Why is "fragile masculinity" laughed at?

Diligent-Education64 · 2021-08-14T17:03:33+00:00

Feminists love to mock men. Masculinity, men are always a problem. Either masculinity is fragile or toxic. Femininity is always virtuous. Ignore them.

Reddit1984Censorship · 2021-08-14T16:42:18+00:00

Because feminism encourages it.

manicraccoon · 2021-08-14T17:28:27+00:00

You know in movies and anime when you get to know the back story of some bad people you sympathize with them. Feminists don't want that to happen with men that they spent all this time painting as villains. When people will start sympathizing with the vulnerability and suffering of men they will see that men are not the monsters they are made out to be and that will be the end of feminism. Hence the systemic delegitimizing and mocking of men's suffering. Please don't mind my spellings. I'm slightly drunk. Will accuse of rape if you do that. /s

FoundTeemo · 2021-08-14T19:45:12+00:00

Not something I’ve thought about too much lately, thank you for putting this into perspective. I have seen this laughed at several times and now thinking back, it is definitely more important and less of a joke than certain people make it out to be.

DistortedAirwaves · 2021-08-14T17:02:15+00:00

If someone came up with a word like defective feminity to call someone who fails to live up to traditional female roles there'd be a riot

End of the day using sexist insults is big bad.

Individual-March8163 · 2021-08-14T17:12:01+00:00

This was what people used to mock War Paint, a makeup brand brand for men. The founder made it because he used makeup to hide his acne and felt anxious going to the women's section to buy it. He made it to empower boys and men to wear it and he just got mocked for it.

Watch his dragon's den pitch, it was very good.

gurthanix · 2021-08-15T01:24:09+00:00

In feminist land, for any other demographic, fragility is something that elicits sympathy. If someone is fragile, you have a duty to shield them from harm, be conscious of the background circumstances that contributed to this fragility, and try to nurse them back to strength. But for men, fragility is for some reason grounds for mockery- you're encouraged to exploit this weakness to hurt and humiliate a man who shows any hint of being fragile.

Fundamentally, it comes down to the fact that feminism wants to preserve traditional gender roles, but only for men, with all of the strictures but none of the benefits.

Imoldok · 2021-08-14T22:10:13+00:00

One sex can only dominate the other by putting it down.

Yoguls_monkies · 2021-08-15T05:25:18+00:00

I think it’s about control. Fragile masculinity, toxic masculinity, it’s all just a rebranding of the “you’re not a real man” bullshit.

Essentially it’s “You’re not being a man the way I think you should be a man, therefore, you’re insert label used to shame men.”

Skelkran · 2021-08-14T19:39:00+00:00

Woman: "do men even have emotions?" Also women when a man does show emotion: "OMG fragile masculinity".

simbuah · 2021-08-14T21:26:17+00:00

I dodge anyone who uses the terms "fragile" or "toxic" masculinity. They are just toxic women who are projecting their disgusting personalities onto entire male population.

MezzaCorux · 2021-08-14T22:03:01+00:00

The problem is that the term now is just used to attack and silence men. Got a legitimate complaint? Oh that's just your fragile masculinity.

VeganPropaganda_ · 2021-08-14T18:01:21+00:00

because in their eyes men are defective women

TheChocolateBarsGuy · 2021-08-14T17:20:45+00:00

There is no such thing.

It is a made up word to attack masculinity even more after they emasculate a man.

DavidByron2 · 2021-08-14T16:46:06+00:00

It's not any sort of "issue" it's just a feminist way of insulting men. Just exactly the same as the "men have small dicks" campaign in South Korea. It's just a bigoted taunt.

reddut_gang · 2021-08-14T17:09:12+00:00

because feminism loves to bring down men

BornLearningDisabled · 2021-08-15T05:49:46+00:00

The left is supposed to care about the "vulnerable", but they laugh at the "fragile". It's great when feminists say things like this because it's self defeating. It reveals two things: One, that they are motivated by hatred for the less fortunate, not compassion. Two, they recognize themselves as the oppressors and men as the oppressed. Men are not threatening to them. They see men as pathetic.

