Pale Feather Zen ΘΔ

being called a "man": putrid. noxious. raw beef festering under the sun for uninterrupted weeks. like biting into a roasted marshmallow and discovering it's made entirely of ash.

#what gender is this

Birdout: Paradise @SomeEgrets6/12/2024, 7:46 AM

yeah....
yeah

tbh i kinda feel like @shel's post from today kinda brushes against some of this but it's too fucking almost-four-am to have thoughts about it

but yeah like
don't have any problems with being male, a boy, a guy, that's me! i've never had an inclination to be anything else and i have spent time thinking about this

but fuck man, the term "man" is so loaded with rancid cultural expectation, it sucks, it chafes, i do not like it

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in reply to @Webster's post:

Snazzy the Dragon @snazzy6/11/2024, 8:57 PM

I think there's a level of innocence and grace to "boy". "Man" carries a lot of cultural baggage about our expectations and roles in society.

It's also easy to feel disheartened about "man" because of the grifters that have attached to "manliness" and "man vs woman" and "REAL MEN" kinda stuff.

Maff @maff6/11/2024, 10:02 PM

yeah. i don’t know if this happened gradually over time or if it’s a subconscious response to the current shit about calling queer people paedophiles like it’s 1980 again, but damn if i don’t worry in the back of my head whenever i respond to something hot/titillating with “,,,,,boys,.,” like the [this user can say it] that i am, someone might interpret it as “this mf is not talking about adults”

full-quack webbed developer @Webster6/11/2024, 10:08 PM

i will not allow myself to be called a gendered term that makes me feel bad because some propagandist might choose to interpret my preferred terms in bad faith ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Maff @maff6/11/2024, 10:25 PM

absolutely agree, i’ve been trying to unlearn whatever’s made me like this

SomniRespiratory Flux @somnirespiratoryflux6/12/2024, 9:52 AM

Meanwhile I find myself in a position where, despite being pretty sure I'm comfortable enough with a vague sense of masculinity in general, I don't like being called either of these things? Like, if someone called me a boy I'd feel infantalized but if they called me a man I'd feel gross, stiff, and old. I don't get it. "Guy" works a bit better but still doesn't quite feel right... I've been having a lot of conflicting thoughts on this subject lately, sorry for derailing. Your post just felt close enough to relate to but different enough to add my own thoughts, not trying to invalidate your experience.