The other day, I watched a video about sulfur mining in East Java, Indonesia. The video shed light on the heartbreaking, harsh reality of miners whose lives dangle as they do their very best to support their families. As I do with any video, I scrolled through the comment section to read the thoughts of others. Most people commended the brave efforts of the men and criticized the government. While I was engrossed in reading the string of comments, I came across one specific comment that left a sour taste in my mouth. At first glance, the comment seems inoffensive. It does appear that it was written in good faith. But there's something not quite right. The commenter's intentions were in the right place, but his execution was off. "These workers are real men" is what I'm talking about. On the surface, the comment looks good-hearted and appreciative, but it does something significant quite subtly. It perpetuates the toxic belief that a man is a real man only if he pu...
Literally a blog about anything.