When a woman says you are fragile, what she is saying is that you used to be rich, but because of feminism, now you are poor like you deserve to be.

We all need to do everything we can to provoke women into talking about "fragility" as much as possible. It's such a terrible look for them.

EviessVeralan · 2021-08-14T21:30:33+00:00

The patriarchy makes it so men can't express their emotions. We feminists are working to fight this oppression.

sips from Male Tears mug

63daddy · 2021-08-14T18:31:57+00:00

I respectfully (mostly) disagree with your concept men are pressured to practice what you call fragile masculinity. Men are masculine by nature and there is no shame in being masculine. Masculinity is not toxic as feminists claim. While I get your point the overall societal pressure is to shame men for showing their masculinity and to encourage males to be more feminine. I’ve read hundreds of stories for example of boys being scolded or punished in school, essentially because they failed to act feminine.

The overall problem isn’t that men are being pushed to be more masculine than they want, it’s that showing ones masculinity is now viewed by many as a bad thing that needs to be repressed.

This is one of the problems in dating today: Society tells men masculinity is bad, but the in reality most heterosexual women are attracted to masculine men, not men who repress their masculinity and try to act feminine.

chrome1962 · 2021-08-14T21:38:21+00:00

Feminists claim men are pressured into toxic masculinity, that it’s not mens fault. Don’t buy this nonsense, it’s just a cleverly ploy to get men to think maleness is bad.

yahaya146 · 2021-08-14T20:55:10+00:00

They encourage men to show emotions cry and what not. But turn around and make fun of those men. Tyrese the actor from fast and furious for example. They want to make men they don’t want. Women aren’t attracted to feminine men. They are attracted to masculine men. But they push this agenda of feminizing men in today’s society. As a result a lot more men are virgins than ever before. Because women will rather pick the bad boy over the nice emotional guy.

kriskros18 · 2021-08-14T21:19:42+00:00

Tactic - shaming. Reason - projection to cope with jealousy and insecurities.

Feminism 101.

anonymouslionn · 2021-08-14T21:52:30+00:00

Be strong and masculine, it’s ‘toxic’.

Be sensitive, vulnerable, flawed, it’s ‘fragile’.

We were never meant to win or be vindicated.

Omegatron8 · 2021-08-14T22:45:21+00:00

Because "man bad"

Man "toxic", man "fragile"...no matter what, man bad

killcat · 2021-08-15T03:14:59+00:00

It's a retort to any male pushing a non-acceptable view, "You're upset about X, fragile masculinity" basically a shaming tactic.

BuddhasRoadTrip · 2021-08-14T21:48:06+00:00

When it's not fragile, it's toxic.

They're just envious. They know they need us more than we need them.

DeputyDak · 2021-08-14T22:01:16+00:00

Ironic how this site that keeps talking about the dangers of '' toxic masculinity '', but attacks men using the same dynamics they claim are the problem.

vegetabloid · 2021-08-15T08:11:58+00:00

Because men and women have to fight each other. Also straight and gay have to fight each other, whites and non whites, boomers and zoomers, vegans and meateaters, gas car owners and electrical car owners, South Park fans and Bob's Burgers fans. Everyone have to fight each other.

Except employees and employers. People certainly must not have any powers left for this struggle. So they must fight over non relevant stuff.

ShoutoutsToSimple · 2021-08-15T14:42:34+00:00

It's how feminists work. Almost everything they ridicule in men has a parallel which they defend in women.

If society has expectations of men, they call it toxic masculinity, blaming men for the problems placed upon them. But if society has expectations of women, they call it misogyny, blaming society (read: men) for putting those problems on women.

If men speak out about the sexism they face, feminists call it fragile masculinity, ridiculing men for daring to do anything other than suck it up, stay silent, and keep strong (ironically, these attributes are what they call toxic masculinity when convenient). If women speak out about the sexism they face, it's the most important thing ever, and everyone needs to shut up, stop what they are doing, and address the issue immediately so that no women ever has to feel uncomfortable for a second.

And so on. And this should come as no surprise. Despite claiming to be for gender equality, they name the force of evil (patriarchy) after men, and the force of good (feminism) after women. So no shit they do the same thing when it comes to everything else. If something hurts men, it's their own fault, blame men. If something hurts women, it's men's fault, blame men.

