Comment on What do you think the solution to selling progressive politics to young men is ?
notastatist@feddit.org 1 day agoNice for you bro!
But you should also think that a lot of people dont have the luck to see life as you and struggle with much stuff.
13igTyme@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I understand. But you also can’t read one sentence about me and describe it as lucky. I had shitty abusive parents. I worked my way through college so it took a little longer. Struggled financially at times. Have lived with suicidal tendencies since my parents divorced when I was 12 and became even more shitty and abusive.
I’m only successful because of myself and the work I’ve put into my life to be where I am today. To me having a role model wouldn’t have done or changed anything. I get that others might need it, but I don’t think every straight white male in America needs a role model and is doomed to be a conservative just because they can’t find one.
There are plenty of straight white males that are progressive or liberal. The ones that are conservative aren’t that way just because of a shitty role model. Many are shitty in plenty of other ways.
timmy_dean_sausage@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
I completely understand were you’re coming from. I grew up in an incredibly disfunctional/abusive household and left at 15. I’ve been pretty much completely self-reliant since then. I was mostly self reliant before that. My parents idea of raising children was occasionally popping in to feed us or beat us (sometimes literally) into submission. I don’t need any external input to come to my own non-shitty conclusions on things because I’ve always had to think for myself.
However, I was also extremely lucky to find some good male role models in early adulthood that completely changed a lot of my life, mostly by exposing me to new ideas, skill sets, and opportunities. I think, while you and I have been shaped by hardships in a way that makes us mentally resilient enough to feel like we don’t need that mentorship, most young men don’t have that and they’re really floundering without guidance. I also think that this ultimately stems from homophobic tensions drilled into men of the last few generations that told us that platonic close relationships and brotherly affection between men is unacceptable.
So, while I agree that right wing ideology isn’t the default for young men who lack positive guidance, it’s a completely understandable outcome when the only available guidance they have, in a world that leaves young people with so many important/big questions, is a highly curated machine designed to lure them into a downward spiral towards far right/ fascist ideology.