(Deeper into politics, but I feel needed to be said) (Gaming)

by Harmanimus , Wednesday, March 21, 2018, 19:23 (2443 days ago) @ Kermit

Not because I want to have a point of conflict and not explicitly directed at you, but because you (and possibly others) may see those items and feel they are not negatives, but the emphasis is on toxicity. I know this is probably more political, but I know that this place has some diverse backgrounds and I think it is important to address.

manning up and not crying

Needing to respond to stress through "dealing with it" especially with the extra verbal implication of "manning" can lead to stunted emotional/social understanding and an internalization of unyielding stoicism which is emotionally and psychologically poisoning to an individual vested in the notion that they must not share emotions (crying is a release, with chemical variance based on the chemical releases it is attempting to flush) for that would make them less. This limits their indulgence or acceptance in positive emotions as well as confronting negative emotions. Without the tool set, support, and understanding to properly handle those circumstances you tend to lead to emotional outbursts or other harmful action/inaction which leads us to . . .

not showing weakness

This compounds itself through gendered insults (Cody's third example) which inherently assume inferiority and negativity to the feminine (a simple comparable to exert strength against so as to avoid displays of weakness) which cyclically supports seeing women as inferior (not even touching on how this supports internalized misogyny in women and young girls) and with a superior/inferior dichotomy established through a need to not show such weakness (specifically publicly) many men who are indoctrinated with toxic masculinity will utilize the implicit or explicit threat of violence (physical, verbal, psychological) to establish and maintain an "alpha" (such a bad term) personality. Generally this is at the expense of female family member's or romantic partner's (who are often subjected to a traditional assumption of being the sole point of emotional support of emotionally stunted men instead of relying on a developed and supportive social group) emotional and psychological well being. Sometimes physical.

I needed to express that because the concept of toxicity is all about volume. There is a volume where both oxygen and water are toxic to humans, even though we require them to live. So even if on their own these concepts don't seem toxic to you, in large doses or in conjunction with other aspects that they often feed into you do result in very obvious toxic behaviors.

This is actually one of the reasons Kylo Ren is a terrible role model and the people who think he needs a redemption arc in IX are some of the most frustrating people to have conversations with about TLJ. Not saying that's you. I just know a lot of people who are pro-Ren or pro-Reylo. /wretch