Relatively Young here, in high school, live with my father and stepmother, and off to college in 7 months or so.

This is gonna sound like bullshit but here we go.

The gym I go to provides me with a very spiritual experience 6 days a week. I lift and do core for an hour and a half a day. This is the highlight of my day, an exhausting ritual to endure from 5pm to 6:30 nearly every single day. Then comes the easy relaxation as my reward: a short shower, 20 minutes in the hottub, half hour in the therapy pool (I have a fucked up leg and this helps me restore it to a less gimpy state). Sometimes I swim laps in the other pool, but only maybe twice a week. Then I shower again, use the steam room to cleanse my pores, and then the sauna. It takes about 3 hours every day, and sometimes I have actual PT 4-5 which does leg exercises. Every day I'm there 3-4 hours. I don't watch TV, I don't drink, smoke, eat processed foods, or do anything shitty like that. I eat 3500 cal a day, and am steadily putting on muscle mass (I'm 6'3 and 157 currently). I've put on 10+ lbs in the last couple months.

I constantly ask people for help, advice, spotting. \"Would you mind teaching me how you do this or that\". And why not; They've been doing this much longer than me, and I'm simply here to learn. I'm very friendly but not a bitch about it. I take the time to learn the peoples names, I introduce myself in the sauna and locker room. People like me and even though it's not the goal of the gym, I've made friends. Plenty of wisdom to take away from those who've been doing this thrice as long as me.

I was discussing a new exercise id learned from a guy named John. He's 42, 190, 6'0, all muscle, and you can tell he's been lifting for 30 years. He knows his shit.

So I'm discussing the exercise with my Dad who takes a special interest in making sure I've got everything I need (protein powder, food, ect) to make gains at the gym. And my stepmother chimes in \"he sounds like a pedo. I mean why would a grown man want to help a stranger if he doesn't want to get in their pants.\"

And my father agreed with her in a very jovial manner. \"Yeah son you'd best watch out lest you find yourself in an un-com-fort-able situation.\" Or something along those lines. Laughing his ass off as he said it, but I could tell he was agreeing with her. Bandwagon effect.

And I stopped her right there, because that's fucked up and it pissed me off: , you seriously believe that an adult male is incapable of willfully and happily advising a younger person without a dark ulterior sexual motive?\"

Needless to say, the reaction was a \"fuck you\" from her, \"stop back talking your stepmother. She doesn't need the disrespect.\"

And I left the room, but it got me thinking. My stepmother has never advocated feminism by any stretch of the imagination. For the most part my fathers pretty RP: powerful man, successful, knows he could leave my stepmother at any time, gives great advice on the value and craziness of women, tells me the best thing I can do for myself is lift, blah blah blah.

The thing is she criticized about John and his generosity in spending his time to help a stranger, she looks at him as dangerous for the simplest, most benevolent thing. And she hasn't even met the guy. If she had had a single conversation with him she'd know he's super dedicated to his family, has raised 5 children between his two wives, feels maintaining his body is his responsibility to his kids and wife, blah blah blah. He's a fucking boyscout with his values. But who he is is irrelevant, because he's a stranger and a male and therefore must be out to rape me. This is the social norm. And it's fucked up.

Takeaway: according to society, We can have no more male mentors, only pedos and sickos.

Rant over.