PRIDE IS AS good a time as any to interrogate the impact of gender roles on your life. Though many may consider themselves unaffected by conversations about gender and identity, we all have expectations placed upon us by society, which limit us in different ways.

The “rules” of gender are a constant presence in life, first apparent in childhood. Enforced by adults, institutions and other kids as we grow up, deviations are policed subtly and consistently in our everyday lives.

The enforcement of gender roles is bad for everyone. Even the groups that are most dedicated to upholding traditional ideals of masculinity and femininity are seeing the benefits start to dwindle.

The rise of looksmaxxing, an incel subculture fixated on “ascending” to Patrick Bateman-esque levels of masculinity and stoicism, has been dubbed the “manosphere beauty cult”. It’s a trend that would almost be laughable if it weren’t so clear how hurt the people participating are.

Previously, wasting time, energy and money trying to adhere to excruciating beauty standards was the toil of women. Now, we’re seeing a growing number of men tediously engineering themselves into arbitrary and toxic ideas of what being “hot” is, opting for a strain that’s rooted in an unforgiving masculine ideal.

It’s a symptom of the interplay between gender and capitalism that immerses most of us in a lifelong battle with our bodies, whether that’s about our build, height, weight and hairlines, or some other random thing that capitalism can benefit from. Women know this better than everyone else, having had extreme........

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