One of my most active subs on Reddit was /r/MensLib, an open, pro-feminist, trans-inclusive space for people to discuss men’s issues without toxicity and without anger or violence directed at women or men. It was a (mostly) wonderful community that fostered lots of genuine, heartfelt discussion, and it would seem to me that Beehaw as an instance would be the perfect place for such a community to take root on Lemmy.
I’m aware of the community on lemmy.ca, but there is both an article written in bad faith (though I don’t think it was posted in bad faith) and a post from a bad actor on the front page that has been up for several days with no mod action, which concerns me.
Thoughts?
(Edited to be more fair to the most active poster on the lemmy.ca community, as I don’t think they’re posting in bad faith and I should have been clearer about that)
I really liked r/menslib, it has a good balance and the toxicity was dealt with very well. This is what a new community would need. As someone else brought up, this was discussed this week, I actually thought you were the same person.
Unfortunately, I am the primary poster on [email protected] but I do not think any of my posts constitute misinformation. They are currently looking for mods if anybody is interested! See here: https://lemmy.ca/post/2116280
All that said I would definitely be active in a beehaw community.
EDIT: For anybody worried about misinformation or bad actors. This is the front page:
There’s a link in the top 5 posts to a “philosophy” article that cherry picks limited sources in order to misrepresent Stoicism as a philosophy as mere garden variety stoicism in the more modern vernacular, and then uncritically blames it as the source of all toxic masculinity.
Perhaps “misinformation” was a strong accusation, but articles like that are certainly not written in good faith, regardless of the intent in sharing them.
Perhaps I should edit my post to use less inflammatory language. Sorry.
I see. So the issue is primarily that you’re a stoicism stan. I will admit my primary goal was just to get people talking about stoicism. That said I definitely think the stoic brainworms could use some deconstructing with a focus on historical perspective. Copying my post from over there:
It’s important to recognize that the history of stoicism (because it is so old) has been integral in shaping masculine culture in the west. For so many people stoicism is felt more through it’s cultural influences than through any modern additions to the philosophy. I’ve posted this elsewhere but this video gives a brief history of stoicism and talks specifically about how this philosophy affected marginalized groups in the past and how that might explain why stoicism is still popular primarily among men. While doing so they try to make the case that modern stoicism is incredibly useful and attempts to draw a direct connection to modern CBT.
EDIT: For anybody curious about the article itself you can find it here https://imsmagazine.com/2022/03/07/how-stoicism-could-lie-at-the-root-of-mens-health-issues/
Well, that’ll teach me to read an article and then not engage in the conversation that follows. I’m not a Stoicism stan, as you say, but I have found Practical Stoicism a useful tool in my life, especially when it comes to recognizing and owning my own contributions (positive and negative) to my relationships.
I’ll go back and reply to you in the other thread so we don’t derail this one.
That actually means a huge amount to me. Apologies if I came off a little hostile with the stan comment.
I’d be interested but I don’t think it’s really possible. These spaces are always overtaken by extremists on all sides. I’ve had my fill of it from Reddit.
Edit: changed “both sides” to “all sides”
There’s /r/menslib on Reddit which is well-moderated and I’ve never seen any toxicity there (not that I go looking for it!) so it is possible.
This was not at all my experience in the specific community I’m asking about recreating here, which is why I’m asking.
I also don’t agree with the take that extremism of some form or fashion is the only natural course of human discourse. I’m sorry your experience of people has left you with such a negative view of them.
Extremism comes in more than two flavours. Let’s not perpetuate the stereotype that there are two sides in every situation … that’s propaganda.
I’m sorry, but was that what it was on Reddit? I don’t recall if that was the specific one, but I’m sure I blocked one of those communities for being, well, offputtingly angry.
/r/menslib was actively curated to be a safe place for men to discuss men’s issues and allyship without toxicity, and we had a good balance of men, women, and nonbinary posters. Its most active mod was an LGBTQ+ trans individual who was very aggressive about purging trolls and bad actors, and I found it to be a supportive and reasonable place.
Now that I’m looking back, there may have been a /r/mensliberation once upon a time that unfortunately was a copy space of MRA, MGTOW, and Red Pill, but if it did actually exist, I never subbed or participated and it likely would have been quarantined / purged when the others were.
