Gender-specific activities like knitting or playing certain sports have become outdated perceptions in society today.
Anyone ridiculing a person for an endeavor that was previously deemed exclusive to one gender will only face backlash.
People tend to forget that many professional football players have in fact participated in ballet as part of their training.
While the practice has been stigmatized, the ballet and football combo actually makes sense. It helps players with their flexibility – which is equally as important as strength while out on the field – and also prevents many injuries.
Ballet training also helps with speed, endurance and focus.
So if you mocked a football player for going to a ballet studio and were consequently tackled for it, well, you probably deserved it.
There is no shame in going against societal conventions to do the things we enjoy.
Redditor -AboveAverageJoe asked the men of Reddit:
"Guys, what feminine things do you do that you're not ashamed of?"
Based on the many responses to the thread, the pride was real.
His Gorgeous Mane
"I grew out my hair for the first time ever. At 35 years old, my grandma told me my hair was so beautiful that I should have been born a woman."
"Thanks, grandma...."
– Loduk
Products Made For Her
"I accidentally bought women's shower gel once and now use nothing else. It just smells better."
– ZeldaFan812
"I ran out of deodorant once and had to use my wife's Secret brand deodorant."
"I kid you not, it's the best deodorant I've ever used."
– enbenlen
Calgon, Take Him Away
"take long hot baths, complete with candles and bubbles."
Cooking
"Had a college level psychology teacher tell me that cooking was a feminine thing to do."
"I like to eat good so I cook.¯_(ツ)_/¯"
"Edit:Just wanted to clarify that my psychology teacher was a woman."
– Aretik
Cheers
"'Girly drinks' are usually super sweet and full of booze, I'd much rather drink those than 20 s**tty light beers that I need to have been drinking for a decade to not think are absolutely disgusting."
– Kellosian
Leave My Daiquiri Alone
"It only takes one good daiquiri to make you completely drop the whole gendered drink thing. Life's too short to give a single fuck what people think about my alcoholic slushie."
– i_hatehumans
summer pool GIF by NDR
Giphy
You Can Leave The Seat Down
"Sit down to pee."
"Hear me out: you can play on your phone and relax for a few minutes."
– SoggySoySammy
"Keeps floor more clean."
"Listen, doesn't matter how accurate you are, there are still little droplets that come out from it hitting the water."
Sew What?
"Sew like a champion."
– novocarcher
I think everyone should a least know cooking and sewing basics. Both are also fun."
– Jberg18
My Friends Are Plush
"So I've got a horde of stuffed animals on my bed, and Idgaf what anyone has to say 'bout it! They have been instrumental growing up and even now in helping me cope with anxiety and depression. They're my kiddos and my best buds."
– nitasu987
Preventing A Bad Habit
"I paint my nails so I won't bite them. I like having colorful nails tho."
Saving Face
"Facial masks with my wife. I just started getting into it and I LOVE it!"
– UncleSquach
Whatever Moves You
"I listen to a lot of 'teenage girl' music. For a long time I was very self conscious about the music that I listened to and wanted my taste to be 'masculine' and as a result I listened to a lot of music I didn't like and stopped myself from enjoying music I genuinely loved. Then one day I woke up and realized that wasn't who I was. And now I'll proudly blare my Taylor Swift or Carly Rae or whatever new girl pop disco trash whenever I want."
happy taylor swift GIF
Giphy
Hey, If It's Comfy
"I cross my legs like a girl occasionally, I guess. Not ankle on top of knee, but knee on top of knee. It's comfy."
– Wry_Uhls
Releasing The Floodgates
"I'm not sure if that's feminine, but I cry at movies. A lot."
"I'm 23 years old and most recently watched 'Captain Phillips.' I cried out of relief for the character."
"While my country was locked down because of Corona, I stayed with my parents, where my 15 yo sister made me watch 'Coco' because I used to have Disney+ for 'Mandalorian.'
"The result of "Coco" was that I cried three times. My sister also cried. From laughing at me."
"The whole movie was so beautiful and my feelings were all over the place."
"Then, right after the movie we watched the short movie 'Lava.' My sister said she wanted to 'Cheer me up.'"
"As soon as the singer hit the first note in the main lines, the gates were open again and I was weeping like a baby. I just couldn't help it."
"That also was when I decided to cancel my Disney+ subscription because I'd probably dehydrate from crying at some point. And I didn't want to give my sister the opportunity to fool me again."
