Fictional men telling you it's okay to have emotions and struggle is appealing because real men do not typically speak about these values. Boys are constantly surrounded by a maelstrom of toxic masculinity. Anything that helps them cultivate a positive inner voice and healthy self image is fine by me.
I wish they would honestly stop with the Toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes, boys can and should be kind and compassionate and also be taught that self care is important, not be scolded for doing these things. Strange that we live in a world where being a boy who takes care of themselves causes you to get shit for it.
Luckily things seem to be changing for the better in recent times.
Not without substantial pushback but we're shifting in the correct direction
And to those that think it only comes from men, I've been in the receiving end of that kind of crap from both men and women in my life.
And to those that need to hear it, sometimes you have to cut your relatives out of your life because of their toxicity. Be they your parents, your grandparents, or even your siblings. It hurts, but you will be happier without them constantly being toxic to you.
How come only boys are allowed to be Master Chief fans? I'm nonbinary and there aren't any nonbinary characters as prominent as Master Chief. Plus he's already a queer icon so why can't I like him as a fellow asexual?
Here's a crazy idea. Maybe videogame characters are separate from you and it doesn't matter if they're male, female, non-binary, etc. I always empathized (or didn't) with characters if I found their problems/feelings relatable. Their sexuality or whatever couldn't be less important.
But also having ones who you can relate to due to their shared characteristics with you is also important.
As a dude, seeing a fictional dude overcome his traumas and become a better person is heartening.
As a member of the queer community, seeing a fictional character who's also a member of the queer community learn who they are and learn to express themselves to others as who they are is inspiring.
Or seeing either of those characters go about their heroes journey while having those traits is also greatly inspirational.
For some people having the characters be more relatable to them in personal traits helps them to put themselves in their shoes. For others it's not that important. Both are are perfectly valid ways of going about it.
There used to be some weird elitism that "video games are for boys" or something dumb like that. I'm not sure why maybe it was based on the subjects in video games but it's not as mainstream today as it used to be in the early 2000s, nowadays it's pretty widely accepted that gaming is typically gender neutral, or at least masc-neutral.
Maybe it's because video games used to be expensive and parents wouldn't drop that much money on a girl's toy unless it was traditionally feminine. In a patriarchal society, men have the privilege of gender neutrality