[M4F] The Gender Wars

If you’ve been online long enough, you’ve seen some instances of it, whether it’s ragebait posts about shallow women, guys from the manosphere attacking feminism, or the endless debates about men and women’s roles in a relationship.

I myself am not involved in any of the communities/echo chambers that promote toxic views like that, but I’ve seen how heated some of these online arguments can get, and I think it could be fun to sexualize that tension. I know it sounds far fetched (how could something so anger-inducing ever be erotic?) but bear with me.

A lot of political jabs are already sexually charged. Conservatives love to accuse liberal men of being cucks, and women of being whores. I’m interested in discussing where such assumptions and stereotypes originate as well as the psychology behind why they’re supposed to be offensive. In a conservative’s mind, the worst thing a man can be is powerless while someone else claims his girl, and the most humiliating way to insult a woman is to weaponize her own sexual freedom against her.

On the other extreme, there are some feminists who publicly rail against the patriarchy, body-shaming, and toxic masculinity, only to privately fantasize about being put in their place by the exact type of man they claim to hate.

And there’s another, softer hypocrisy that some feminists engage in that I find curious. There was a recent TikTok trend called “Catching Print”, where women share tips and speculate about what men are packing based on the bulge outline in their pants. Many seemed thrilled about the opportunity to reverse the objectification on men, arguing it’s only fair because women have had to put up with it for so long. And to be honest I can understand the appeal of reversing the roles and making men feel like they’re the ones exposed and judged for their bodies for once. If you share that viewpoint, or have a similar revenge fantasy about men, I’d love to hear from you.

I hope I’ve shared enough ideas to inspire some discussions on these topics. I’m really interested in hearing your own thoughts, wherever on the political/cultural divide you may be.