It's always the same.

TacticusThrowaway · 2021-08-15T17:46:45+00:00

It's calling a man a pussy, but woke.

v573v · 2021-08-14T21:33:14+00:00

as masculine as possible

Typically, aren’t men are just normally masculine without making the effort?

not show emotions

Why is it not enough for men to feel emotions but they must also exhibit their emotions?

not do anything remotely feminine

If most men are inherently masculine then they won’t be inclined to want to do things remotely feminine will they?

The problem you are having has it’s roots in the idea that gender is a social construct; it follows that if gender is a social construct, then one gender must be wrong for exhibiting any traits that don’t align with overall preferred gender. Men have to produce tears not because it helps them but because women’s tendency to produce tears is problematic to the theory that gender is a social construct. Masculinity and femininity are real traits that most people exhibit without much thought or effort.

‘Male fragility’ is a silencing technique used against men who are typically making a logical (not emotional) observation about a hypocrisy related to gender equality.

McFeely_Smackup · 2021-08-14T22:44:04+00:00

it's just an insult, you're overthinking it.

it's a made up term used to insult and denigrate men without needing any more justification than that.

NjalUlf · 2021-08-14T22:45:34+00:00

Because men are supposed to be disposable stoic machines, not actually human beings with feelings according to society and especially according to feminism's idea of what men are which is monstrous abusers.

BidenBootLiquor · 2021-08-14T23:06:11+00:00

I'm still trying to figure out what toxic masculinity is and now I have to study fragile masculinity.

rabel111 · 2021-08-14T23:54:47+00:00

Because so many women engage in casual misandry as a form of female bonding. It's an entrenched culture of sexist abuse of men and boys that sadly gives many women a sense of empowerment. It is extremely widespread and is exploited by radical feminims as a way of enlsting otherwise awesome women in acts of bigotry and gender hatred.

xiaodre · 2021-08-15T00:37:23+00:00

people laugh at it because it is a mashup of two other terms that are peak cringe in idpop. it doesn't do any useful work for, well, anything really.

i personally don't think there is any utility in this term. i have only heard of white fragility and that is from the political sphere, and that has little, if any, utility either.

instead, the things you described are also described by the term toxic masculinity, which is also an overly politicized term that has little if any utility outside of idpop.

whateverworksforben · 2021-08-15T01:45:09+00:00

There are different types or men and women all from diverse backgrounds. Not all men and not all women are the same.

That doesn’t feed their echo chamber, which in their minds makes them special but putting other people down. It’s really a projection of their own insecurities and inadequacies.

coloradocaniac · 2021-08-15T02:44:01+00:00

Back in my FB days I had a few local actresses on my feed due to an indy project.

God damn, the jokes about "man flu" and whining about undue male attention got old.

As such, "fragile sexuality" isn't just a male thing, ladies.

And the gender who continues to insist that we fulfill our traditional roles by way of providing, being the breadwinner, etc has no room to talk re: fragile sexuality.

Anus_Dilator · 2021-08-14T16:53:55+00:00

Why would you want to do anything feminine ? And why do you care about feminist and leftist "men" opinion ? These people are complete losers, and like every losers they must bring up the rest of the world to their level to feel better about being losers. The only fragile masculinity is the feminist one, these people have low self esteem and they know that. So they laugh at anybody that isn't as remotely pathetic as them, that's ho they cope with their issues.

Ignore their claims and ridicule them back, what will they do ? Throw a tantrum ?

tenchineuro · 2021-08-14T22:32:48+00:00

Why is "fragile masculinity" laughed at?

It's masculinity that's laughed at and called toxic.

MotherAce · 2021-08-14T22:49:12+00:00

I'd laugh at it because it's a feminist talking point, and faux social science. There's no legitimate hard data behind the concept, hence it's only a pathetic ideology and any unironic use of the term deserves scorn.

sborradicane · 2021-08-14T22:51:59+00:00

society

Liberal_On_Guns · 2021-08-14T23:08:55+00:00

I don't even know what you are talking about. What is fragile masculinity?

