this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2025
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I totally get the joke, and Pedro can only be a good thing (huge fan, pray daily that he adopts me). But I do understand why some men would find it insulting. What's your thoughts?

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[–] [email protected] 75 points 6 days ago (9 children)

Lesbian here, so maybe not the target audience for this. However this kind of meme and discourse makes me somewhat uncomfortable. Like, really? Pedro Pascal is -the only nice guy- in the world, every other guy is trash? Too often I hear women speak about men as if they're inherently bad people, rather than victims of the patriarchy just like them. It reeks of "that's just the way men are" and "boys will be boys", except now it's being used to shame and admonish. Shame isn't going to change mindsets, it's only going to make people defensive. It's not as if men are genetically assholes, but these kinds of memes sure make it sound like they are.

It bothers me because I have a son who will grow up to become a man (at least that's how it's looking right now). I worry about what he internalises when he hears that people expect he'll grow up to be a sexist asshole, just because he was born a boy. I have to defend against that just like I defend my daughter when sexism is directed at her, because frankly that's exactly what it is. If I were told from a young age that the default expectation is I'll grow up to be trash just because I have a penis, why bother to do better? I'd probably also listen to the Tates and Petersons who make me feel good about myself instead.

I understand why women are angry and frustrated, they have every right to be. I've also been on the receiving end of sexist and frankly traumatic shit because I was born a girl. I just don't feel like it'll get any better by creating more division, more "us vs them".

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 days ago

I agree. Male and female have skills that are different. And just like women men can be good or bad. If we want equality we have to consider we do t get that via shame, condescension or derogative statements.

The memes cute but pedro is one of many good men.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (5 children)

Sorry to dive into the mix here, but I've got a kind of genuine question, as someone who is having to play catch up on my femme socialization. I thought the "it's not all men" response is sort of the classic incel defense? Like actually the safest approach for women is to assume "all men". The comparison I've had success explaining to men is "how do you treat a gun you don't know anything about?" To which they quickly respond with, "like it's loaded", and I can follow up with "right, because it could easily hurt or kill you." By this point most men are starting to see the connection. So it’s easy to complete the thought with, "most men could easily hurt or kill most women, so treating them all like a loaded gun is legitimately the safest option".

This kind of came up in a comm I mod. A meme came up with the punchline basically being, "women don't want to date fascists and want guys who punch nazis" and it got reported for "alienating men from leftist causes." Like actually if humor like that makes you feel like an outgroup, I don't think the joke was meant for you, and you might want to think about why the crowd you want to be "in" with finds the joke funny or relevant.

EDIT: To be clear, I very much see your point with your son. I would want to find a way to prevent the pigeon holing too. There are definitely ways to have these conversations without making men feel like shit, but providing them examples of healthy role models, even if the example comes from a meme, is not a bad thing. I know my pre-transition self would have wondered, "what does Pedro Pascal do or say to make people think this" which would send me down a rabbit hole of his support for his sister and trans folk in general. His just completely level headed take after level headed take on hot issues as if they have easy and obvious answers. He genuinely spreads love at every turn, which is so far from the default behavior of most men women interact with.

[–] oxideseven 10 points 5 days ago (3 children)

It's weird... I like you comparison to guns but also I hate it. It really does make a point but I think it just enforces the bad generalization point?

NOTE: I'm autistic and miss the point sometimes (a lot) I'm more asking questions here than trying to claim I'm correct. I'm very open to the conversation.

There are lots of problems with it I think. Guns are tools. Tools used to kill and nothing else. Guns aren't capable of thought and reasoning and so on. Guns should be treated as loaded as a respect think, not a fear thing. Guns kill when people use them to kill.

Men are not that. Men can be so many things. Also I'd assume more men have never even come close to hurting or killing women then those that have hurt or killed women. Women have also killed men. Some women don't fear men.

Why treat things as an absolute when it's a complicated spectrum like any other. Generalizations are just bad I think... They just kind of lead to tribalism in a bad way.

My brother pointed out something that happened to him. A woman crossed the street to not walk on the sidewalk where he was waiting for a bus. General advice we give out to each other, right? But then he asked how different would that be if he crossed to street if a black person was waiting for the bus? I'll be honest I didn't have an answer for him. Like if he did that people would call him racist for making a generalization, and I don't think he's wrong...

What's different?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Yeah I see what you’re saying. Agree even! (Also autistic so tone, and missing points and stuff like that, I also struggle) I am also here primarily to learn, not preach.

