I've been lurking PPD for about five years, and amidst all the changes in demographics and topics, the sub has had a few consistent tendencies. One of them is that **men seem much more willing to accept certain negative characterisations of their sex as being true**.

Most men accept that, generally speaking, men are more violent, commit more violent and violent sexual crimes, etc. Most men today accept *some* understanding of toxic masculinity - that self-reliance and stoicism taken to the extreme can result in emotional numbness, alienation, depression, and is linked to substance abuse.

Among PPD guys (regardless of pill), men seem to acknowledge the negative behaviours of Chad - in fact, Chad's leaving behind a trail of pumped-and-dumped women is pretty much central to RP myths. Most men here acknowledge the unrelenting thirstiness of beta-tier losers, their mindless simping, and ridiculous entitlement.

Acknowledging these problems is usually the first step towards proposing rules for how men *should* behave. **But another, equally important, step is outlining the ways in which women behave badly or unhealthily**. This is where the problem comes in: women in PPD seem less and less capable of acknowledging the colour of the sky. Basic facts, backed up by dozens of scientific studies, are rejected out of hand. Anecdotal experiences which are reflected in every corner of contemporary social life are waved away. "Not all women are the same", "You're only describing lower/working-class women", etc.

How absurd would it be to claim that toxic masculinity only applies to lower/working-class men? You'd be laughed off the planet with such a take. Yet this is just one in an arsenal of tactics used by women of PPD to escape broad characterisations.

If we want to come up with rules about how people should behave, shouldn't some general blueprint be required - including a blueprint of **bad female behaviour**?

**Discussion questions**

Women of PPD: What general negative traits would you be willing to apply to women?

Men of PPD: What general negative traits would you be willing to apply to men?