Even in a liberal society. Men still have stricter expectations compared to women, because of how most people define "positive masculinity".

This post will focus on liberal values when it comes to masculinity. Because remove conservative values, remove the red-pill manosphere. And men still have issues. Liberals don't necessarily save men from their issues. Liberals aren't even neutral to men issues. They can even perpetuate men issues too.

I spend a lot of time in left leaning spaces, and also around liberal people in real-life too. And I noticed they are always talking about ways men should do better, or some form of masculinity called "positive masculinity".

Whenever I see someone define "positive masculinity" I always roll my eyes. Whether it's in the media (via shows/movies), social media posts, articles, or a friend in real-life.

I hate the term "positive masculinity" way more than the term toxic masculinity. Because most people definition of "positive masculinity" usually just end up being a pseudo version of traditional masculinity with a feminist gaze.

Most people when talking about "positive masculinity''. They never talked about men having better mental health, not being expected to protect/provide, or go to war. "Positive masculinity" is always about men doing stuff for women or society in general. So "positive masculinity" isn't about helping men themselves. It's about how men can make life easier for others.

A lot of self sacrifice is normalized with the term "positive masculinity". Because again the term isn't about improving men lives. It's about what are some good things men can do for women. So a man earning the title of a "good man" is determining by how beneficial he is to women or society in general.

"Positive masculinity" just uphold rigid gender roles for men. For example, in the Gillette commercial. By the way, the Gillette commercial is a perfect example of society defining "positive masculinity" in such annoying/ironic way.

In the ad, a man is about to flirt with a woman (I think, I don't know because the guy instantly gets stop). Then a other man who is the "good guy with a gun" here, comes up to the potential harrasser by bumping into him. And he says "not cool, not cool" when holding him. So in an ad about men being better from a very popular company. The ad still perpetuate the idea that men should still use violence or at least be confrontational in order to protect women. Again irony is the word here.

Even the whole language around men doing better is rooted in traditional masculine expectations. When Feminists say "men must hold other men accountable" or "standup for women". This just sounds like a dog whistle for men to uphold the protector gender role, and protect women from violent attackers. So again self-sacrifice is how most people define what "positive masculinity" is.

The funny ironic thing is "positive masculinity" is supposed to be a alternative to toxic masculinity. But in reality, again it's just normal traditional masculinity without the misogyny. It has nothing to do with helping men. It's basically the analogy of different toilet, but same shit. "Positive masculinity" vs toxic masculinity is just the "it's the same picture" meme.

Now compare to femininity. Similar to how there isn't toxic femininity. There isn't positive femininity either. Because for the most part modern society (especially liberals) don't have standards or expectations for women. And also of course decades of Feminism progress have made it easier for women too.

So outside a minority of Conservatives. Most people aren't creating a version of "positive femininity" where women are just expected to cater to men, or only do things that benefits men.

Because that would be ridiculous right? That would be misogynistic. But when you switch the genders. This is somehow normalized for men though.

When it comes to femininity in today world. There aren't universal standards for women. Because women have individualism. While for men that individualism doesn't exist, there are universal standards society expects most straight men to adhere to. Most people have a spiritual meaning of masculinity, but not femininity though.