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Hi Twitter!! I recently listened to the "Jace Beleren and Toxic Masculinity" podcast by @GoblinLorePod and @kilnfiendpotter. I& #39;ve had a lot of thoughts about it that I& #39;ve wanted to share. I should have waited for part 2 but I& #39;m just dying to talk about this. SUPER LONG THREAD:
I want to start off by saying I& #39;m really glad I found this podcast! I hadn& #39;t heard of it before, but you chose a great topic that grabbed my attention 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ" title="Grinsendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Grinsendes Gesicht"> I& #39;m excited for part 2 and I& #39;ll definitely be listening to more episodes. Anyway thread time!
I feel I have a unique perspective on this topic as a trans man. Trans man Jace isn& #39;t my headcanon, but it& #39;s an interpretation I love. He& #39;s my favorite character of all time, and as a trans man, I feel like reading Jace& #39;s flaws as toxic masculinity isn& #39;t quite right.
There are several "pillars" of toxic masculinity that Jace doesn& #39;t have. He doesn& #39;t have the self-destructive emotional repression, worship of sex and violence, or desire to subjugate women and his peers that men who experience toxic masculinity have.
Even BEFORE Ixalan, Jace was an example of many positive masculine traits. He was curious and emotionally open. He wrongly believed he could make decisions for others, but he cared for people, wanted to protect them, and couldn& #39;t sit idly by when he knew people were in danger.
In Agents of Artifice, he financially provided for Kallist and Liliana, and in Magic Story invited the Gatewatch to live in his home. Jace wanted to heal Garruk, tried to stop his rampage and had a Hedron implanted in Garruk& #39;s shoulder to relieve the effects of the curse.
In "Revelation at the Eye" Jace tells Ugin that Zendikar isn& #39;t a puzzle to be solved, and that it didn& #39;t matter if killing the Eldrazi has consequences, there are real people on Zendikar fighting for their lives and he needs to help them.
Ral Zarek tried to kill Jace and ruined his relationship with his close friend Emmara, but in "Project Lightning Bug", Jace forgives him. Jace is honest about his feelings with Ral even after Ral was openly rude to him.
In Kaladesh block he wanted Chandra to be able to confide in him, and didn& #39;t want to stay home when he heard she could be in trouble. He used his mind magic to help Nissa sleep when she had a sensory overload in the busy city.
But what does being a man mean to Jace Beleren? Well, take a look at his feelings towards Gideon. Jace saw Gideon as the male ideal. I think Jace admires (and is envious of) the way Gideon is a representation of positive masculinity.
Gideon is not violent or hypersexual. He& #39;s kind, not afraid to ask for help, a defender rather than an aggressor. The pillars of toxic masculinity are absent in both Jace and Gideon. So why does Gideon& #39;s mere presence make Jace insecure? I think that insecurity is dysphoria.
I& #39;m only 5 feet tall. People treat me like a kid, think I need help, and certainly don& #39;t see me as a man because I& #39;m very small. It feels bad knowing my looks don& #39;t inspire others or make them feel safe like big tall guys can.
Gideon is super tall, muscular, conventionally attractive. He& #39;s charismatic and a natural leader. Gideon& #39;s like a human lighthouse. Jace is average height, out-of-shape, often pale and sickly, and his telepathy makes people automatically distrust him.
It& #39;s easy to see why people follow Gideon& #39;s lead so easily rather than Jace& #39;s. As a trans man, I personally related to Jace& #39;s insecurity. He feels inadequate compared to Gideon.
Jace wanting to lead the Gatewatch didn& #39;t come from a desire to dominate others and be an ~alpha male~, but from a desire for people to believe in him. What Jace really wants is to prove to himself and others that he& #39;s competent and that he can be trusted.
The time he spends with Vraska is so good for him! I loved that you talked about how he was finally happy to follow someone else& #39;s lead! He didn& #39;t need to be a leader, he needed someone to trust him. She respected and loved him and thought he was incredible for who he is.
It was important for Jace to get that validation. Now he& #39;s not insecure about his appearance. It& #39;s not that he finally developed into someone who was caring. He was caring all along, but he was held back by insecurity about how others perceive him. He learned to love himself.
Despite all his good qualities and deeds he still felt insecure because it wasn& #39;t easy to visually see him as a "strong man". I think it& #39;s important to acknowledge positive masculinity even when the man in question isn& #39;t attractive or charismatic, and even if he makes mistakes.
As a trans person, Jace& #39;s experience reminded me of the struggle to "pass". It& #39;s frightening how easily insecurity can turn into toxic masculinity when you feel different from "real men". If you don& #39;t look the part, some people will just never acknowledge you.
Next to & #39;perfect& #39; guys like Gideon, it& #39;s easy to see our own perceived weaknesses and shortcomings. Easy to feel resentment for it. But from this struggle comes the strive to be better men, to be confident in ourselves, and comfortable in our bodies.
There& #39;s SO much I wanted to talk about, like how Jace& #39;s trauma shaped his need for control, how the IRL gamer guys he was created to represent actually hate him, how he& #39;s a male victim of abuse by a female partner, etc but this thread is already terribly long.
TLDR; I think toxic masculinity as a reading of Jace is missing some perspective. The trans perspective. Not all insecurity men experience is toxic masculinity. Sorry I totally should have waited until part 2 was out, but I couldn& #39;t stop thinking about that episode.
There& #39;s a lack of trans men& #39;s voices in... basically everything, and this is something I think we should definitely be included in. I& #39;m so grateful for the Vorthos community opening these kinds of discussions https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ" title="LĂ€chelndes Gesicht mit lĂ€chelnden Augen" aria-label="Emoji: LĂ€chelndes Gesicht mit lĂ€chelnden Augen">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đ" title="Blaues Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Blaues Herz"> Super excited for part 2 of the podcast!
