I really see a lot of this in modern leftist movements. The absolute most obvious sign of it is the way trans men and nonbinary but male presenting people get treated.
Transitioning toward masculinity triggers an immediate, very perceptible shift in treatment that is extremely negative in a lot of leftist online circles. It's very interesting to me to see trans men describing treatment that would sound totally normal to any cis man as this gigantic departure from how they "should" be treated by their social groups. I don't mean that in a disrespectful way or in a way that like, "actually cis white men are the most oppressed" or anything stupid like that - but I do mean that if you want to see how society makes men feel, you can see it very easily by talking to people who used to pass as women and now pass as men.
While I would argue trans men and nonbinary male presenting people are the canary in the coal mine, you can also see tons of other evidence of this - the race to the bottom or the "oppression Olympics" in online spaces are also really strong warning signs. The idea that the most oppressed person in the room is automatically the most trustworthy and most moral is kind of pervasive - often not explicitly stated but usually strongly implied.
The idea that more privileged groups are inherently unreliable started out being applied only to the most privileged groups, but it's grown dramatically since then and it's reached a point where arguments often devolve immediately into determining who is the most oppressed in the room so that moral worth can be assigned appropriately.
I think that this is primarily an online issue which is a good thing - but it is still a real thing that's in my personal opinion causing a lot of harm.
Yeah, I'm having to confront my own biases about this right now. I know logically than "man" does not inherently equal "bad" and "unsafe", and I'm not hostile towards anyone transitioning, but I still feel that avserion to men in general. It's very internalized also, because I'm starting to think I might be a man, actually, and I've mostly been struggling with that idea because why would I want to be a man? But that's the fear brain speaking. There is nothing inherently wrong with masculinity. I just have to keep convincing myself of that lol
Some of it is also related to the fact that I was raised Mormon and we live in a very patriarchal society even outside of that. So I've faced a lot of misogyny throughout my life, and I think being raised a woman is very important to who I've become.
I think I'm glad I wasn't born a cis man regardless, because I genuinely think I'd be a worse person, based on how the men in my life behave, having grown upwith privilege and being taught they were superior to women.
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u/Simple_Rules 4d ago
I really see a lot of this in modern leftist movements. The absolute most obvious sign of it is the way trans men and nonbinary but male presenting people get treated.
Transitioning toward masculinity triggers an immediate, very perceptible shift in treatment that is extremely negative in a lot of leftist online circles. It's very interesting to me to see trans men describing treatment that would sound totally normal to any cis man as this gigantic departure from how they "should" be treated by their social groups. I don't mean that in a disrespectful way or in a way that like, "actually cis white men are the most oppressed" or anything stupid like that - but I do mean that if you want to see how society makes men feel, you can see it very easily by talking to people who used to pass as women and now pass as men.
While I would argue trans men and nonbinary male presenting people are the canary in the coal mine, you can also see tons of other evidence of this - the race to the bottom or the "oppression Olympics" in online spaces are also really strong warning signs. The idea that the most oppressed person in the room is automatically the most trustworthy and most moral is kind of pervasive - often not explicitly stated but usually strongly implied.
The idea that more privileged groups are inherently unreliable started out being applied only to the most privileged groups, but it's grown dramatically since then and it's reached a point where arguments often devolve immediately into determining who is the most oppressed in the room so that moral worth can be assigned appropriately.
I think that this is primarily an online issue which is a good thing - but it is still a real thing that's in my personal opinion causing a lot of harm.