– FranconianGuy
Wanna jump off the bandwagon? Then keep reading!
U/lit3rallyuseless asked: What doesn't deserve the hate it gets?
​Film and media are probably the biggest contender for being hated on randomly. It may seem harmless, but not always deserved.
Actors are people too!
Actors who played characters that people didn't like.
Really if you hated the character then the actor did a good job (assuming that was the role).
The best cartoons.
nice day summer GIF by PBS KIDSGiphyChild cartoons. Some are actually really good, even as an adult.
I feel like watching cartoons aimed at generally a younger audience allows for you to be reminded of some life lessons, I know I forget some things, or didn't realise others, or it at least partially renews my awareness of something I should still like or appreciate
This doesn't deserve awards, it's just my opinion that is apparently shared by many.
This man did nothing wrong.
Guy Fieri, he literally is the nicest person in the world but since he looks like he was electrocuted by mountain dew people want to saw his head off.
Even before that, I was witness to his other charitable work. A few years back, Santa Rosa was hit by some terrible fires and he showed up at a few shelters and personally cooked up and served some killer buffet food. No cameras, no massive team of PR, just a dude with an assistant to keep him on schedule to hit up other shelters in the area. Guy Fieri legit earned a lot of respect in my book for that.
You know who DEFINITELY doesn’t deserve hate? Animals. They’re just living their best lives, and need to be left alone.​
The best cats.
Black cats.
We got a black cat for the first time last year. I've since formulated the theory that black cats might get some of their reputation from the fact that people can't see them well in the dark and so they seemingly appear out of nowhere and they might be instinctually cautious because they know people have a tendency to kick them while walking in the dark. Our black cat is the sweetest cat I've ever known.
They get a bad rep.
Discovery Sharks GIF by Shark WeekGiphySharks. They are beautiful, complex creatures, deserving of respect and, like any wild animal should be left alone in their natural habitat, but they get this reputation as vicious bloodthirsty monsters. This is only because every shark attack is news, and only then because they are so rare. More people are killed EVERY DAY by mosquitoes than sharks kill in a year.
Any apex predator that has remained evolutionarily unchanged for hundreds of millions of years, whose existance predates TREES, is deserving or our respect and admiration. Shine on, you crazy cartlaginous fish, shine on.
So cute too!
Opossums. They're neat little critters. They eat tons of ticks that carry Lyme disease, (mostly) don't carry rabies because their body temp is too low, and they're the only marsupial native to North America! They get a bad rap because their first defense is to hiss and bare teeth, but failing that, they just play dead.
If you don't have the predisposition to hate them, you'll find they're pretty cute too.
E: this is about /opossums/, the north American species.
Kiwis, I feel for you, but this comment isn't about your possums.
​Hating on other people for just living their lives also seems to be a big contender for things that don’t deserve to be hated on.
This is so true.
Unemployed people. A lot of people genuinely are looking for work and did not want to lose their last job/it was beyond their control (like a layoff) but they get so much hate and called lazy by most people. I know too many unemployed people that are actually really trying hard. They definitely aren't lazy. (Not saying lazy unemployed people don't exist, but to be fair, so do lazy employed people too lol)
Leave the weather man alone!
Fox Raining GIF by Family GuyGiphyMeteorologists. They try their best to predict the weather based on patterns, models, and data. They're not perfect because predicting the weather is insanely difficult. When they get it wrong, I think we should go easy on them. It was probably an outlier result almost no one could have foreseen.
I've seen people get angry over the meteorologists for getting it right. Like they control the weather - it is their fault we are having rain, that kind of BS. Never made sense to me, but hey, I have plenty of relatives I clashed with growing up.
Please stop being d*cks to these people.
Customer service associates.
I hate when customers think that I, the minimum wage person forced to sit there and listen to them yell, am personally responsible for every policy they disagree with. Like, ma'am, if I had that much power and influence, I wouldn't be sitting here on a Saturday evening serving you.
Wholesome and necessary.
People don't deserve hate they give themselves when they are not doing too good at the moment.
I'm in a weird place and I didn't know I needed to read this. Thanks buddy.
If you haven't heard it from anyone else today, I'm proud of you.
It seems like people hate on things simply because they think they're meant to hate them. But you can always be the change and make an effort to stop being an a**hole about certain things.
No matter what though, sometimes haters gonna hate