I don't share this lightly, or with the intent of supporting this opinion. This image makes me sick with anger and with sadness. I grew up hunting and fishing. My memories of learning to shoot a gun, of learning to track, of pulling in nets so heavy with fish that they sunk under the water’s surface, of learning to put away fish by drying and salting and canning and freezing are memories of being nurtured by a family that taught me to take care of myself and my family. Hunting and fishing have nothing to do with gender. I know many men who don’t hunt or fish. They are men. I know many women who hunt and fish. They are women. I know many people who don’t hunt or fish and many who hunt and fish who don’t identify with a gender that can be explained or labeled with gender binary terms like ‘man’ or ‘woman’. This image is making a statement that devalues men who don’t hunt and fish, through the implication that being a woman who is dating a woman is something that one should be ashamed of and through the implication that dating a ‘man’ who isn’t a ‘man’ is something to be ashamed of. If your significant other doesn't hunt, respect them. Their reasons for not hunting or fishing are their own, and they are valid. If a person chooses to date, they are strong. Dating is hard. It requires dedication, and a willingness to make yourself vulnerable to another person. Dating a person of the same sex is hard. There are many people in the world that will devalue that kind of relationship, and hold that kind of relationship to scrutiny. Meaning that those who date members of the same sex must stand up to criticisms in a way that couples comprised of two people of the opposite sex won't have to. If a person who is assigned the male gender at birth is not male and they come out to themselves, they are strong. This is a strength born of self-struggle and of honesty to one's self. If a person who is assigned the male gender at birth decides to come out as not male to their significant other they posses a strength that hunting and fishing can’t teach. They are putting their identities to the scrutiny of the person they have decided to trust with their vulnerability. They possess courage. They are a hero.
(Note: This image is not original content created by myself.)