Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thanks for all the replies so far. It’s very helpful and gives me a lot to think about.
Just to clarify a few things - I do monitor his online activity, which is where I learned of his viewpoints. He doesn’t express these views to us at all, so I’m not sure this could simply be younger brother rebellion. He has a great relationship with his sisters. He and I have always had a great relationship too. He’s just not the type of kid who tends to open up about these things in person. He has always been incredibly respectful to me.
His dad is not like this at all. We have always shared household responsibilities. DS actually likes cooking and cleaning more than his sisters do. They have all done their own laundry since age 11, and they don’t mind this at all.
He is involved in Boy Scouts and some of it started there, with the idea of letting girls in. This is the one issue he did discuss with us. He said he didn’t like the idea because Boy Scouts is teaching them to be men. I asked him what he has learned through scouts that women should know how to do. He had no answer. I didn’t attack him, and he didn’t seem upset. But maybe I didn’t respond correctly and it triggered something. I think Scouts in general is contributing to this, but I don’t think that’s his main source. He’s not really tight with those guys and I don’t think they have much influence over him.
We do NOT speak negatively in our household at all. I have always been very sensitive to that.
He has always had friends who are girls.
I just don’t know what to do about this without making it worse...
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Whatever you do for him, stop. He wants equality? Then he can cook his own meals. Like many 14 year old girls are forced to do.
+1. Can also do his own laundry. If he wants equality give it to him.
Interesting that you both assume OP is doing his laundry.
Anyway, don't do this OP. This will likely get you the exact opposite of what you want.
Anonymous wrote:You need to wipe his internet browsers of all history and wipe all the cookies from all your devices. Wipe his phone down to da Tory aw settings and rebuild. He has gone down the MRA rabbit hole and everything being fed to him online is going to confirm that worldview. This is dangerous. There is a very very thin like between MRA stuff and white supremacist content...if he already thinks men are the oppressed class, most MRA’s also think white men are under attack in America.
You have let him get really far with unmonitored Internet. Dial it back in HARD. Heavy filtering. Get him to read things with you...like audiobooks in the car. Start with Moxie by Jennifer Matthieu. Also try Maybe He Just likes You by Barbara Dee. He basically needs re-immersion in reality to reprogram him.
Anonymous wrote:Op here. Thanks for all the replies so far. It’s very helpful and gives me a lot to think about.
Just to clarify a few things - I do monitor his online activity, which is where I learned of his viewpoints. He doesn’t express these views to us at all, so I’m not sure this could simply be younger brother rebellion. He has a great relationship with his sisters. He and I have always had a great relationship too. He’s just not the type of kid who tends to open up about these things in person. He has always been incredibly respectful to me.
His dad is not like this at all. We have always shared household responsibilities. DS actually likes cooking and cleaning more than his sisters do. They have all done their own laundry since age 11, and they don’t mind this at all.
He is involved in Boy Scouts and some of it started there, with the idea of letting girls in. This is the one issue he did discuss with us. He said he didn’t like the idea because Boy Scouts is teaching them to be men. I asked him what he has learned through scouts that women should know how to do. He had no answer. I didn’t attack him, and he didn’t seem upset. But maybe I didn’t respond correctly and it triggered something. I think Scouts in general is contributing to this, but I don’t think that’s his main source. He’s not really tight with those guys and I don’t think they have much influence over him.
We do NOT speak negatively in our household at all. I have always been very sensitive to that.
He has always had friends who are girls.
I just don’t know what to do about this without making it worse...
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Start monitoring what he’s watching online ASAP. He’s likely getting sucked in to MRA stuff, which is toxic enough on its own but will definitely lead to even more toxic views. Read up on articles by people formerly in the MRA movement to get ideas for deprogramming. This is serious.
+1. It's amazing how online algorithms work to promote certain content, and it only gets worse.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Listen, don’t lecture. Also, is he possibly trying to assert himself as different from his sisters in a 14-year-old-younger-brother kind of a way?
Yeah. I too, wonder if he's just playing devil's advocate to be an asshole younger brother.
Anonymous wrote:Listen, don’t lecture. Also, is he possibly trying to assert himself as different from his sisters in a 14-year-old-younger-brother kind of a way?
Anonymous wrote:Listen, don’t lecture. Also, is he possibly trying to assert himself as different from his sisters in a 14-year-old-younger-brother kind of a way?