The only thing I’m pondering is your point about guns being a tool, not doing the killing themselves. I think that’s interesting. Like it’s an application of the saying “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” So the metaphor breaks down when the “treat every gun like it’s loaded” is applied to men. The only twist I’ll maybe add is that men are the gun and patriarchal capitalism is the person wielding it? Like men have been so conditioned by the ruling class, but I’m not going to really dig into my personal politics here, just seeing if that helps blend the two approaches.

Like I do not think every individual man is responsible for the lack of safety women understandably feel around men. I think “the system” is responsible for that, but it’s going to take active work on the part of men to undo that, otherwise it just functions as them playing along with it.

The crossing the street thing is interesting. This gets brought up in trans masc circles semi regularly. Trans men talking about hitting a point in passing where women cross the street to avoid them, and the discussion often comes down to, “I’m sad about it, but I get it, men suck.” I think the amount of societal healing that needs to happen for things like that to shift is immense. Basically I’m not sure exactly what is different, if anything.

I don’t think I really took a particular stance in this post, just kind of dropped info I have that’s loosely related to what we were chatting about…

Idk if I’m still making sense. Words are hard.

[–] oxideseven 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Yeah. You're making a lot of sense.

At the end of the day I don't have the answers or solutions sadly just more questions and doubts.

I fully understand why we use the language we do and the mass generalization and I hate it. Subtilty doesn't get points across most of the time and hyperbolic arguments do and that also sucks.

You make such a great point with society meeting SO SO MUCH healing. I guess I just have this wish we would all just be better to each other and take people as they come. But then I see how you do that and surprise that one IS a bad person...

Just feel like we're racing to the bottom. :(

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[–] oxideseven 11 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I find this meme funny and generally light on the aggression, and more focusing on the praise, but I generally agree with you.

I hate that it's become normal to use hyperbole and generalizations to stack whole groups. It alienated the allies. I feel the same about ACAB and any other gross generalizations.

The response is always like ZDL posted that "you'd have to be stupid to not understand it doesn't mean everyone" but that's the same defense racists use...

The fact these conversations pop up in the first place. Making the divide between people bigger and more extreme just doesn't seem like the winning strategy. It feels like how the US treats criminals.

We could easily focus on praising good behavior without shitting on people.

I have brothers, I have a dad, I have some of the sweetest male friends. And them having to constantly second guess themselves and feel like they are public enemy number one simply for existing just sticks.

I would rather praise of perceived good behavior be the norm than aggression in general for bad behavior, especially if it's gonna be so generalized.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

Thank you, you were able to put the point I was trying to make much more succinctly and elegantly.

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[–] [email protected] 119 points 6 days ago (5 children)

But I do understand why some men would find it insulting

Good IMO. Maybe men need better role models. I find it alarming that men in general don't find it insulting that rapists like Tate and dumb fkn meat heads like Rogan claim to represent masculinity.

I say, keep praising men like Pascal and shitting on men like Tate. Maybe the message will finally get through.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 6 days ago (3 children)

The multiple downvotes on this post and your comment is exactly why the kind of thing that lead to the meme being made in the first place

[–] [email protected] 37 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (7 children)

You can see the serial downvoters on https://lemvotes.org/ and then just ban them.

Sorry for posting in this thread as a man, I hope it is acceptable to do so in this case. I also feel the downvote brigade is a bit much.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It's so cool to see my tool actually being used by people.

After the exams in the next few days I'll have the time to add new features.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I was wondering, is your tool open source?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Of course.

Not making it open source would be a very shitty move. That reminds me, I should link this repo on lemvotes.org

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

awesome, thanks so much!

I was hoping it might be open source so I can run it from my local ...

Might I suggest adding a .nvmrc or using volta pin to pin the node version, I had to infer the node version is v24 based on the Dockerfile 😅

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Sure! Btw will you be running this on your own server? If so you need a Lemmy instance as well, I assume you're lazysoci.al's admin.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I'm lazy and was just trying to set up the tool locally, and I was hoping to point to a remote instance like lazysoci.al but I see it depends on a database 🤔 This might not work as I was hoping ...

EDIT: I see, the voting information comes from having a Lemmy instance, federating to the instance is what allows the admin to see the vote information (who voted for what, etc.)

