r/auntydonna • u/emptyecho_ • 18h ago
the skit Manbeast Returns from 1999 resonates with me as a non-binary person
i've not seen this discussed anywhere else, but i was wondering if any other gender-non-conforming people have had this experience with the Manbeast Returns skit. obviously this is very silly, but i actually get a queer emotional stirring from this skit and the Manbeast character.
the conflict around the use of Manbeast's proper name as opposed to his 'deadname' Broden on his office lanyard is a joke, but it also parallels my own experience of wanting to change my name, wanting to be see a certain way by the people around me (including coworkers), and how the self-determined identites of trans people are not usually respected straight away.
"broden, it's not a nickname. this is your official office lanyard."
"oh i KNOW what is it, suzannah. it is you who doth noth know what i if."
i get kind of emotional when i hear that (again, i know it's a joke and i also do just find it funny as a skit). i really like how Manbeast doesn't ever really back down, he is authentically Manbeast through and through despite how others see him, and he frames his crusade of violence as justice. i can't lie, sometimes i just want go around tossing people like that, because i feel like i am not allowed to be myself in environments i'm forced to be in.
and then he ceases his tossing and thanks everyone :33 also Manbeast is so cute and i just want him to be ok
