DEAR DR. NERDLOVE: I was reading your recent column “It’s Impossible For Me To Meet New People!”where you brought up the “man or bear” thing and it made me realise I need to ask for help on this.
I’m a trans man and I really, really hate myself for being a man. When I was growing up I was part of communities that went very hard on the “men are terrifying predators, OBVIOUSLY a woman would choose the bear, etc” stuff, which felt great and affirming… until I realised I was a man. And that transitioning would make me worse than a wild animal in the eyes of my friends – who had been very clear about that, they always went out of their way to say things like “kill all men includes trans men!” (You can tell from the past tense that I, uh, don’t spend a lot of time with these people any more. But their influence on my thinking remains.)
So like, I get your advice about “if you know it doesn’t apply to you then don’t take it personally” and I want to be able to do that, but I don’t know how. Especially since people keep going out of their way to make it clear that they DO think trans men specifically are evil. I’m not saying trans men should get a free pass on sexism, but these people aren’t saying “remember trans men can be sexist”; they’re saying “trans men are irredeemable predators just like cis men”. I don’t know how to let that roll off my back, especially since I feel guilty for feeling upset by it, because if I was REALLY a good man then I would know that it didn’t apply to me and wouldn’t feel bad! So being upset is proof that I’m evil!
I get the impression this stuff affects me more than cis men because I feel like I could “do better” by going back in the closet and trying to be a woman again, which isn’t really a thing cis men see as an option. TBH it’s perfectly captured by your example of how everyone chooses the bear in “your daughter meets a man vs a bear” but the woman in “woman vs bear”; I feel like I couldn’t ask for better evidence that it’s safer for those around me if I stay in the closet. I’ve actually caught myself wishing that conversion therapy worked so that I could do it without having to suffer gender dysphoria. (I’ve looked for resources to help with these thoughts but basically everything about conversion therapy assumes that a) it’s religious or psychoanalysis and b) someone is doing it to you rather than you doing it to yourself.)
Tl;dr it’s easy to say “if you know this stuff doesn’t apply to you then don’t get upset by it” but how do I actually start building that ability?
Cheers,
Bear-Man
DEAR BEAR-MAN: I’m glad that you said that you don’t hang out with those people any more, because the first thing I was going to tell you was that you need new and better friends.
There’re a few things to consider here, BM. The first is that volume and excitement aren’t the same thing as being correct. It’s easy to yell “all men are predators”; it can feel good because it lets people feel righteous and not have to think any further than that. It feels like activism. But it’s not. It’s just yelling. It’s just noise.
The second is that men aren’t instinctually dangerous. Men aren’t predators because gender is immutable or we’re wired to be so at some genetic level. The reason why so many men are so s--tty and dangerous to women is because the system we live in teaches us to be that way. That’s the whole deal with toxic masculinity – it’s a system of beliefs that treat behaviors that are inherently harmful as virtues, encourages men to follow them and punishes the ones who deviate from it. Much like the old saw about how fish have no word for water, it’s something that we’ve all been raised in and swimming in for so long that we’re barely aware that it’s even there.
This is why we’re still having discussions about “how men can’t flirt for fear of being hit with harassment suits” or why it’s bad that (white) boys aren’t having as much sex as they theoretically should be; we’re only just starting to grapple with the fact that that behavior that was not just tolerated but encouraged and valorized was, in fact, deeply f--ked up. A lot of people are hearing for the first time that behavior they thought was accepted and expected is, in fact, anything but, and that’s incredibly uncomfortable. It both asks for accountability and acknowledgement of bad behavior, but also to recognize that a lot of what men were taught was their birthright is actually unearned.
So, no: the fact that you realized you’re a man doesn’t mean that a switch was flipped and now you’re ontologically evil. It just means that you’re a man, in a world that’s in the middle of systematic change and change at this level rarely goes smoothly.
But that’s a systematic issue. Let’s talk about the personal level. We’ll start with something simple: being a good man doesn’t mean that you don’t worry about how people feel or that you should let those words roll off you like water off a duck’s back. You know why those words bother you? Because you worry about being a bad man. You’re concerned with other people’s comfort and safety and making sure that you’re not contributing to a world that already makes life hard for others. You worry that maybe there’s something that you’re missing, that maybe there’s some way that you’re causing harm that you aren’t aware of.
