The Isochronism

Something needs to change.

Why are so many teenage boys absolute idiots? It frustrates me so much, because I feel like I've spent years advocating for men, saying the idiots are in the minority, and society should give men a little more benefit of the doubt. I still think there's not a lot that's more hurtful to anyone than walking up to them and telling them their life is easy. I've had those words said to me over and over again. 

You're a guy, you have no idea what it even means to have a hard life.

That's not true. I know that. But people who don't know me still insist I have no pain tolerance, and no understanding. 

But then... Then I see a bunch of teenage idiots hurt the girl I love, and I start to think about how many of my friends would have done something to stop it, if in that group of teenagers who were too arrogant to even realize how possessive and awful they were being. Maybe one or two of my friends would have stopped it. But guys are really good at working as a group. It's really hard to be the odd one out. And so because of how the world works, there are so many girls that suffer because of guys, and that makes me so angry. Something needs to change.

I think groups of people need to hold themselves accountable, because there's so much loss of trust between groups. And so I feel like I need to hold other guys accountable, and say again: Something needs to change. I don't know what that looks like, I'm sure when I'm less tired and have more time I'll write something more cohesive, but for now I just want to rant a little. And for you guys, my advice is simple. There's a lot I could say, like always assume a girl doesn't want to touch you unless she says otherwise instead of assuming a girl does want to touch you until she says otherwise, and other rules like that, but I think the deep-rooted problem comes from arrogance, and failure to see who we all really are. That goes for a lot of women too, but I don't know that it's my place to get into that right now. Somehow, you have to change your mindset so that women are people with stories, emotions, and agency. They are not achievements to collect. Your responsibility to be careful is directly tied to your ability to cause harm. That gives all of us a great deal of responsibility, which is why I felt like I needed to write this. I've made mistakes too, and right now I'm holding myself accountable. Let's change together.