Netzilla

From Saturday's game.
 
Our cast:
Nymeria - Human huntress
Lexi - Human preistess
Braddoc - Halfling thief [bronwyn's brother]
Bronwyn - Halfling illusionist
Grim - Orcish monk
Danuwell - Elvish sage
Gar - Dwarvish preist
Griff - Human (angelic) fighter
 
After the last fight, we're now searching an abandoned manor house for one of the keys we need to open the magical gateway so we can try to get home again.
 
*****
 
[From the pre-game discussion of why time travel is an ability too dangerous to allow any single human to possess.]

GM [ooc]: I wouldn't be able to resist the urge to meddle and there's know way to predict all the consequences.
Bron [ooc]: You mean like giving [politician's] parents condoms?
GM [ooc]: I don't mean killing anyone.  I'd just meddle.
Bron [ooc]: That's not killing anyone.  They just wouldn't exist.
Brad [ooc]: And that's why [bron's player] shouldn't have time travel technology.

*****

[While exploring the manor house for the first of the keys we need.]

Nym: How many races do we know of that have a poison pantry?

*****

Nym [ooc]: Quick!  Add juice to the list of things you can't breath.

[group laughs]

Lexi [ooc]: How do you do that?
Nym [ooc]: Do what?
Lexi [ooc]: Be funny?!

*****

[in a previous game, while we were foraging for food, Nymeria explained to everyone the proper process for finding out what's safe to eat: first you rub a bit on your skin and wait a few hours to see if you get a rash, then you lick it and wait a few hours then you eat a small amount, etc.]

[bronwyn, while searching the manor, comes across some jewelry.  Someone brings up the oddity of keeping it out in the open rather than under lock and key and that maybe we should be careful handling it.]

Brad: Well, we have rules about strange jewelry.
GM: You just put it on immediately, right?
Gar: No, we have to lick it first.
Nym: That's not the first step!
Brad: No.  We've already established that she has to rub it all over herself first.

*****

[Many sessions ago, we discovered that Nymeria and Lexi were both pregnant.]

Nym [ooc to Lexi's player]: Yeah, you don't want to give your baby Fetal Alcohol Syndrome!
Brad [ooc]: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?!  You've been testing strange substances for allergies for weeks now.
Nym [ooc]: Not allergies!  I was testing for deadly poisons.  If you're going to accuse me of being a bad mother, do it for the right reasons.

*****

[We've had a pretty good evening so far with many jokes and much laughter.]

Bron [ooc and wheezing a bit]: I didn't bring my Advare. [asthma medication]
Brad [ooc]: You have your rescue inhaler with you, though, right?
Bron [ooc]: Yes.
Gar [ooc]: Okay, we going to have to stop being funny or we'll kill [bron's player].

*****

Bron [ooc]: What's granpled?
Brad [ooc]: It's when grandpa gets grabby.
Nym:

*****

Brad [ooc]: Death noogie?!  I think I've found the name for my new punk band.

*****

Brad [contemplating climbing down the side of a building]: Being in the Underdark, I assume there's no rain gutters here.
Nym:
Gar: The stalagmites are dry this time of year.
Nym:
Gar: Hah!  You looked up.  I said stalagmites, when I should have said stalactites!
Brad [deadpan]: Ah, geology humor.

*****

Gar [also contemplating how to get down to the ground and deciding to jump for it]: I parquor like a parked Ford.
Grim: Aim for the halfling, he'll break your fall.
Brad:

*****

[After a nasty ambush leaving Lexi unconscious and nearly dead.]

Gar: Well, I could apply an old Dwarven healing method.  First I have to find a big rock [mimes repeatedly bashing someone with a big rock].  Are you feeling better yet? [Goes back to bashing.]

*****

Grim: So we have to go back to the elves to lick our wounds.
Lexi: I don't want any of you licking me!
Nym: Well, I'd have to rub you on my arm to make sure it's safe first.

*****

Lexi: Gar, heal me!
Brad: Get your rock.
Lexi: No! Not the rock!
Brad: That's the thing about the rock.  Once you've used it once, they don't ask for it again; so they must be healed.
Gar: You understand Dwarven healing magic!

