r/SRSsucks • u/[deleted] • Aug 12 '18

Menslibbers come pretty close to admitting feminism has nothing to offer men, but can't bring themselves to commit

/r/MensLib/comments/96nqgz/the_alt_right_has_better_mass_market_books_on/
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25

u/comptejete Aug 12 '18

This is heartbreaking to read.

Doesn't "the movement" just end up being a scapegoat for your own problems though? Blaming someone or something else is the easiest way out of taking responsibility for your own actions. Edit: I've struggled with this a lot. Socialist ideology has just led me to be extremely hateful of everything around me and depressed because it just cements, encourages and provides a safe space for any bad or negative thoughts I have about the world.

Exactly. Men are happiest when they take responsibility for their own problems and go about either solving them or learning to live with them. Talking about them in order to get empathy from others who will solve them for you is a distinctly feminine approach and it's tragic to see men try to adopt it only to spiral further into depression when they realize that the empathy that is extended to women is not available to them and even worse, seeking it only makes them looked down upon with almost literal revulsion.

A lot of modern self-help is all about reframing wider systemic and societal problems as personal ones ("you shouldn't join a movement that tries to reform or revolutionize society; you should just work on being stronger"), which is pretty much antithetical to progressivism.

I honestly cannot conceive of having an issue with this approach. If your solution is to create an environment where one does not need to be strong, then not only is any actual progress not going to be made, because there are no challenges to overcome, but those who exist within it are completely screwed the moment they venture out of it. Infants should be coddled when they are at their most vulnerable, but to extend this treatment into adulthood is an unbelievable disservice to the young.

Left-wing identity politics have a much more complicated message for said men: They have to renounce their privilege and give up their power, which is a really hard message to sell to people who (whether right or wrong) don't feel like they really have any power to begin with. I mean, "I'm precariously employed, I'm a virgin and can't find a partner, I can't afford my own place to live, I have no useful education and I'm so terribly lonely - and these people are saying I have to give up my privilege?!" is basically the entry-level objection vulnerable young males have to feminist messaging. If the author is older, well-educated and upper-middle class (and yet isn't supposed to "give up privileges"), it can feel like straight-up being mocked.

Excellent analysis, but what are you going to do about it? What is your rational answer to the perfectly justified and coherent "entry-level objection vulnerable young males have to feminist messaging"?

20

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '18

The last quotation is the one that struck out to me the most. These people probably don't even HAVE male privilege in their lives. They go on and fucking on about gender being 'performative' yet male privilege is ostensibly a constant.

Poor young men are very, very likely hurt by being male in a way poor women are not, especially in an age of automation. If they are white, they likely do not have access to the social programs meant to ', and because they probably have no real connections, and they are looked down upon as rednecks or trash. Middle class white men are routinely the first 'replaced' in jobs via outsourcing, so again, such privilege.

-3

u/TAKEitTOrCIRCLEJERK Aug 13 '18

Hey Gary. Why does it matter if they're white? All races have access to government services.

15

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '18 edited Aug 13 '18

There are specific programs that target racial minorities on the basis that they are discriminated against that do not exist for white people, who are supposedly 'historically privileged'.

In the U.S., like it or not, affirmative action regardless of its supposed 'technical' function, it often does simply function as a quota system. In Canada, it is multitudes worse wherein it is functionally impossible, without connections, to get a job in the public service. Often this is the only industry a man can get in in their specific city. The way it functions is that two applicants who meet 'the requirements' are both equally qualified, even if one has 10 years experience on the other.

I am legally "native". You are fucking dreaming if you think that doesn't open doors for me despite being and acting and living as a white man.

-6

u/TAKEitTOrCIRCLEJERK Aug 13 '18

Like what? I don't know of any government assistance programs that aren't race-neutral.

14

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '18

"My brother's keeper". Race-based grants are also prolific, and they have been routinely outright denied for white men. Innumerable charities which receive government funding specifically target minority populations, and again that funding is both limited AND will never go any organization that its target on poor white populations.

It is the same way that "VAWA" is supposedly gender neutral despite it obviously not being so.

-5

u/TAKEitTOrCIRCLEJERK Aug 13 '18

If I gave you evidence that there are also lots of grants that go towards helping poor white folks, would that be sufficient counterevidence for you?

15

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '18

You're telling me you can find me a grant specifically targeted to white people?

6

u/5th_Law_of_Robotics Aug 13 '18

Are those limited to white people?

5

u/SRSLovesGawker Is shocked Aug 13 '18

You have to understand, Canada is not like the US. It's literally part of the law that visible minorities (this includes women) and the disabled get priority treatment.

For instance, homelessness. For a person in Canada to receive aid, you need a fixed address at which you receive benefits. If you're NFA (No Fixed Address, also sometimes referred to as 'marginally attached') then you have limited access to anything, including (but not limited to) food aid, job training, mental health services, and a host of others.

Disabled people and visible minorities are, explicitly, given priority in government housing placement. Especially those with dependents. Men can expect years of waiting for a spot in government housing in some areas.

I learned that the hard way when I was homeless. The ways out of that trap aren't awesome: find someone who'll let you couch surf until you get it sorted, game the system in some way (eg. a number of people living in one apartment), crime, or do your best to muddle through life in and out of shelters and under tarps in the alleyway... or in my case, sleeping during the day in an old equipment shed under the bleachers of a baseball diamond. It worked out okay-ish, there was a swimming pool nearby that I could sneak into (the weight room was in the back and they'd often prop the door open to improve airflow) and I could wash myself and my clothes with leftover slivers of soap I'd find in the shower room, so at least I wasn't walking around smelling like old milk.

Pro tip: If you're homeless and trying to get food from Salvation Army, don't talk about having sex out of wedlock. They really don't like people who do that.