As a man, I’m only commenting on this here because it was explicitly framed as a question to men.

There are several reasons a man might feel this way.

Firstly, it’s blatant sexist discrimination. I won’t claim it’s unjustified discrimination, but it is unambiguously sexist discrimination, and sexist discrimination feels unjust. I don’t see any communities which specifically disallow women, and I’m quite sure such a policy would be immediately challenged. I doubt “your very insistence on asking is why the rule is the way it is” would be considered an acceptable justification.

Secondly, it feels like forced silence. Not only for mundane topics that a man may have thoughtful input for, but more importantly when men in general are targeted for the particular behaviors of individuals. Watching your half of the population be unilaterally lambasted, sometimes unfairly, and being deleted when you try to defend the bulk of your demographic feels oppressive. I’m sure women feel similarly when a group of men generalizes all women to be behaviourally identical to their toxic exes.

Then there’s just good old fashioned, gender-neutral human nature. When someone tells you you can’t do something, that just makes you want to do it more. Forbidden fruit and all that.

I’d wager the first is probably the most impactful though. It just feels unjust and hypocritical to be barred from a discussion based purely on sexist discrimination, especially when the reverse discrimination is so vigorously opposed. That kind of unilateral isolation is helping to drive a wedge between men and women, and I’ve watched it push normal young men to misogynist influencers (e.g. Andrew Tate) over time.

That said, I can understand the desire for such a space. I’m just trying to shed light on the mindset. Sure, there are plenty of misogynists that are trying to be disrespectful, but I think most men who would want to participate just feel the exclusion is hypocritical. Spot banning misogynists is obviously totally fine, but blanket deleting every man, regardless of content, feels like a blatant double standard.

I think dandelion nailed it in the other reply though: I don’t make a habit of checking the community and its rules when I respond to a post, I’m just scrolling Everything and engaging with content and discussions I find interesting. I’ve commented here in the past for that exact reason, before noticing the community rules. I’ll probably do so again unintentionally in the future if I don’t notice the community. So it goes.

I hope mods keep this up since I’m sincerely trying to answer the question specifically directed at men, but I get it if not. shrugs This isn’t a community for me, and personally I’m fine with that. Just might be worth at least considering why a non-toxic man might feel inclined to comment.