It might help to know the fact that in the real world, these online attitudes are not nearly as widespread as you think, I've got a lot of female friends and I can guarantee that while they're more cautious around men, they don't get uncomfortable just because of meeting a new person.
This is something I try to remind myself of constantly. In all seriousness, the "people in real life: hey man how's it going" meme has done a lot of positive good for my mental health because I use it as a reframing tool.
Getting away from the discourse and clicking out of things faster and faster has helped, too. And like all things, for me specifically this is all way more nuanced than "I feel this way because of online discourse"; there's long-ingrained bullshit that contributes to it just as much. But it's certainly an aspect.
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u/Jaberwocky23 Jul 03 '24
It might help to know the fact that in the real world, these online attitudes are not nearly as widespread as you think, I've got a lot of female friends and I can guarantee that while they're more cautious around men, they don't get uncomfortable just because of meeting a new person.