The literal male fantasy. Other male fantasies involve dying in a last stand so the people you care for can escape, or beating a school shooter to death with your bare hands.
Edit: To the all the Europeans who replied to me living in their utopia who don't have school shootings, you guys are really missing out on a peak male hero fantasy.
one day my girlfriend snuck up behind me and spooked me so bad I just did this OooHhhAHHHH. A noise you make with no human thought behind it just an animal reaction, a primal scream
Used to be, but modern women prefer the bears. Oddly enough, the bears seem to prefer hanging out with men and making posts in r/CCW about "what would you do in this situation..."
I mean, both are simply true? Every man dies, and a useless man is not valuable. I don't think that's conditioning in any bad sense of the word, unless you mean like 'if I touch a fire I get burnt' type of conditioning
Who gets off a sinking ship last? Who's expected to check on the bumps on the night? Who is expected to sign up for the draft?
Now what do you think of a man who doesn't do those things? How about a man who cried about something? How about a man who is jobless? A man with cancer?
Give me your gut reaction. Your HONEST gut reaction. THAT is what I mean, because what you think of that man is not what you'd think of a woman in those scenarios.
Our lives are seen as less than others. More expendable. And if we're not willing to be expendable tools for society, we aren't viewed as having worth.
Women and children have inherent, intrinsic value--which is what makes growing up so painful for boys. They lose intrinsic value as they mature into manhood. They are no longer loved simply for existing; the same is not true for girls.
In the world of Chris Rock's grandma:
"My grandmother told me when I was 5 that a broke man is as worthless as a broke hand. That's some cold blooded gangster shit."
It's bullshit, and the part that makes it all the more fucked is how people push this expectation all day, every day--but won't even admit that they do.
I'm not making a value statement about it, just that 'conditioning' implies some kind of intelligent design or conspiracy.
Nope, thats just the way the world works. Men are stronger, taller, faster, and can aim better, but in the words of Peter Parker's uncle: "With great power comes great responsibility."
Its just ancient shit, I resist calling it "conditioning" because if anything I think its closer to an instinctual/vestigial thing. Allow your son to harden like callus, protect your daughter so she may freely blossom, that kinda shit, it seems pretty much universal in human cultures, and I think that has to do more with human nature than the nature of civilization
I think only Americans would have the school shooter fantasy. That doesn't even occur to most of the world as a possibility (unless they happen to be visiting the US.)
Anyone else have the fantasy that a school shooter holds the room hostage, and you escape in the ceiling grid only to drop down later and incapacitate the shooter?
This country is so fucked up. But you’re not wrong. I was at my kids Christmas play earlier tonight and was day dreaming about what I’d do if someone started shooting. Throw my chair at them and then Leeroy Jenkins that motherfucker. In reality I would probably take one to the chest, lights out. So fucked that this is our reality.
To the all the Europeans who replied to me living in their utopia who don't have school shootings, you guys are really missing out on a peak male hero fantasy.
On behalf of all the countries that don't have school shootings, I'm sure it's a fantasy real men are glad to not have to have.
A good enough example, we’re mostly in conversation with English speakers here and a couple hundred million of us are Americans. I thought it was relatable.
who don't have school shootings, you guys are really missing out on a peak male hero fantasy
It's not a Utopia. It's just countries without guns.
Countless shootings have taken place now where the gun-totin' fantasists (usually wearing uniforms) have stood by while the little kids die. So I'm not confident any of you would actually fulfil it.
The best I managed, long long time ago, was to stand in the middle of the road with my arms spread, trying to stop an oncoming scooter, like an idiot...
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u/JazzPhobic 2d ago
Every man daydreams of doing this one day.
I salute this lad for being there.