Is there any real evidence that Hillary is going to go on a gun seizing rampage once in office? I note that Obama's Plan To Take All Our Guns is about seven years late. (Perhaps because it's just a gun lobby marketing ploy. )

We're setting up for the Big Campaign Finale. One PC has a 20-something daughter with superpowers, who is following in Daddy's footsteps. (She's a DNPC, but also bought as a Follower.) Daughter wants to join the PCs on the Final Assault. The player is debating whether to bring her along or not; the player thinks it would be fun and they could use the additional firepower, but in-character the PC would be reluctant to expose his daughter to what is practically a suicide mission. Daughter really doesn't want to be left behind, and is wheedling Daddy to let her come.
 
Another player OOC: "As the father of two daughters, can we just skip ahead to the part where she gets her way? Trust me on this one."

The situation is that three men are trying to become guards in order to get into a fancy banquet to find a villain.
 
Joah: Huge Rock Man with insane strength.
Kane: Elemental Swordsman.
BB: AKA Bloody Bastard. Bloodbender with a bit of an anger issue.
Gold Prince: Leader of the Golden Guard for the banquet. 
 
 
Joah: "Excuse me, good sir, may we apply to become guards for this here ceremony?"
 
Gold Prince: "I don't know, show me what you can do!"
 
*Joah lifts his chair completely made out of gold*
 
*Kane slices that same chair in half.*
 
*BB cuts a part of his body and bends blood out of it*
 
Kane: "So, are we in?
 
Gold Prince: "Well, I think so, but I would have to get you all GOLD weapons and armour!"
 
BB: "Ugh"
 
*The Gold Prince comes back with several sets of gold chain armour, 2 golden swords, a golden set of knuckles, and a bucket of gold paint.*
 
Gold Prince: "OK, We are all set to go, but I have one request for you *Points at BB*". 
 
BB: "And that is?'
 
Gold Prince: "Can you make your blood GOLD?!" 
 
BB: "Um, no."
 
Gold Prince: "Well then, if you kill someone, throw this gold bucket on them please."

Ooooh, I got my cd the other day. It's nifty. Also the Emperor sent me some gifties! Weeee! I am such a cheap date, a couple of dice, some Patents of Nobility (one for each gender) and a single credit coin   <3 Marc

Up.  .  .Up.  .  .And AWAYYY!

Our cast:
Nymeria - Human huntress
Lexi - Human preistess
Braddoc - Halfling thief [bronwyn's brother]
Bronwyn - Halfling illusionist
Grim - Orcish monk
Danuwell - Elvish sage
Gar - Dwarvish preist
Griff - Human (angelic) fighter
 
We're still wandering lost in the underdark at the edges of what used to be the Spider Elf's domain (they've been displaced by something even nastier).  Lack of food is becoming an issue.
 
*****
 
[as we contemplate supplementing our diet with rat and mushrooms]
Gar [reminiscing about his childhood]: We used to eat such wonderful rock stew.  It brings a tear to my eye.
 
Brad: And a chip to your tooth.
 
*****
 
Lexi: This will be the best tasting rat toasted over feces you've ever eaten.
 
*****
 
GM [as the Spider Goddess]: Are you incredibly stupid, horribly ignorant or just desperate?
 
Brad: BINGO!
 
*****
 
Lexi: If my baby comes out with spider legs, you're going to have to knock me out.
 
Gar: Oh, don't tell me you're not looking forward to hearing the pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pitter-patter of tiny feet.
 
*****
 
Dan: Eeeyyyyaaarrrgggghhhhh... I can see... aaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!
 
*****
 
Brad: I can't believe you woke me up for this.  I was dreaming that I was shanking filkers.  It was wonderful.
[Dan's player, SCUBAHero here, happens to be a filker.  We like to give him a hard time.]
 
*****
 
Brad: If my arm turns black and falls off from this, I'm going to beat you to death with it.
 
Dan: That'd be a new level of tough.
 
*****
 
[after a discussion of Lexi's "offspring's" (some form of Outsider) desire to eat everything she comes across]:
Brad Important safety tip.  Never tell her to "eat me."
 
*****
 
Griff: You can't mate with things you've killed.
 
Brad: Well, it's certainly frowned on.
 
*****
 
Nym: And by "right as rain", he means, "falling down all the time."
 
*****
 
Gar: We forgot to come up with a plan for if we... if we... if we...
 
Brad: Actually succeeded?
 
Dan: Its never been an issue before.

