RE: Type O and being male

[Guest guest]

 

DJ Jam [djjamuk01]

 

>>While the type O thing is probably spurious, I do

find the assumption that being a male has anything to

do with it a little irritating, and offensive.<<

 

I can't say I was offended by the comment, but it certainly spoke well of

our collective need to label the things we seek to understand. Without

Cheryl's label, no one would be reading this post.

 

 

>>I know man bashing is all the rage, and yes, there are

a higher ratio of female veggies to male, but I think

that has more to do with the (perceived) role of a

male in our society, not just from other males, but

from females also.<<

 

I don't really like bashing anything when the steps to gaining a better

understanding of the " bashed noun " is a much shorter path. The roles of

both men and women in today's society take many unfamiliar forms, and I see

none as wrong. I say that if we can define it with some amount of clarity

and expectation, then I'm happy.

 

Gender stereotyping is quickly fading, and it's finally okay for men and

women to cross into formally unvisited territory. If that new behavior or

role is okay with the person seeking it, then it worlds for me.

 

Since many labels are changing, we're stuck with both an old definition and

an emerging one that might be quite different in some people's eyes. How to

reconcile them might be an interesting topic for later discussion, and the

veggie labels might be the starting point.

 

 

>>If I say to someone new, 'Oh, I'm a

vegan' they think I'm some lunatic tree hugger, and

look at me as if I'm mentally challenged.<<

 

This is certainly a big challenge for us as a community. Such stereotyping

has been with us much longer than my 22 years as a veggie. Individually, I

have no answer. Collectively, we might discover a way to better define

ourselves.

 

 

>>Now, blokes

are sensitive things, very insecure, and generally

don't like to stand out from the crowd for fear of

being ridiculed and singled out,<<

 

This might be the story of all human history not just for males.

 

I remember in the 60s when I was a young man, not a veggie, very

underweight, and for some reason that only my inner knowingness could

fathom, I also wrote poetry. Not a pretty picture at that particular time.

To deal with it all, I sought to find my masculinity, and a couple of days

after graduation from high school, I joined the Marines.

 

Hopefully, we can avoid the debate of whether this was a good or a bad

choice. My point is that it was my choice for facing the sea of insecurity

that I swam in during that part of my life.

 

Today, I see the same uncertainty in the eyes of both my nieces and nephews.

Little has changes since the 60s except that instead of identifying a common

stage of development, it is, depending on the circumstances, now a product

of one gender or the other. Hardly helpful in moving forward.

 

 

>>so, for most blokes,

it is a question of not trying because of this, not

simply because they are full of testoterone and only

wash their socks once a week!<<

 

" Not trying " is another of those gender neutral factors that somehow gets

applied more often to men than it should when it applies equally well to

both sexes.

 

 

>>I know the folks on here

are understanding and positive about such things, but

society as a whole, isn't, thus perpetuating the role

stereotype of male and female.<<

 

Hopefully not but we will see.

 

 

Dave