[–] [email protected] 27 points 6 days ago

It is women only but as mod I'm 100% happy with a man offering protective practical support. And don't worry we are used to the downvote brigade! Thanks for looking out for us ❤️

[–] [email protected] 25 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Omg, I’m finally going to find out who downvotes every cat post

[–] [email protected] 28 points 6 days ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Woah that's actually quite the downvote brigade for Lemmy. Not too surprised at this point though, unfortunately. They've been more or less behaving themselves since you started this community but it definitely looked to me like others had also tried and failed before you came along.

And the only comment that I've had removed here on Lemmy so far (that I'm aware of at least) was talking about the horribly lopsided stats when it comes to men vs women supporting the Afd and the ideological divide in general. And that was within like my first week here lol. So this is the impression that I have of this place.

And sorry for the 3rd paragraph but on the note of others trying and failing, feels like this community is picking up more steam daily. So I don't see this one going anywhere. Definitely not without a fight.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 days ago

Thanks music, we've been lucky with the members we've had. And no, we won't go down without a fight! #Sisterhood

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

This space is shifting into TERF territory real quick

Looking at this meme for what it is, it's literally saying "#yesallmen *except Pedro, so I'm not a bigot <3"

It's a really cowardly way to try on ideologies without acknowledging the blatantly harmful aspects

And this space being for women is fine, but the mandatory requirement to say all men are excluded in every post title makes this space reek of the ways TERFs isolate and control women.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

but the mandatory requirement to say all men are excluded in every post title makes this space reek of the ways TERFs isolate and control women.

It's not mandatory, LadyButteryfly is just doing that on some of her posts because so many men comment on posts in this community, which then takes up a lot of time and effort to remove.

The motivation to put the rule in the title of the post is because so many men don't read the rules or notice what community they're in before posting, this helps them be aware and reduces the workload of the moderators.

I hear you on how it can look or seem TERFy, but I think this might just be a misunderstanding, we are explicitly trans inclusive.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It is required in the rules of the community.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Sounds like we might be talking past one another 😅

The rules of the community are that this is a women-only community, but you said:

the mandatory requirement to say all men are excluded in every post title

I was only clarifying that there is no rule that every post must include language in the post title saying all men are excluded ...

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago

Speaking as a trans woman: This meme in particular? Just seems like lighthearted fun, using a joke to praise somebody for being a good person.
But sometimes people take it too far, and the limit for me is when it's treated like there are zero exceptions, all men are bad.
I didn't draw that line arbitrarily. I have lived experience that shows the "all men are trash" crowd are far less likely to treat me as a woman, and more likely to view me as a now vulnerable man who they have an opportunity to take revenge on. Things like laughing at me for having problems they'd be supporting other women for. My mom used to have a friend like that, who laughed and gave me the classic "welcome to being a woman" every time I brought up things like not being able to go home for a while one day because a car tried to follow me there, or when disruptions in my hormone treatment lead to pain and emotional instability.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I can envision three types of men reacting to this:

A) cool empathetic good guys like Pedro pascal who will realize this is a hyperbolic joke and chuckle a lil bit B) insecure, but not bad dudes who will get all huffy and respond with "#notallmen" C) scary mean men who will take great offense and yell or break things because this meme hurts their feelings but they only understand rage

This analysis, of course, is also a jokey joke and not a doctorate level dissertation, and therefore, it should not be taken too seriously.

Love you all, be safe. May we all meet a Pedro today.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 days ago

I think this is spot on. Most of the men I've known would look at this meme and say "yeah, sounds about right." But I mostly hang with men who are secure in their masculinity and sexuality.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago

This is a truly excellent comment

[–] [email protected] 43 points 6 days ago (5 children)

This is the natural continuation of choosing the bear. We found The Universal Exception. And I truly don't give a fuck if a meme of a dorky pretty 50 year old man hurts someone's feelings.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 6 days ago

17 minutes up and your comments been downvoted twice... Lord almighty that's fast. Lemmy isn't a good place for feminism...

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 days ago

Cringe post.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

It's excruciating how so many people have missed point of this light hearted meme about a seemingly nice man, and turned it into a bunch of virtue signaling negativity.

This is exactly why I left tumblr.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 days ago

I don't think we have to consider men's opinions on every meme we create, they certainly don't consider women's opinions when they post misogynistic memes

Having said that, this meme is very, very light ribbing, I think even a lot of men will agree that Pedro is especially attractive to women

[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I will never not upvote Pedro...

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Yep he's the Internet daddy I bloody love him

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Especially after seeing how he treats and speaks about his sister... he's what we would call a "Goldschatz" in german... He's precious

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 days ago

I read it as just another fun celebration of a lovely man while also showing the boys a lovely role model.

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