Our cast:
Nymeria - Human huntress
Lexi - Human preistess
Braddoc - Halfling thief [bronwyn's brother]
Bronwyn - Halfling illusionist
Grim - Orcish monk
Danuwell - Elvish sage
Gar - Dwarvish preist
Griff - Human (angelic) fighter
 
We're still wandering lost in the underdark at the edges of what used to be the Spider Elf's domain (they've been displaced by something even nastier).  Lack of food is becoming an issue.
 
*****
 
[as we contemplate supplementing our diet with rat and mushrooms]
Gar [reminiscing about his childhood]: We used to eat such wonderful rock stew.  It brings a tear to my eye.
 
Brad: And a chip to your tooth.
 
*****
 
Lexi: This will be the best tasting rat toasted over feces you've ever eaten.
 
*****
 
GM [as the Spider Goddess]: Are you incredibly stupid, horribly ignorant or just desperate?
 
Brad: BINGO!
 
*****
 
Lexi: If my baby comes out with spider legs, you're going to have to knock me out.
 
Gar: Oh, don't tell me you're not looking forward to hearing the pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pitter-patter, pitter-patter of tiny feet.
 
*****
 
Dan: Eeeyyyyaaarrrgggghhhhh... I can see... aaarrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!
 
*****
 
Brad: I can't believe you woke me up for this.  I was dreaming that I was shanking filkers.  It was wonderful.
[Dan's player, SCUBAHero here, happens to be a filker.  We like to give him a hard time.]
 
*****
 
Brad: If my arm turns black and falls off from this, I'm going to beat you to death with it.
 
Dan: That'd be a new level of tough.
 
*****
 
[after a discussion of Lexi's "offspring's" (some form of Outsider) desire to eat everything she comes across]:
Brad Important safety tip.  Never tell her to "eat me."
 
*****
 
Griff: You can't mate with things you've killed.
 
Brad: Well, it's certainly frowned on.
 
*****
 
Nym: And by "right as rain", he means, "falling down all the time."
 
*****
 
Gar: We forgot to come up with a plan for if we... if we... if we...
 
Brad: Actually succeeded?
 
Dan: Its never been an issue before.

So, we're still lost in the wilderness.  Apparently we're on an island with 4 different magical gates, each in extremely hard to get to or well guarded locations.  Also, none of us know how to properly control the gates.  We start out debating which of these gates we want to attempt to reach to try to get back home.
 
*****
 
Nymera [OOC] (after hearing about the 'darkness elementals' guarding the pass to one of the gates): That sounds vague enough to be really awful.
 
*****
 
Nymera (speaking to a friendly Treant about the various gates): Are they all equally hard to control?  'Cause this group is stupid and we need simple.
 
*****
 
Nymeria [OOC]: I have a cat who is made of murder buttons.
 
*****
 
Nymera: Do you want regular drowning or drowning with the upgrade?
 
*****
 
Nymera: If this plan works, we'll be in some other horrendous hell-hole.
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC]:  He [the GM] needs the exact steps, in order, of how you're going to fail this.
 
[This was followed, several minutes later, by the player in question rolling a massive success to activate and control the magical gate.  Unfortunately, he had activated the wrong address symbols.]
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC] (after another player spends several minutes "auditioning" all of his d20s): Gamers are a superstitious and cowardly lot,.
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC] (after another player has a accident involving a bottle of soda and bad judgement): This night shall forever more be known as "The Great Ski Incident of 2016".
 
*****
 
Braddoc (after we've travelled through the gate to the wrong address and have followed a natural cavern up into an area of worked stone): Worked stone means the possibility of traps.
 
Nymera: I was hoping you'd say "possibility of friends".
 
Braddoc: I'm not that optimistic.  I've met us.

Dude, no.  Just no.
 
I played all the way through the first Baldur's Gate game and have read a number of the Forgotten Realms novels, and I can say with great confidence that it is not a medieval setting.  How do I know?  Well one, in actual medieval times living dragons weren't a thing and magic didn't work, and two, the Forgotten Realms doesn't have the Catholic church or any obvious stand-ins for it.  The Catholic church was huge during the medieval period and influenced every aspect of medieval life.  Remove the church with its deeply hierarchical and patriarchal customs, and replace it with a multiple polytheist pantheons each with powerful female deities as well as male deities and that is going have tremendous social impacts.
 
Now combine this magic that will make pregnancy and childbirth much safer than they were in medieval Europe and also the likely existence of reliable magical birth control, and it is little wonder that woman in the Forgotten Realms are able to become power warriors and magic-users as they have been shown many times in Forgotten Realms canon.
 
