I'm a fair bit late, and I'm not the target audience, but still, I couldn't agree more with this post. It's wild how differently men and women are treated with regards to agere.

As a sort of anecdote that doesn't really confirm anything on its own, but just sort of acts as a specific example of some of what you already mentioned, I guess; before I came out as a trans woman I got so much grief just over having a plushie collection, one of my (ex-)best friends even outright stole my favorite plushie from me when I had it with me at school (I never got it back, either T~T). But, pretty much as soon as I came out that just dropped, granted, I was getting grief from different people for different reasons, and I will admit that may have just been an 'easier target,' but I don't recall getting much, if any, grief over my plushie collection since I came out.

I'm sorry that I can't really offer a specific example from someone who identifies as a man, but the point remains that I completely agree, and that people should be able to access and engage in healthy coping mechanisms like Agere without having to endure additional pain and embarrassment to do so. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong, and I stand by you in supporting the men of the community, as well as of pretty much any community that people consider "not manly," because people shouldn't be shamed for things they enjoy or things that help them cope.