You know that Margaret Atwood quote talking about how a major effect of existing as a women in a patriarchal society that objectifies women is that when you are a woman, even when you're alone, you can't escape that self-peception from the view of the male gaze?
The one that ends, "You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur."?
I really do think that pushing this concept precisely one degree further in the other direction would explain a LOT about how we ended up with this whole "Incel, looksmaxxing, manosphere" clusterfuck, I just need 20 minutes and an antidepressant to articulate how
Like
LEVEL 0: People exist
LEVEL 1: "Man" and "Woman" roles are constructed; posed as a strict binary with discrete and disparate traits and roles.
LEVEL 2: Man wields power; Woman relies on Man's approval. One role is perceived and valued as better, stronger, smarter. Requiring Man's approval, Woman cultivates inner "man" in order to see herself from Man's perspective as a tool to better anticipate Man's desires.
LEVEL 3: Man perceives Woman's "inner man"; Man perceives anticipatory and appealing behavior as deceptive and manipulative. The potential ability of Woman to manipulate and deceive Man places Women in a position of power above Man, which Man perceives as a threat. In response, Man cultivates "inner woman": a tool which he uses to perceive the "inner man" who Woman uses to predict and appeal to Man.
LEVEL 4: Man "sees" the caricature of "Man" further distorted by the caricature of his conceptualized "Woman" and feels threatened and inferior, but at the same time trapped by the binary which generates this power struggle. Inside of him is a deceptive and threatening "Woman" who he rejects; inside of HER is the Ultimate Man, who this image of Woman supposedly desires the approval of.
If Woman can predict Man, then Woman is an opponent who leverages power through engagement with Man. The only way for "Man" to escape the Threat that Woman poses is to cease engagement. He retains "victory" (escape from woman) by maintaining distance from Woman, and because explicitly admitting the possibility that Woman could ever hold power over Man is Losing, has no option but to tell himself that this is not Fear of Losing Control, but a natural consequence of Posessing Control.
Man rejects any but the most surface-level engagement with Woman, but because "Hiding From Woman" means "Woman Is Threat", and BELIEVING "Woman Is Threat" is unacceptable, Man attempts to cut Woman from the narrative.
LEVEL 5: Man, possessing the "inner woman"'s "inner man" but determined to escape the influence of "woman", mentally erases "Woman" but retains the caricature's caricature of "inner man", who is desirable to BE.
Man possesses exaggerated image of Man, who now exists solely as the Ultimate Desireable Form. In order to achieve this form, Man must constantly see through his eyes, but in order to remain safe in his position of power over Woman, he must erase any trace of evidence that he is DOING this for Woman.
Man must Be the Ultimate Man, because [redacted], who requires Man's Approval.
Having bought in to this dichotomy and fearing the terror and uncertainty of the unknown, unable to shake the foundations of the reality he must now experience, Man forces himself into choosing between floating without purpose or structure in a void where he has no control at all over his environment, or a world where he Cannot be afraid of Woman, he is Superior to Woman, and there is nothing more important that Being The Ultimate Man Receiving Approval from the Ultimate Man
terfs and radfems fuck clean off by the way, I'm a trans dude and you're both weird, but ANYHOW
My theory is this:
If we construct an environment where the rules are
"There are two parties that cannot survive without assistance from the other"
"One party dominates the other"
"Control is domination", and
"To be dominated threatens your survival",
it's pretty much inevitable that at some point we will end up with a significant population of the Dominant party whose psychological state is very much like a traumatized sailor who, after cannibalizing his crewmates for survival, cannot recognize bread as food and instead attempts to eat his rescuers
