Tag: comics

glycerineclown:

152glasslippers:

I’ve been
wanting to dump all my thoughts about this into a post for a while now and #tpappreciation
week is giving me the kick in the butt I need to finally do it.

So. Here it
goes. In honor of day 6: a theme or a
parallel, my favorite thing about The Punisher:

it’s (not
so) secretly a violent takedown of toxic masculinity

I know that
sounds crazy about a show that’s so brutal and bloody and—well, hello—violent,
but if you think about it for longer than a second, it’s almost glaringly
obvious.

And—cause
I’m a corny ho like that—it’s also one of the things I think makes it so
special.

Here’s what
you expect when you press play on The Punisher: Frank taking down bad guys,
Frank throwing punches, murder, torture, blood, bullets, aggression, rage
yelling, violence, enough guns to outfit an entire global military, Men Being
Men™

And sure,
you get all those things, but here’s what you also get:

• an intimate examination of the mental health of veterans
• **bonus points for a not-so-subtle critique of the lack of both resources and opportunities available for veterans upon leaving the service**
• **double bonus points for an accurate representation of the people who serve in the military, i.e. a large number of poc/not just men** 

• group therapy

• frank (ba dum tss) discussions of the importance of mental
  health and group therapy
• “we’re gonna need a lot of therapy”
• seriously, this show loves therapy
• men reading
• men choosing analytical, long-game strategies over immediate,
  aggressive, violent tactics
• men cooking
• Frank, at his most unhealthy/unhinged, eating beans out of a
  mcfreaking can with a KNIFE, I mean come ON
• men sharing
• men opening up to each other about their wives and their
  families and their feelings
• two men having a conversation about sex and it never?? turns
  into locker room talk?????
• a heterosexual couple that splits the Thanksgiving cooking—a domestic responsibility—EQUALLY
• I quote, “50/50”
• a father acknowledging his 12-year-old son is still a baby
  and NEEDS HIS FATHER and almost
  throwing his mission and blowing his cover because he’s DESPERATE to take care
  of him
• men showing emotion
• men admitting fear
• “I guess, if I’m gonna be honest, I just…I’m scared”
• death to the I-hate-my-wife trope
• men missing their wives
• loving their wives
• their children
• their friends, including
  other men
• the number!!!!!!! of male tears!!!!!!!!! over other
  men!!!!!!!!
• David crying over Frank’s almost-dead body
• Frank and Curtis crying together
• physical affection and closeness between men!!!!!!!!
• Frank and Curtis resting their foreheads against each
  other!!!!!!!!!
• this update: men can be squeamish about blood without it
  saying anything about their masculinity
• terms of endearment
• David “me, too, little bunny” Lieberman
• Frank I-casually-call-children-sweetheart-because-I-just-can’t-help-myself
  Castle
• Leo Lieberman, actual icon and future engineer
• poetry
• a book by Oscar Wilde

And I don’t
think any of this is by accident or some elaborate series of coincidences. Giving
toxic masculinity the middle finger isn’t just something The Punisher does, I’d argue that it’s part of its
central thesis: Traditionally accepted male behaviors and masculine stereotypes
are confining, dangerous, and ultimately lethal.

Putting the
rest under the cut, cause ya girl’s about to pull some receipts.

Keep reading

Men, society, the patriarchy: keep your feelings bottled up inside
Curtis Hoyle: kEeP yOuR fEeLiNgS BoTtLeD uP iNsIde

*fist pumps* THAT’S FUCKIN’ RIGHT I LOVE THIS TED TALK