Psychological-Key101 · 2021-08-14T23:35:56+00:00

So I can't be Fragile Masculinity and then can't be toxic masculinity, tf they want us to be then? A robot?

PlanD4Failures · 2021-08-15T00:29:22+00:00

You lose no matter what you do. I'm too masculine, even for most guys. I use to play it down to help people be more comfortable around me. Then I started getting comments about how I'm a "little bitch" and they can't respect me because I'm too much of a nice guy. So I'll just be me now. I'll work out every day and ride my custom motorcycle to the gym without a helmet. I'll keep hunting and sharing the meat with anyone that wants some. I'll keep my glorious chiseled body and drive my not even street-legal race car to work. If you don't like me or my way of life, do your thing bro.

ManofGod1000 · 2021-08-15T03:33:52+00:00

Being masculine is not an issue, it is what we men are. Your comment basically says that masculinity is a byproduct of societal pressures and then at the same time, masculinity is toxic. Being masculine is not going around showing our emotions and discussing our feelings nor being feminine.

jkcadmium · 2021-08-14T22:11:44+00:00

Because liberals are fragile, so they have to make fun of things they expect won’t fight back to feel validated.

normiekid · 2021-08-15T00:02:36+00:00

I think there's two sides to it.

TL;DR- The way I see it, there's two types if "Fragile Masculinity" and the one that feminists portray is not an actual issue.

The "fragile masculinity" that you see feminists, and in some cases, the left talk about is how men are stupid, incapable, or buffoons; e.g. the typical father role in any comedy movie. A bumbling idiot while the wife does all the heavy lifting. On top of that, you, like you said in your post; have all the expectations set upon men as in what they should and should not be.

BUT on the other side of it, you have genuine fragile masculinity. (Keep in mind, there's fragile femininity as well.) I see this as the men who are abusive, cruel, power hungry, manipulative. No real man would want to harm their wife or their kids. What defines a man is not how powerful he his, but how he wields that power. I for one, am very lucky to have grown up with a very positive father figure. This dude is ripped, can deadlift around 530lbs (one rep max, but still). And even though he could have easily hurt my mom whenever they would argue, he NEVER did. And that is a real man. Even at their worst, they still hold true.

The men who are not secure in their masculinity are the ones who hurt others. To make themselves feel strong. Fragile masculinity = toxic masculinity. Real men stand up for what's right, defend, protect, and care for the ones they love and EVEN people they don't know

Now, is fragile masculinity a product of previous statements such as societal expectations? Potentially. It's a valid argument that may hold water. And I do have sympathy for men who feel emasculated or small from how they're treated and portrayed, and I can totally understand how these feelings of anger may manifest from that. But it is still a choice on how you act on those feelings

SokalDidNothingWrong · 2021-08-15T05:37:49+00:00

Worth noting that the feminist definition of "fragile masculinity" is "men who are anxious they don't live up to male norms.

It's kind of like saying that women have "fragile femininity" if they're anxious over their looks, or not having kids, or maybe being bad parents or being bad at cooking. I think that would be a pretty shit thing to say.

Maybe we could have "fragile feminism" though - a feminist who did gender studies instead of STEM, is submissive with her boyfriend (who she met when he hit on her at a nightclub / met at work / made the first contact on Tinder / whatever else is problematic in dating), who took time off to raise kids, and who generally is a massive hypocrite ..

Jarglua · 2021-08-14T21:44:56+00:00

I’ve always perceived the term “fragile masculinity” as when a man sees another man not having classic masculine traits and getting upset or ridiculing them in some way. It is also toxic but that’s how I’ve always perceived the term. Am I wrong in that?

