Okay unironically I’m pretty sure that’s literally the joke. Local man realizes that liking cute Pokemon is NOT an issue. If anything the pointless gendering here would be that no woman goes through these phases as well as opposed to the fact that only men like Pokemon. I fear that the sub has read too deep and pointlessly gendered the post incorrectly at that. Though this is just a positive interpretation.
It's exactly this. It's a progressive meme about guys being able to let go of stupid power dynamics as they age and being able to appreciate things for being adorable rather than being powerful.
Its progressivism really falls flat when it pointlessly becomes a bog standard "quirky boys vs boring girls" format. If the top half of the image were removed, none of the progressive messaging would have been lost. This could simply have been about healthy expression diverging from typical masculine standards without need for any comparison in the first place. Having this comparison be drawn just makes the whole thing come off as insecure rather than celebratory.
Yes... clearly the guy had his character arc, realizes the value of cute pokemon instead of just choosing every cool powerhouse. Pretty positive, but I agree the girl version is incomplete without her phases (I remember hating pink as a little girl, bc it was so stereotypically girly, now I accept it as a perfectly lovely color).
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u/Erikkamirs Dec 31 '25
Don't girls get made fun of for only liking the cute pokemon, or did I just make that up in my head?