tates and Petersons who make me feel good about myself instead.
I understand why women are angry and frustrated, they have every right to be. I've also been on the receiving end of sexist and frankly traumatic shit because I was born a girl. I just don't feel like it'll get any better by creating more division, more "us vs them".
You may think no one is saying "all men", but I promise you I've seen this very discourse online and irl. My question to you is, what do you hope to achieve with these memes? To voice your anger, or change people's minds? I'm not defending those who perpetuate the patriarchy, but let's not shoot ourselves in the foot by alienating men who would otherwise be on our side if they didn't feel like they had to face an angry mob. Please, let's not use the same weapons used against us for millennia - it's not working and frankly I am concerned it is starting to actually backfire (see: young men throwing themselves into the arms of the far right). We are literally playing into the hands of those who want to divide us.
It's clear you're not going to change your mind on this, so I'm tapping out. My last appeal to you is, if your end goal is for women and men to be free of the patriarchy, you should focus on actions and messaging that work to change people's minds, and less on trying to be "right".