KinkyHinky69 · 2021-08-15T03:05:38+00:00

Thats gross and the gf is not a good person in those cases. But when talking about "fragile masc" what i said is what it refers to. Women are not hive mind so they react as individuals. Likely the women who balks at a guy crying isnt the same one using terms like fragile Masculinity.

tlilly2904 · 2021-08-15T09:02:36+00:00

People who make fun of fragile masculinity probably are people to avoid. The patriarchy hurts everyone with all these stupid expectations, because what it’s trying to upkeep is simply not realistic?! But I’ve definitely seen blokes who go out of their ways not to do things because it “looks gay”, that’s a toxic/fragile masculinity.. :0

WhatsThatThingCold · 2021-08-14T17:33:42+00:00

The claim is that "fragile masculinity" (sometimes) makes men act in rather aggressive ways. In order to prove "that you're not a cissy" a man might be persuaded to more forcefully engage with the other sex. This is where the laughing comes in, namely, that the other sex is bothered/harmed by these kind of outings of "fragile masculinity". A way to reduce psychological harm is to make fun of it.

Moreover, there are men who get beat up because of the fragility of some other man, there are mistakes never corrected as to not make someone appear weak and friendships never formed as to not to be "gay". Real harm, caused by people internalizing/(buying into the concepts that underpin) "masculine fragility".

This reaction to real harm is ofcourse different from people making fun of fragile man for being fragile. They cause the problems. The line between the groups isn't always clear, I usually just consider whether it is retaliatory or not. Most people blame the person instead the system sadly.

Edit: forgot my conclusion on the second paragraph.

qwertash1 · 2021-08-15T01:45:33+00:00

catch way more shit from the guys likely some variation of youre bad a sex no functional difference really

suyazus · 2021-08-15T05:07:11+00:00

I'm still trying to understand what fragile masculinity means tbh (english not my native)

SpaceGecko47 · 2021-08-15T06:51:32+00:00

The funniest part is, that fragile masculinity is kinda similar to toxic masculinity, but somehow feminists are able to laugh at men because of one, and then make the second the biggest societal issue

iainmf · 2021-08-15T07:03:55+00:00

I think it interesting to consider that feeling unease and discomfort with being or appearing feminine might be a kind of gender dysphoria.

Thinking about it like this completely changes the conversation about 'fragile masculinity'. The response to 'fragile masculinity' would be affirming a man's masculine gender identity by embracing it.

Snoo36988 · 2021-08-15T11:30:47+00:00

Because as soon as you diminuate something, it becomes laughable.

BananLarsi · 2021-08-15T14:43:10+00:00

Why is "fragile masculinity" laughed at?

By who?

"fragile masculinity" is the byproduct of societal pressures on men to be as masculine as possible (Not show emotions,

I show plenty of emotion, and communicate my emotions with the females I’ve been with

not do anything remotely feminine, etc).

I’ve done this too, plenty of times. And all women I’ve been this open with call me more manly for being so secure that this isn’t an issue. I have no idea the kind of company you keep if this is something that genuinely happens to you.

Have you actually experienced any of this or are you going of anecdotal experiences here?

Positive-Guidance-99 · 2021-08-15T16:33:09+00:00

A lot of “ fragile masculinity” comes from ptsd caused by people being made fun of for not being “conventionally manly“

Svenskbtch · 2021-08-16T11:30:54+00:00

Would we not all do better with a bit more fragile masculinity and a bit less fragile femininity?

WannaBeeFayMouse · 2021-08-14T22:26:56+00:00

i have never seen anyone actually laughing at it, but i have seen people pretend they are making a joke because you cant argue back or get angry because it makes you look worse.

i think most people see toxic masculinity behaviour and get scared by it, but making a joke of it stops it escalating because you know that you will get laughed at more, so most people wont get violent when called out using jokes or comedy or humour

back_againx13 · 2021-08-15T23:04:57+00:00

I don't mock it, but it does frustrate me insofar as fragile masculinity is a product of patriarchy, but a lot of men get angry when this is pointed out. Patriarchy is setting entirely unrealistic standards for men that set them up for failure, in the same way that the media's constant objectification of women's bodies sets us up for failure. Criticism of patriarchy is not criticism of men, but criticism of the roles that patriarchy keeps all of us locked into.

Title	Why is "fragile masculinity" laughed at?
Author	WeaknessTechnical654
Upvotes	946
Comments	152
Date	August 14, 2021 4:40 PM UTC (4 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/p4behy/why_is_fragile_masculinity_laughed_at/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/why-is-fragile-masculinity-laughed-at.1058565 https://theredarchive.com/post/1058565

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