Those aren’t the behaviors of a bad man. Those aren’t the worries of a predator. Those are the thoughts, behaviors and feelings of someone who is considerate, thoughtful and who wants to be better. And to a certain extent, that’s a good thing. One of the biggest mistakes people can make is to assume that because they’re The Good Guys, then obviously nothing they do is wrong. But that’s precisely the problem; once you start assuming that you’re Good, you stop paying attention, you stop trying to make sure you don’t hurt people by accident. How could you? You’re Good.
And that’s where the mistakes creep in. That’s where the harm happens. And that’s where accountability stops because clearly it couldn’t be your fault, you’re Good! You’re ontologically incapable of causing harm.
Now to be clear: this doesn’t mean that self-doubt and anxiety mean you’re inherently good. What it does mean is that the people who are causing the most harm don’t worry about it nor do they care. The guys who pivot to violent fantasies over the whole “man vs. bear” thing? They’re not rubbing their hands together like a supervillain about to launch their death ray, they’re not thinking “mua ha ha I’m evil!” They’re not thinking about anything, other than their pricked ego. They couldn’t care less if what they’re doing contributes to a world that harms other people.
At the same time, being worried about making mistakes doesn’t mean that you aren’t going to make them. You’re human and you’re imperfect, same as all of us. Everyone f--ks up on occasion. It’s part of the human experience. But you’re actually paying attention. You’re doing your best to avoid causing harm and you want to make things right if you do. That means a lot, and it tells you far more about who you actually are.
Now, I wouldn’t be earning the “Nerd” in my name if I didn’t bring this around to something suitably geeky, so there are two things for you to keep in mind. One is that being a man – and yes I am absolutely including trans men in this – gives one privileges in society. Well, this is why it’s good to follow the Tao of Peter Parker: with great power comes great responsibility. If you have power or privilege, it’s important to think about how you use it and how it affects others.
This is what leads me to the second thing to keep in mind: embrace your inner Mr. Rogers. Not just Fred, but Steve Rogers. Steve Rogers is, by all objective accounts, the Man’s Man. He looks like what wanna-be “alphas” think a “real” man looks like – tall, handsome and built like a brick s--thouse. But the reason why Steve Rogers is Captain America is because of who he is inside. He may be the Manly Man Man but he knows what it means to be weak. He knows what it means to be vulnerable. And in his heart of hearts, his goal is to help the weak, to protect the vulnerable, to uplift the people around him. This is why it’s significant that his weapon is a shield; it a small detail that says volumes about who he is and what he stands for.
Steve Rogers is aware of the potential he has to cause harm. He knows that he could be a risk to others and so he does his best to make sure he doesn’t. He tries to be careful about how and when he uses his prodigious strength, in how he treats others and what causes he pursues. And while there will always be others who may not trust him or see him as a threat, he does his best to earn their trust. He doesn’t try to prove he’s a good man, he just tries to do good. And while he frequently has his doubts or worries, he does his best to follow his moral compass and let that be the bulwark against being a threat.
I think there’re far worse role models out there than Fred and Steve. Some situations call for a Fred Rogers. Some call for a Steve Rogers. Finding your place in that spectrum, I think, will go a long way towards relieving those anxieties you have. Your existence isn’t a threat to others, MB. Your simply being a man isn’t causing harm.
Being dangerous is an active state. It’s not inherent in your gender. It’s a matter of choice. It may be a choice made in ignorance, but it’s still a choice.
There are awful people in the world, yeah. The fact that you physically resemble some of them doesn’t make you one of them, because it’s not the physicality that makes them awful.
You aren’t making people unsafe because you exist around them and the world won’t be better because you go back into the closet or deny your truth. It’d just be a little sadder and a little less bright because you’re hiding your light.
You want to be a good man? OK. Choose to BE one and live it to the best of your ability. Do your best to do no harm and to make the world a little better – even if it’s just your small piece of it. If you make mistakes, then apologize and do your best to make amends. But never forget: you have it in you to be the man that both Mr. Rogers’ knows you could be. So go out there and make them proud.
You’ve got this.
All will be well.
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Please send your questions to Dr. NerdLove at his website (www.doctornerdlove.com/contact); or to his email, doc@doctornerdlove.com