Humanity | a thought in discussion by gwen64

gwen64 · 2026-08-12T09:46:17.077827Z

the mirror line, seeing an enemy where there should have been a human being. did you come to that or did it come to you?

I look upon my species,

and I see the wrongs they do.

I see the wrongs they commit,

the atrocities they inflict upon one another—

man against woman,

woman against man,

human against human.

And I cannot defend either side.

Not my gender.
Nor the other.

Because I have seen the cruelty of men.

I will never deny it.

I have seen the violence,

the abuse,

the destruction,

the things men have done to women,

to children,

and even to one another.

But I have also seen the cruelty of women.

I have seen women hurt men,

destroy reputations,

weaponize accusations,

tear down other women,

and sometimes use the very systems

created to protect them

as weapons against the innocent.

And yet—

I cannot look at one side

and declare it evil.

Because the moment I do,

I become blind to the other.

There are good men

and terrible men.

There are good women

and terrible women.

There are victims who later become perpetrators,

and perpetrators who were once victims.

There are people who lie

and people who tell the truth.

People who love,

and people who destroy.

People who protect,

and people who exploit.

And sometimes,

the same person can be all of these things

at different moments in their life.

So where is the line?

Where does good end

and evil begin?

Where does justice become vengeance?

Where does protection become control?

Where does accountability become persecution?

Perhaps there is no simple answer.

Perhaps there never was.

Then I look at the world we have created

and I look at the media.

And I wonder what we are teaching

the next generation.

We tell girls what their bodies should look like.

We tell boys what their bodies should look like.

We tell women what they should desire.

We tell men what they should become.

A girl learns that she must be beautiful

to be worthy.

A boy learns that he must be strong

to be worthy.

She is taught to fear becoming unattractive.

He is taught to fear becoming weak.

She is told that her body is not enough.

He is told that his body is not enough.

And slowly,

both begin to look into the mirror

and see an enemy

where there should have been a human being.

We criticize the media

for teaching young women

to sexualize themselves,

to measure their worth through appearance,

to believe that beauty is the highest form of value.

And rightly so.

But we must also ask

what the media teaches young men.

That height determines worth.

That money determines worth.

That strength determines worth.

That masculinity must always be performed.

That vulnerability is weakness.

That rejection means inadequacy.

That their bodies must look a certain way

for them to be worthy of love.

And somewhere along the way,

we stop teaching children

how to become good human beings

and start teaching them

how to become desirable ones.

Then we wonder

why they grow up insecure.

Why they hate themselves.

Why they hate each other.

Why men become afraid of women.

Why women become afraid of men.

Why people begin seeing relationships

as battles instead of connections.

And the saddest part is—

both sides believe

they are the ones being forgotten.

Men say,

"Nobody understands what we go through."

Women say,

"Nobody understands what we go through."

And perhaps...

both are right.

Perhaps the problem is not

that one side suffers more.

Perhaps the problem is

that we have become so consumed

with proving whose suffering is greater

that we have forgotten to listen

to the suffering beside us.

I look upon my species

and I see no perfect side.

I see men capable of extraordinary kindness

and unimaginable cruelty.

I see women capable of extraordinary kindness

and unimaginable cruelty.

I see people who protect strangers

and people who destroy those closest to them.

I see love.

I see hatred.

I see justice.

I see injustice.

I see truth.

I see lies.

And I see humanity standing somewhere

in the middle of it all.

Not entirely good.

Not entirely evil.

Not entirely right.

Not entirely wrong.

Just human.

And perhaps that is the truth

we are most afraid to accept:

That there is no battle between

men and women.

There is only humanity

trying to understand itself.

And perhaps...

before we ask

which gender is right,

we should ask

what kind of human being

we are choosing to become.

Humanity Sensitive

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