i think the term "man-child" has a lot to offer once you stop seeing it as automatically derogatory and start seeing it as a more neutral description, or even as - god forbid - a potential cause for empathy
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Empathy does not mean sympath in this case or any other. they are seperate terms
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can you clarify the difference between how you're using them? i don't have a clear division in my head and neither does google
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what i mean is something like "do you understand how you could be capable of doing what this person did if you were in their shoes" (whatever that means) or like "do you understand how it feels to live in the world where what this person did makes sense"
For me the issue is that I (feel like I) do understand that, in that for men I've known like this the explanation was that they'd been extremely sheltered & protected from consequence, & taught that finding something difficult meant they *couldn't* do it 1/2
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I just can't separate that understanding from the resentment that brings up as someone who was raised much more harshly & told I should be constantly suffering or I'm a moral failure.
Like I (feel like I) get it, but I'm envious of the circumstances that led to that problem.
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Yes, these are the questions I ask myself if I am trying to empathize. I am not trying to agree or disagree with that person. I am trying to understand their world thru their perspective. That is why it is so hard
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