so i dont know if posting this here was correct but i figured why not share this depressing but hopefully inspiring story of my life. deep breath here we go so, for most of my life i had experienced such intense androphobia, that i felt men had no emotions beyond two: lust and greed. most of my life meaning until the summer i was 12 (25 now so evidently only the begining). i had woken up as if it were any other day, watched my anime shows (digimon and beyblade i think def on YTV that day) and decided do figet with shit, nothing special what so ever. grandpa was going to help my aunt move and had left some time before i woke up, just an ordinary plain day. unfortunatly the phone rang, shattering the dull normalcy of it all, because something inside of me knew that, the phone call wouldnt be plesant, you know when you just feel it? ice cold finger tips, stomach drops, then you see why as the person answering the phone has that shift in expression letting you know something actually isnt right? yeah.....thats almost what happened. my grandma calls me to the computer room where we kept our chord phone, and i knew right away today wasnt going to be great. she told me first that grandpa had an accident while helping my aunt move. he had hit another car and a girl was in the back seat where he hit, it didnt look good for her and we had to meet him at the police station to pick him up. i, being the numbed out child that i was just went ice cold, but i felt nothing. grandpa was fine why feel sad? so we go to the station, and i see my grandpa, he didnt look normal to me wasnt acting normal....soon as he saw us he ran and hugged my grandma tight then hugged me. i dont remember what happened to cause this next part to occure but i guess seeing another little girl made the reality of what happened solidify in him, he burst into hysterical tears hugging me tighter and trying to talk but it all came out sobbing noises. i learned later the little girl around my age, was in a coma, shes fine now i hear but my grandpa probably still hasnt forgiven himself, even though it was an accident, her parents knew it the cops knew it even i knew it. i will never forget that moment ever, especially when i feel my androphobia creeping up...because that moment taught me that men feel so much more than lust and greed. men feel sadness, love, remourse, shame, guilt, fear, everything. men feel too, men are capable of love even towards a stranger men feel empathy. and i learned that all in the few moments my grandpa was broken in front of me. i learned that men need to be taken care of too, and as much as that days yet another haunting day, im so greatful for the things it taught me. im working hard to get over my androphobia and understand mens issues while also being old school "feminist" (i know, my generations done some awful things to the name, us old schooler types are trying to fix that) so its been a challange but if it werent for that day, i may have never become close friends with many amazing men, I wouldnt be dating a great man, i probably would have continued to fear men and avoid all contact and connection. so....anyways i hope this story here can inspire those for the cause of mens rights and help those curious to understand what ive come to understand. men feel, men need emotional care when those feelings are painful, men are also oppressed by older standards and bullshit too. sure maybe once upon a time this is what some men created, but other people helped keep it alive in our own ways and minds. its no longer all mens faults not even many mens, just men caught up in toxic masculinity. if you walk away with only one lesson from this i want it to be "men need emotional support sometimes too". thanks for reading, thank you for learning.