モテないけど生きてます　苦悩する男たちの当事者研究

For me—someone who has lived as a woman in a woman’s body—this book provided a way to begin imagining the various feelings I hadn’t fully understood until now. For example, why would someone suddenly confess their feelings to someone with whom they’ve barely established a relationship? Or why does a comic-book-like idea from Shinkenshitsu—such as “If I get into the University of Tokyo, I’ll get a girlfriend”—which seems quite simplistic from the outside, feel like a natural connection to the person experiencing it? In this book, those directly involved carefully explain the background behind such feelings and ways of thinking, which I found very interesting. It seems my husband has lived with similar feelings as well, and the fact that these issues—though perhaps universal—are discussed far less than feminism may shed light on the problems men face. As a woman, I’ve always found it quite difficult to understand the mindset of people who veer off into misogyny or incel culture, but I feel this book has given me a small clue to help me imagine that psychology. The root of all evil is isolation, and the key solution to it is solidarity. As I reflected on feminism, I felt that “men’s studies,” as the author calls it, is inextricably linked to it.