not sure why the last post was taken down to be honest but maybe it was for the better because i think maybe this post is more productive and i posted the other thing in enough places surely somebody saw it and including the videos comment section if you tube allowed it to even take properly but the following is about masculinity and male identity and male and transgender rights and the fourth of july...

An Honest Note for the Fourth

I’m not here to scold anyone for celebrating the Fourth of July. I may even join in. There’s still value in gathering, reflecting, taking a breath. But if we’re going to recognize this day at all—if we’re going to speak of liberty and pride—then we owe it to ourselves to be precise about what’s worth honoring and what’s not.

So let’s start technically—with a list. Because a list is how systems are built. And this system, in particular, has been failing:

  • Bodily Autonomy: Male bodies are often politicized and ignored. Routine circumcision in infancy—a deeply personal, irreversible act—is still widely practiced in the U.S. with minimal consent or public conversation. This should not be controversial to acknowledge.
  • Mental Health & Support for Men: Emotional suppression is baked into cultural expectations. Male mental health services remain stigmatized and underfunded, while suicide rates, addiction, and depression quietly rise.
  • Masculinity as Performance: Men are often expected to embody a narrow, scripted form of masculinity—one that rejects vulnerability and demands dominance. This isn't just unhealthy; it’s unsustainable.
  • Trans and Gender Nonconforming Rights: Conservative policies targeting trans rights, particularly trans women, contribute to the same rigid framework that distorts masculine identity for everyone. When identity becomes a battleground, no one wins—not trans people, and not men locked into outdated molds.
  • Patriotism as Branding: “Freedom” has become a product—a slogan stamped on fireworks, bumper stickers, and flags made overseas. Too often it’s divorced from any commitment to equity or accountability.
  • Public Policy Failure: From healthcare to housing to education, systems that support human well-being have been slashed while performative nationalism skyrockets. Meanwhile, those most impacted—men with limited resources, veterans, working-class fathers—are told to “man up” instead of being supported.

So yes, I’ll celebrate, but not the performance. I’ll celebrate what America was supposed to be—a place for real liberty. And I’ll honor those who still fight for the version of it that includes:

  • Full bodily autonomy—for everyone, including men.
  • A masculinity that allows for wholeness, not performance.
  • Support systems that care for people without shame.
  • An America not afraid of nuance, not hostile to difference.
  • A culture that sees men as complex human beings, not just roles to be played.

This country was built on ideals that have not yet been fully realized—but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth striving toward. Liberty wasn’t meant to be loud and shallow. It was meant to be lived.

So if you celebrate today, I won’t stop you. I just hope you remember what freedom actually means. And who’s still waiting to experience it.

Happy Fourth. Maybe next year, it’ll feel more like liberty.