Episode Link In the gender wars, Billboard Chris is a warrior, dropping truth bombs with military precision and engaging in mouth-to-ear combat on the ground. After placing informative billboards in major cities, he takes to the streets wearing a sandwich board stating “CHILDREN CANNOT CONSENT TO PUBERTY BLOCKERS”. Questions elicit blazes of fact-fire that may provoke shock, awe, or, in our case, nodding agreement. Nina struggles to find something – anything – to disagree about, while Corinna meekly suggests that Chris might burn out at some point. No chance of that! The fight goes on until gender surrenders.
In my experience, men tend to prefer gathering around an activity (it could be hunting or watercolour painting, doesn’t really matter) and are best able to be open and vulnerable standing shoulder to shoulder.
As for the ‘acceptance’ of detransitioned men… really I think that’s complicated by what drove transition in the first place, but seeking ‘acceptance’ in the company of men can be done by being prepared to partake in some activity or skill and being willing to be party to a respect-based hierarchy. I’ve done it via martial arts as a female. I wasn’t ‘the best’ fighter in my cohort of 98% men because, duh… but I earned a place there because I was committed to excellence as the pros in the group and was willing to take the hits to get there, even when it hurt me more than my sparring partner.
So in one sense, Chris is kind of right but it looks VERY different to the way women support one another and organise themselves. They would rather get on with things as men and welcome anyone who can hold their own. Depending on the detransitioner, it’s highly likely that they struggled to ‘fit in’ with men for a variety of reasons, but primarily because they weren’t able to intuit *how* to, and need some explicit guidance and mentoring to do so… that’s probably where you do need a ‘masculinist’ movement to step up and provide. Fathers and other male elders haven’t been doing it systematically enough for 50 yrs and western culture in efforts to be ‘progressive’ have done away with ‘rites of passage’ for men to everyone’s detriment.
I disagree that men accept other men the way they are. If that were the case, then transwomen wouldn’t need or care about getting acceptance by women as if they were women. I think Chris just doesn’t want to deal with the issue you presented and his response was pretty disingenuous
In my experience, men tend to prefer gathering around an activity (it could be hunting or watercolour painting, doesn’t really matter) and are best able to be open and vulnerable standing shoulder to shoulder.
As for the ‘acceptance’ of detransitioned men… really I think that’s complicated by what drove transition in the first place, but seeking ‘acceptance’ in the company of men can be done by being prepared to partake in some activity or skill and being willing to be party to a respect-based hierarchy. I’ve done it via martial arts as a female. I wasn’t ‘the best’ fighter in my cohort of 98% men because, duh… but I earned a place there because I was committed to excellence as the pros in the group and was willing to take the hits to get there, even when it hurt me more than my sparring partner.
So in one sense, Chris is kind of right but it looks VERY different to the way women support one another and organise themselves. They would rather get on with things as men and welcome anyone who can hold their own. Depending on the detransitioner, it’s highly likely that they struggled to ‘fit in’ with men for a variety of reasons, but primarily because they weren’t able to intuit *how* to, and need some explicit guidance and mentoring to do so… that’s probably where you do need a ‘masculinist’ movement to step up and provide. Fathers and other male elders haven’t been doing it systematically enough for 50 yrs and western culture in efforts to be ‘progressive’ have done away with ‘rites of passage’ for men to everyone’s detriment.
I disagree that men accept other men the way they are. If that were the case, then transwomen wouldn’t need or care about getting acceptance by women as if they were women. I think Chris just doesn’t want to deal with the issue you presented and his response was pretty disingenuous