The Fragility of Masculinity

Heya,

Don't you just find it kind of hilarious how so many straight boys absolutely KICK OFF about things? Well so did I, but then I actually found it kind of sad.

But it's not just the way they kick off about things, it's this constant need to prove themselves.

You're wearing shorts in the dead of winter? You're tweeting every single day about how you're gonna go to the gym and "smash it"? Your Instagram bio actually contains the weight of what you lift/rep/whatever? 

WE GET IT, YOU'RE STRAIGHT.

Don't even get me started on boys that say that girls are "so emotional" especially "when they're on their period", but then start throwing their goddamn Xbox controller out the window if they lose some shitty game.

Or when feminists decide to go to their university to talk about the inherent sexism in said shitty game, and they threaten to bomb the place, and send her death threats, because they're so defensive about the precious sexy pixels. (READ HERE)

Aw, what's that, some "slut" wouldn't send you nudes? Some slut... wouldn't... send you nudes? Sounds like a right slut!

It's like they can't handle rejection, and to make up for this obvious "attack" on their masculinity, they have to desperately lash out with all they have, because GRRR IM A MAN I CANT BE BELITTLED BY WOMEN.

Also, can we just take a minute to acknowledge how fucking stupid the phrase "no homo" is? Like, oh you touched your friends arm "no homo". "We should go on holiday together... no homo". "You're my best friend, no homo". Like OK, first, don't make it seem like being a gay is such a gross thing that you immediately want to banish any assumptions that you belong to such a horrifying ilk. Secondly, who gives a shit if you say you love your friends? That doesn't make you gay. People aren't gonna think you're gay unless you say "I like men!". That's it. Jeez, chill. Nobody's accusing you of anything. And if they are, they're shitty people, don't play into their trap.

But now it's time to think about why this shit happens.

I'm not trying to excuse this disgusting abuse and ridiculous behaviour, but there is a fairly plausible reason as to why this is happening. In the same way that women have to fulfill all these expectations of not being a slut, but also not being a prude, etc, men have to fulfill these stereotypes of being "manly", and not talking about emotions, not seeming weak, and having lots of sex, because that's what men love to do, obviously. It creates a paranoia, an inherent need to portray oneself as MANLY AND TOUGH, and WONT TAKE SHIT FROM WOMEN. 

So, let's give guys a bit of a break, and maybe they'll stop being fucking assholes.

OBVIOUSLY, I feel I have to say here that this clearly DOESN'T apply to all men, and I know a lot of men (straight and gay) who are WONDERFUL people and wouldn't do this sort of thing!

Also I found the images HERE, at Straight Boys Texting, a whole Tumblr dedicated to the harrasment women receive from straight boys with smartphones.

Sorry if this pissed anyone off. I'm joking, I'm really not that sorry at all.

Tegan xo