The labor part is there, but there’s more to it. I feel like my analysis kinda branches away from materialism so I wanted to acknowledge it.
The ‘mommy’ thing is an outgrowth of toxic masculinity. The only time a man is ‘allowed’ to be weak is when his social life is defined by being a child and son, where most of the comfort and nurture comes from his mother. Since the expectation is that a man, and by extension boyfriend, is hard, stoic, and alone, guys are caught in a contradiction between what’s expected of them and their need to feel loved. It’s hard to imagine a relationship where a girlfriend is ok with their boyfriend being emotional and ‘weak,’ so they imagine a relationship that takes the shape of the only other time it was ok for them to be nurtured; that of a mother and child.
Now this obviously has a lot of baggage and is unhealthy, but I think it is a natural reaction to the cultural conditions men grow up in.
Also, I don’t mean to excuse any of Kanna’s or Tankgirls experiences, just try and explain why I think this exists.
This is the best explanation I've seen on this so far. The other explanations of "they want their girlfriend to be a mom and take care of everything for them", while good, don't apply to men that are fine and enjoy being independent but still fall into this weird sexist "mommy gf" thing.
And even looking at the text of the meme (lol) it seems like the majority of descriptors are about being supported, which, in isolation seem entirely reasonable. Some of those other descriptors are real problematic though, which is why it’s such a complicated topic
100%
The labor part is there, but there’s more to it. I feel like my analysis kinda branches away from materialism so I wanted to acknowledge it.
The ‘mommy’ thing is an outgrowth of toxic masculinity. The only time a man is ‘allowed’ to be weak is when his social life is defined by being a child and son, where most of the comfort and nurture comes from his mother. Since the expectation is that a man, and by extension boyfriend, is hard, stoic, and alone, guys are caught in a contradiction between what’s expected of them and their need to feel loved. It’s hard to imagine a relationship where a girlfriend is ok with their boyfriend being emotional and ‘weak,’ so they imagine a relationship that takes the shape of the only other time it was ok for them to be nurtured; that of a mother and child.
Now this obviously has a lot of baggage and is unhealthy, but I think it is a natural reaction to the cultural conditions men grow up in.
Also, I don’t mean to excuse any of Kanna’s or Tankgirls experiences, just try and explain why I think this exists.
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This is the best explanation I've seen on this so far. The other explanations of "they want their girlfriend to be a mom and take care of everything for them", while good, don't apply to men that are fine and enjoy being independent but still fall into this weird sexist "mommy gf" thing.
And even looking at the text of the meme (lol) it seems like the majority of descriptors are about being supported, which, in isolation seem entirely reasonable. Some of those other descriptors are real problematic though, which is why it’s such a complicated topic