So why in such a world where ones sex is no barrier or power or prestige would they be as hung up on gender as the patriarchal cluster**** that was medieval Europe?  We live in a world that in which there are lots of people who if you take the right path on the dialogue tree with them, they will happily tell you about about the trans experience.  But just because the Forgotten Realms not counting there magic (which is a large thing not to count) shares a technological sophistication with the medieval period, we must necessarily assume that trans people are the subject of endless persecution wherever they go and would never share there trans status with a stranger?
 
No, I have to call complete and total, heaping BS on that.  Show me where in Forgotten Realms canon it makes it plan that the citizens of Realms from one end to the other are a bunch of violent homophobes and I will concede the point, but the whole medieval comparison carries no water.

What has happened to my hobby that men feel the need to actively drive away half the human race?

So, we're still lost in the wilderness.  Apparently we're on an island with 4 different magical gates, each in extremely hard to get to or well guarded locations.  Also, none of us know how to properly control the gates.  We start out debating which of these gates we want to attempt to reach to try to get back home.
 
*****
 
Nymera [OOC] (after hearing about the 'darkness elementals' guarding the pass to one of the gates): That sounds vague enough to be really awful.
 
*****
 
Nymera (speaking to a friendly Treant about the various gates): Are they all equally hard to control?  'Cause this group is stupid and we need simple.
 
*****
 
Nymeria [OOC]: I have a cat who is made of murder buttons.
 
*****
 
Nymera: Do you want regular drowning or drowning with the upgrade?
 
*****
 
Nymera: If this plan works, we'll be in some other horrendous hell-hole.
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC]:  He [the GM] needs the exact steps, in order, of how you're going to fail this.
 
[This was followed, several minutes later, by the player in question rolling a massive success to activate and control the magical gate.  Unfortunately, he had activated the wrong address symbols.]
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC] (after another player spends several minutes "auditioning" all of his d20s): Gamers are a superstitious and cowardly lot,.
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC] (after another player has a accident involving a bottle of soda and bad judgement): This night shall forever more be known as "The Great Ski Incident of 2016".
 
*****
 
Braddoc (after we've travelled through the gate to the wrong address and have followed a natural cavern up into an area of worked stone): Worked stone means the possibility of traps.
 
Nymera: I was hoping you'd say "possibility of friends".
 
Braddoc: I'm not that optimistic.  I've met us.

So, we're still lost in the wilderness.  Apparently we're on an island with 4 different magical gates, each in extremely hard to get to or well guarded locations.  Also, none of us know how to properly control the gates.  We start out debating which of these gates we want to attempt to reach to try to get back home.
 
*****
 
Nymera [OOC] (after hearing about the 'darkness elementals' guarding the pass to one of the gates): That sounds vague enough to be really awful.
 
*****
 
Nymera (speaking to a friendly Treant about the various gates): Are they all equally hard to control?  'Cause this group is stupid and we need simple.
 
*****
 
Nymeria [OOC]: I have a cat who is made of murder buttons.
 
*****
 
Nymera: Do you want regular drowning or drowning with the upgrade?
 
*****
 
Nymera: If this plan works, we'll be in some other horrendous hell-hole.
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC]:  He [the GM] needs the exact steps, in order, of how you're going to fail this.
 
[This was followed, several minutes later, by the player in question rolling a massive success to activate and control the magical gate.  Unfortunately, he had activated the wrong address symbols.]
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC] (after another player spends several minutes "auditioning" all of his d20s): Gamers are a superstitious and cowardly lot,.
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC] (after another player has a accident involving a bottle of soda and bad judgement): This night shall forever more be known as "The Great Ski Incident of 2016".
 
*****
 
Braddoc (after we've travelled through the gate to the wrong address and have followed a natural cavern up into an area of worked stone): Worked stone means the possibility of traps.
 
Nymera: I was hoping you'd say "possibility of friends".
 
Braddoc: I'm not that optimistic.  I've met us.

So, we're still lost in the wilderness.  Apparently we're on an island with 4 different magical gates, each in extremely hard to get to or well guarded locations.  Also, none of us know how to properly control the gates.  We start out debating which of these gates we want to attempt to reach to try to get back home.
 
*****
 
Nymera [OOC] (after hearing about the 'darkness elementals' guarding the pass to one of the gates): That sounds vague enough to be really awful.
 
