Yeah, I said it.

Truth #1: People that could and can get away with coercing or straight up forcing people to follow them always make excuses for their abuse.

Truth #2: Freedom has always been exhilarating and terrifying.

If you try, you risk. There are no guarantees.

And yet the risk is the only thing worth pursuing.

Traditionalists and authoritarians always try to game reality: “If you follow us, if you follow this, you’ll have ‘peace’ and ‘security’ and ‘stability’” (as they define it, with them in charge of humanity).

They are fucking cowards and they are always trying to scare the rest of us into compliance. Don’t fall for their lies.

“Love / sex / employment / society was easier / better / more stable in my day / in the past.”

No it wasn’t. People are so far removed from that they choose to exclude those that didn’t fit in or want what they want and attempt to speak for them or over them.

Conservative bigots, what are you so scared of? Competition? Differences of opinion? Choices?

And stop with your “misandry” and “reverse racism” false equivalences. There has never been a society where men as a group have been systematically deprived of their human rights. Certain men have been deprived of their rights, but that had to do with their ethnicity / caste / class / race. The words you are looking for are misogyny and patriarchy. Dismantle both and misandry as a concept doesn’t even make sense.

Yeah, there are plenty of women that dislike men. I wonder why </sarcasm>.

Admit it. You don’t like that women can talk back and the reflection they’re showing you is no longer automatically supportive or flattering. Women are not the universal unpaid emotional labor force anymore. Get used to the new reality or get out of the way. Sustain yourselves, if you can. They’re not the enemy and never have been. They’re just simply refusing to be humankind’s pack mules anymore.

If they choose to love and support you, it’s because they choose to do so. You don’t get cookies now for showing up male.

If you’re willing to shoulder an equal burden of work, love, care, and concern, you’re welcome. Anything less is self-deception on your part. Contribute or go hide in a cave.

Does that mean I think women are all cotton candy and purity and good feelings? Of course not. The idea that they should be is part of the problem.

There are plenty of shitty individuals, regardless of gender.

Some people suck because of a legacy of abuse. They can learn how not to abuse. Some people suck because of a legacy of privilege. They can learn to share.

Some people are just plain awful, period. Fuck ’em.