

i hope it didn’t come across as harsh! really both problems 1 & 2 that you’ve outlined are the same things that everyone is dealing with. a lot of systems of oppression like patriarchy, european colonialism, capitalism, ableism, etc push people into isolation by design, & then tell people to heal from that in isolation, rather than in community.
(i suspect it’s designed that way to make people feel that these are individual problems & not collective problems, because if we realise that we’re all suffering from the same systems of oppression, we might do something to end those systems!)
we humans are a social species, and we’ve lived & learned & healed in community with one another for hundreds of thousands of years. just being open & communicating with the friends you already have about those issues is a great first step, then seeking out hobby groups etc is a way that you might expand your social circle beyond other men.
for the dating side of things, dating apps can be great, because boundaries are lot clearer there (over what is a date, what people are looking for etc) & that way, you can avoid the potential messiness of dating within your friend group.
tl;dr: i don’t think the formality of classes/training would be needed for this, but talking to your friends about this & going out of your way to make friends with mixed company would help a lot. (also, gathering with your friends, new & old, to dismantle the systems of oppression that are causing all these problems will solve things for future generations too 😎)


the r slur really can’t be reclaimed, because the people most impacted by that slur are unable to participate in these conversations.