And yet, their comment was on point. Maybe its like w double negative

Also the reason for the rock star phenomenon.

A girl sees a guy with a girlfriend. Girl’s monkeybrain says “she thinks he’s a good bet, so he’s already been vetted, and he’s probably a good bet.”

Now a girl sees a guy at a party with two girls flirting with him. Now two other girls think he’s a good bet. He must be a good bet.

Now scale up. One guy is on stage playing the guitar. 3000 women are screaming that they love him. Our girl’s monkeybrain: “literally thousands of other girls are debasing themselves to be with him - he is the most desireable guy in the world. Quick, scream, get his attention! He’s your perfect soul mate, just make him notice you!”

Actual heels would be feminine. The concept of high heels is feminine coded. The strut you do when wearing heels is feminine coded.

I once bought a pair of steel toe redwing logging boots for a job I had. They had stupid high heels - like, I must have got a 4" boost. Which I found really annoying, since Im already 6’4". But I can almost guarentee the guy who sold them to me bought them just for that feature, as he was probably a 5’4" blue collar dude with a big truck.

Guys have no real qualms about using fashion to make themselves taller. Heel lifts are a thing. You can probably add 3" to your height without anyone noticing with a 1" platform and a 2" lift or whatever.

What they have a problem with is doing things that are feminine. Which - and it is weird I have to point this out - makes sense because they do not identify as feminine. Every time this topic comes up in left/liberal space, there’s a barrage of comments about how “men are dumb and insecure, why dont they just dress up like pretty girls - wouldn’t that be fun?” Which is so weird coming from a place that constantly talks about affirming peoples’ genders.

Like, imagine you are talking to your friend who is a trans woman. Would you tell them “ugh, but you’d look so handsome in a suit with a short haircut. You have such a nice jawline - you should highlight it by growing out a beard!” Wouldnt that be really fucking weird? Wouldnt it make literally no sense at all, given this individual’s chosen gender identity? Wouldn’t it be considered quite rude and offensive to try to pressure someone into fitting your preference for their gender expression, rather than their own?

Anyway, off topic. The point is, men have all sorts of options at their disposal, but most of these things are designed not to be noticed. The masculine role is to look good, but not flashy. To be put together, but not look like you tried to hard or care too much about your appearance. This is because what men are supposed to bring to the table are skills, resources, and personality. An overemphasis on appearance on the part of a man is seen as trying to get ahead or gain status through superfluous means - advancing without contributing to the group or gaining the friendship and approval of those around them. And this is seen as in poor taste, and is frowned upon. So as a man, if you want to enhance your appearance, you should only do it just enough that it can’t be noticed - or just enough that you look a bit more stylish or put together than the other men around you.

Women in heels, wearing makeup, having a skincare routine, picking clothes that flatter their figure, getting their hair done: they’re having fun and expressing themselves!

Men wearing shoe lifts, getting hair plugs: what insecure losers.

Sounds like a lot of hoops to jump through to avoid talking about your problems like an adult.

Yeah, I feel like people think I’m, like, defending rightwing manosphere content creators, lol.

I’m saying that what these young men want is a given. So people who dont suck need to accept that and give them viable alternatives, rather than telling them that they are wrong for wanting what they want and chastising them for it.

Oh noes! They’re talking about s-e-x? Gross! We’re not supposed to talk about that! That’s naughty - we should be reading our bibles instead!

Also yes.

As a man, I’d be all about this

Yeah. Good luck finding a woman that is proud of you

Time for another fork… sigh…

lol

No. If you dont like memes and US politics… good! You simply get on social media, only follow people you know in real life, and then only use it on desktop where there are browser extensions to block “suggested” content or ads.

Get on each platform maybe once per day max. If you see something new that a friend has posted, leave a comment to tell them how great they are. Once per week or so, make your own post about neat things you are doing. Then, go outside.

Idk, I guess you werent a punk kid growing up in the burbs.

I think its both, which is usually the case.

…

k

I mean, the problem here is that - wholesome as Gary is, young men don’t want “wholesome”.

I know that when I was a young man, I wanted to get the fuck out of my home town, have crazy adventures, improve the world on my own terms, and fuck every attractive women that came within 1000m of me (For the record, not much jas changed…).

And Gary is a nice guy with an unattractive wife, a steady job, and two kids. He spends his free time at the bar or mowing the lawn, getting fatter by the year. He likes to talk about the vacation he took to an all inclusive resort with his family a few years ago as if it was the great adventure of his life. Gary doesn’t have the most amazing life, but he has enough, and he’s happy.

And my response to Gary as a young man would have been to appreciate his encouragement, and take his advice with a smile, and then ignore all of it because fuck that nonsense, I am getting the fuck out of this shithole. I am not going to end up like Gary! I am not going to settle for a life of bullshit mediocrity, drinking myself to an early grave while every dream I ever had whithers on the vine. And I am absofuckingloutly not going to follow in his footsteps. Come hell or high water, I will die before I end up with such a piss poor excuse for a life!!!

Point being - if you want young men to take your advice rather than the advice of toxic influencers, you need to validate their desires and ambitions, rather than dismissing them and telling them to want something else. “Oh, you have goal X? Well that’s wrong - you should have goal Y, and here is how I got there” is not an effective way to offer advice to anyone

Yeah. I mean, I get it. The concept of the app makes sense. And I would be that, on average, it is/would be used for good.

On the other hand, as a guy, the idea that people are out there sharing reviews of me as a person on the open internet, and I have no way of knowing this, is deeply unsettling. Like, I haven’t done anything wrong - just the whole concept feels very gross.

You seem to be acting intentionally dense to avoid changing your mind, so I’m going to stop responding.

I really doubt you’ll be impressed. Those foods are made for children, who have bland pallettes and like sugar. And adults who never advanced past this stage.

You can get good food in America. But it won’t be a twinkie.

You are extrapolating a lot from your own experience. I can confirm from my own upbringing that my family always had junk food or soda in the house - eating it was a daily occurance, and it was re-added to the grocery list each time we ran out with little thought given to the potential health impacts. And we only took home leftovers if it was, like, a really big meal.

Sure, not all Americans are like this. I’m not like this, and none of my friends are. But I am aware that I very much live in a bubble.