This article--"Female Socialization is a Transphobic Myth"--is a wild ride.

Jaded_Japan · 2022-06-05T13:17:31+00:00

On the one hand, I think the author of this article makes a lot of insightful points—talking about the fact that boys are often treated worse than girls in ways you wouldn’t expect from the traditional gender narrative, that you don’t automatically get “male privilege” for being male, etc.

On the other hand, it really feels like he’s still trying to insist that men or maleness are the problem, that even though by his own admission being male doesn’t entitle you to “male” privilege and being female doesn’t preclude you from receiving it, it’s still totally a male thing that men do, because, you know, it’s bad.

The author also views all of this through the lens of transness to a rather baffling degree—implying that men who aren’t assertive are seen by society as pseudo-trans, and that their lack of privilege is therefore due to their transness, because of course the idea that cis people are kind of trans is a better explanation for why male privilege is so hit-or-miss than…I don’t know, the possibility that assertiveness is what’s valued and gender is only loosely related to that?

Overall, I found this article fascinating as a dissent to prevailing gender narrative, the moreso because it tries so hard to insist on the essential correctness of that narrative while blasting it full of holes.

cuddlebuns287 · 2022-06-05T16:06:22+00:00

The problems caused by female socialization usually come from female peers. I grew up perceived as female, and it wasn't the boys who forced me to put on a "people pleaser" mask because anything less than conformity meant social suicide. It was the girls who made the unwritten rules on who was a worthy person to be around; if I liked something they didn't care about they'd either walk away as soon as I mentioned it or they'd pretend to like it all while giggling to their friends about how bad I was at fitting in.

When boys are cruel to each other, feminists call this "toxic masculinity." When girls are cruel to each other, feminists call this "internalized misogyny." They'd rather blame men instead of examining how society as a whole treats nonconformity in general.

oggyb · 2022-06-06T01:06:08+00:00

Two interesting comments the author made that I think are rather perceptive. It's a shame authors like them never follow through with the logic of these arguments.

There is no single feminine mold that all women need to break free of equally. There is no masculine ideal that cuts across every single culture, class bracket, or moment in time.

and

To focus on the harm of “girlhood” or being “socialized female” is to completely miss the real problem for me, a problem that will remain as long as we keep forcing genders onto babies without their consent.

Banake · 2022-06-07T11:43:16+00:00

Thanks, this was interesting.

Title	This article--"Female Socialization is a Transphobic Myth"--is a wild ride.
Author	Jaded_Japan
Upvotes	65
Comments	18
Date	June 5, 2022 1:12 PM UTC (4 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/comments/v5d30q/this_articlefemale_socialization_is_a_transphobic/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates/this-article-female-socialization-is-a-transphobic.1117149 https://theredarchive.com/post/1117149

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