Sorry to link to an animated gif, but it’s true that masculinity is fragile.

No one is immune to it. The culture is absolutely steeped in the denigration of femininity and for males the constant policing of one’s masculinity*.

This is well-illustrated by the guys clapping for the milquetoast fopdoodle who can’t even bear to touch his partner’s or friend’s purse.

As I said, no one’s immune. But I don’t care. Buy tampons for you? Sure. The only problem I have is there are like 11 million kinds and I have no idea which are most appropriate. It’s like me walking into a auto parts store.

Nothing about femininity or its expression is embarrassing to me because nothing about being a woman is embarrassing to me, taints me or otherwise harms me.

In fact some of my very favorite people and personal heroes are women.

 

*As street harassment of women is invisible to most men, most women I’ve found have little idea just how harshly, stringently and frequently males police masculinity among themselves, all backed with the threat of violence.

Yes, it is a self-created problem but nope, one individual can’t just opt out.