*****
 
Nymera (speaking to a friendly Treant about the various gates): Are they all equally hard to control?  'Cause this group is stupid and we need simple.
 
*****
 
Nymeria [OOC]: I have a cat who is made of murder buttons.
 
*****
 
Nymera: Do you want regular drowning or drowning with the upgrade?
 
*****
 
Nymera: If this plan works, we'll be in some other horrendous hell-hole.
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC]:  He [the GM] needs the exact steps, in order, of how you're going to fail this.
 
[This was followed, several minutes later, by the player in question rolling a massive success to activate and control the magical gate.  Unfortunately, he had activated the wrong address symbols.]
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC] (after another player spends several minutes "auditioning" all of his d20s): Gamers are a superstitious and cowardly lot,.
 
*****
 
Braddoc [OOC] (after another player has a accident involving a bottle of soda and bad judgement): This night shall forever more be known as "The Great Ski Incident of 2016".
 
*****
 
Braddoc (after we've travelled through the gate to the wrong address and have followed a natural cavern up into an area of worked stone): Worked stone means the possibility of traps.
 
Nymera: I was hoping you'd say "possibility of friends".
 
Braddoc: I'm not that optimistic.  I've met us.

Finally got to get back into gaming regularly a month or so ago (been a rough couple years).  While I realized I missed it, I didn't quite realized how much.  Among the many pluses is that I have game quotes again:
 
In the fantasy game we're playing the group has gotten lost in the wilderness via a 'teleportation accident'.  Braddoc (the halfling thief) isn't handling it well.
 
****
 
Braddoc: It's cold, wet and full of naked people.  I don't like it.
 
****
 
Braddoc: Can't hunt, can't gather, nothin' to steal.  This place sucks.  I throw rocks in the lake.
 
GM: Actually, there's no rocks on the beach.
 
Braddoc: This place really sucks.
 
****
 
GM (after another player attempts to catch some fish): All the other fish find this funny.
 
Nymera (ranger): Fish can be quite petty when you're not listening.
 
****
 
Nymera (speaking of Braddoc): Man, he's really bored.  He might start shanking some people.  We should start carrying around coloring books or something.

Finally got to get back into gaming regularly a month or so ago (been a rough couple years).  While I realized I missed it, I didn't quite realized how much.  Among the many pluses is that I have game quotes again:
 
In the fantasy game we're playing the group has gotten lost in the wilderness via a 'teleportation accident'.  Braddoc (the halfling thief) isn't handling it well.
 
****
 
Braddoc: It's cold, wet and full of naked people.  I don't like it.
 
****
 
Braddoc: Can't hunt, can't gather, nothin' to steal.  This place sucks.  I throw rocks in the lake.
 
GM: Actually, there's no rocks on the beach.
 
Braddoc: This place really sucks.
 
****
 
GM (after another player attempts to catch some fish): All the other fish find this funny.
 
Nymera (ranger): Fish can be quite petty when you're not listening.
 
****
 
Nymera (speaking of Braddoc): Man, he's really bored.  He might start shanking some people.  We should start carrying around coloring books or something.

Finally got to get back into gaming regularly a month or so ago (been a rough couple years).  While I realized I missed it, I didn't quite realized how much.  Among the many pluses is that I have game quotes again:
 
In the fantasy game we're playing the group has gotten lost in the wilderness via a 'teleportation accident'.  Braddoc (the halfling thief) isn't handling it well.
 
****
 
Braddoc: It's cold, wet and full of naked people.  I don't like it.
 
****
 
Braddoc: Can't hunt, can't gather, nothin' to steal.  This place sucks.  I throw rocks in the lake.
 
GM: Actually, there's no rocks on the beach.
 
Braddoc: This place really sucks.
 
****
 
GM (after another player attempts to catch some fish): All the other fish find this funny.
 
Nymera (ranger): Fish can be quite petty when you're not listening.
 
****
 
Nymera (speaking of Braddoc): Man, he's really bored.  He might start shanking some people.  We should start carrying around coloring books or something.

I actually LOLed at this.  My moment was a few years back when I heard an easy listening version of Enter Sandman in an elevator.

Soar, that was a really long post simply to say "I just don't get it".
 
