#romanticize responses

[invertedgender]

It's kind of outrageous that the post that people got the most upset about was the one saying that boys should actually feel good about themselves

Luckily most of the reblogs were positive (either with positive comments/tagging friends, or just reblogging the positive messages as is), but given the number of notes there were bound to be some complaining. Still a little surprising, but luckily I don’t think there have been any new ones in a while.

[invertedgender]

So the only thoughtful non-bigoted criticism I've seen against the romanticize post is "this is gender swapped so you're stealing girl positivity". Obviously gender swapped is the nature of this blog, but do you think that's a valid criticism? My personal opinion is that it takes nothing away from girls at all by spreading equal positivity all around, but I guess I can sort of see were they're coming from.

I could argue that by linking to the original post (as the source), they have the opportunity to reblog that one instead. But I’d say that it isn’t taking anything away, as I have done nothing to the original post (and couldn’t even if I wanted to). I agree that positivity and caring isn’t a limited resource.

[invertedgender]

Speaking as a trans man who saw that response to your Boys Romanticize post and went "WTF, but we ARE men too?" I would like to say that the poster treating me as somehow different actually hurts more than belief that I was somehow left out of body positivity. Men, you should also love yourselves and don't let anyone try to drag you down to pull someone else up. We all need to learn to love ourselves more.

I’m sorry, and yes I agree with the call for positivity <:

There are those who tried to combat this by making posts like “yes, we hate trans men too!”, and then this whole “transmisandry” nonsense started up. Funny how “it’s okay to hate this group because privilege” turned into hating a minority which unarguably faces legal discrimination and outright hate crimes. I’d take that as a definite cue that something’s gone wrong with this way of thinking.

Almost all men (and everyone else) need positivity and appreciation from time to time. If they’re trying to argue against that, but have to backtrack once they’re reminded of other races/sexualities/etc of men, then really they’re admitting that they haven’t thought properly about what maleness and male privilege means. It’s not as clear cut as “woman victim, man evil”.

[invertedgender]

It's funny how many of the romanticize responses (and others, but especially those) talk about you "taking" or "stealing" a post meant for girls, as if you don't do the exact same thing with posts meant for males.

There’s also the option to visit the original post and reblog that instead, if they agree more strongly with it than with the inversion. Advertising!

(Although the original poster has changed their URL since, meaning that most of the reblogs list the old URL as the source, the base post itself has been updated with the newer one. Or it had, last time I checked. Hmm.)

[invertedgender]

The comments on your romanticism inversion makes me so salty. Of course the point of your blog isnt male empowerment. That doesn't change the message being sent.

Maybe they think that, due to the nature of this blog, I am more “boys don’t need this!” than any of them, and they want to overthrow me and take my misandry crown, which I understand is a symbol of status on this site. Or something. What was I talking about?

The exact post itself (and the original) are a bit over the top for my tastes personally, but if it works for people then that’s great. I’m all in favor of empowering other people who need it, whatever their demographics.

There will be people (of whatever gender) who already feel great about themselves or who are outright egotistical, so who don’t really need posts like that, but it’s ridiculous to try and stamp out all positive messages just to spite those few people.After all, there’s no guarantee that those who will see any “x group are worthless” posts will be those who already think they’re fantastic, and even less of a guarantee that they’ll take it to heart and act more modestly (or whatever the intention is). Rather, a website like this attracts many of the introverted and the cautious. And they are the people more likely to be affected by a stranger saying they don’t deserve be loved or appreciated, those who already feel that way.

For those who already love themselves, comments like that tend to bounce right off. So negative messages don’t do any good at all: not for the overconfident, not for the underconfident, nor for the movement that the person claims to be a part of. Well, nobody except for the person who posted it, who may feel good about themselves for a short while.

[invertedgender]

When women around me get angry and froth and destroy my self esteem and hit me it's ok. When I get angry and simmer and keep it to myself but hide it poorly, I'm dangerous and toxic and should be avoided. I want to thank you for your blog, because few people acknowledge that men can feel injustice, and that simply because the system benefits me as a whole, doesn't mean everyday I don't face issues that make me struggle with wanting to self harm. Thank you for caring about double standards

[invertedgender]

Most of the time in the responses you receive I'm just reading them and thinking to myself: "Why thank you, person who is not a boy, for telling me, a boy, exactly how I, as a boy, feel growing up being a boy. Thank you, girl. I had no idea it was so easy being a boy. You must know a lot about being a boy, girl."

It’s particularly fun when these are the same kinds of people who get (rightfully) angry at men who talk about what they think it’s like to be a woman. Only very few people have experienced what it’s like to live and be treated as both. But they’re just as likely to be dismissed as listened to, depending on who they agree with.

[invertedgender]

I find it amazing how people who claim they want equal rights were bashing the romanticise post because it was about boys. Makes you kind of sad that there are people that won't let others get happiness

It does make my heart sink whenever I see somebody actively be against positivity for somebody else, because they’re not the “right” demographic that “deserve” positive messages. Or they think that they know how boys are treated, even if they’re not a boy themselves.

But most people (both in the notes and in real life!) are lovely and decent people, in that they won’t interrupt somebody being told that they deserve happiness and tell them otherwise.