I don't think the argument is about trying  "to appease a group of people who can't be appeased". I've talked to some, you know, actual women, and their - almost universal - complaint is "Why are there so few characters actually designed with us in mind?" We're not talking about penis-chopping manhaters here, but ordinary gamers, who feel that they are being ignored at best, actively mocked at worst, by much of the gaming industry.
 
I think you make the point exquisitely when you put Batgirl and Robin in the box, because it really is a good comparison: neither of them are original stand-alone characters like Batman. Both of them are derivative, subsidary appendages of the actual character, and both are well-worn archetypes: female version and trusty sidekick, respectively. Batgirl, Female Thor, Supergirl, She-hulk ... etc are not characters designed with women or girls in mind. Like Linkle, they are simply a male hero with tits slapped on, or as you put it yourself, just a reskinning of the character.
 
So I'm not surprised that this approach didn't satisfy feminists (or indeed, women in general) because not only was it not what they were asking for, but it was in fact exactly one of the things they were criticizing.
 
You make this point very well in your post, though I'm pretty sure it wasn't the point you were hoping to make.
 
cheers, Mark

"I AM IRON MAN!!!"

I'm in agreement with Markdoc on this, the arguments in this article are rubbish.  Yes, you can't be the ideal specimen of masculinity but really you can't be the ideal specimen of any abstract concept from the ideal catholic to the ideal doctor to the ideal teacher to the ideal feminist (Laci Green of MTV's Braless has nice piece on how becoming a better feminist is the work of a lifetime which I can link to if you like).  This is not surprising because human beings aren't abstract concepts and therefore we can't epitomize them.  However, contrary to the writer's assertions this is not something that most people lose much sleep over.  Men know that can't be the ideal specimen specimen of masculinity and are generally okay with this as long as they feel they doing a reasonable job being men.
 
Where you see a lot of anxiety about masculinity is in males that suspect that they aren't measuring up as men.  This is most common in young males, because of course they aren't measuring up as men; they are still just boys.  However, having the concept masculinity points them in the direction that society expects them to go and this can be very helpful.  People like clear expectations.  In recent decades, though, as lifestyles have changed so the the duties and responsibilities of men.  Concepts of masculinity have shifted in response to changing needs and expectations, but still they have lagged behind the pace of social change.  This has led to a certain amount of navel gazing concerning what it means to be a man in the modern age.  Nonetheless, calling masculinity an anxiety disorder is a gross mischaracterization.  The vast majority of males in time take up the responsibilities of manhood and find peace with their own sense of masculinity.
 
Of course finding peace with the concepts of masculinity and femininity is a harder row to hoe for the queer.  Therefore I can sympathize with the author's rejection of concept of masculinity as it was never likely to be a good fit for him.  It is a very good thing that the mental health community has finally pulled their collective heads far enough out of their rumps to stop classifying queerness as a mental disorder.  That doesn't mean that now is the time make a mental disorder out of traditional masculinity or femininity.   

Captain Sikh America!
 

This is just introverted gibberish. Change a few pronouns and a few activities and the article could have been written by a woman. In fact, I've read very many, very similar articles that were written by women, except they were about societal pressures to be feminine. Which makes the point, that it isn't about masculinity - or femininity, or even gender roles, for that matter: I've also read similar screeds on being Catholic (or not, in a catholic environment). It's about how we react to social pressure to conform to a specific role (or roles, because we are all expected to assume multiple roles).
 
It's a pity. The author starts out promisingly, writing "Speaking for myself—the only person I can reasonably speak for—being a Man never seemed like an attainable goal, let alone a desirable one. This has something to do with me and who I am, certainly ..." and then goes on to ignore his own starting premise and write as though his own experience is universal. I understand his experience, because it's very similar to my own. But his conclusions and his reactions - even though entirely understandable to me, based on shared experience - are diametrically opposed to my own. So his own experience is not universal. Nor is mine – nor are the experiences of my many geek friends that run the spectrum. They are all equally valid … and only a tiny subset deal with anxiety issues. And it is a pity, because there are a few insightful comments mixed in with the gibberish.
 
So masculinity isn’t an anxiety disorder. He has an anxiety disorder about his masculinity. That’s an issue he’s going to have to solve or learn to accommodate himself. I don’t mean to sound unsympathetic, but locating the real root of a problem is the first step in resolving it. Trying to externalize it, the way he does here is actually only going to deepen his issues, because the world is not going to change to accommodate his personal problem.
 
Cheers, Mark

"If at first you don't succeed, keep trying until you roll a Critical Failure."