There are a lot of common misunderstandings around feminism, and it can be easy to assume that feminism is all about empowering women and taking something away from men. Buttrue feminism is all about equality, no matter the gender involved, and men can be empowered by this reconsideration of gender roles too.
So, writing from the point of view of a man myself, here are just a few of the reasons why I think men should be feminists too.
Because feminism means equality
Don’t believe the anti-feminist propaganda – feminism isn’t about taking rights away from men, or about making women the “superior” sex. Feminism just means equality, for all genders, and men have nothing to be afraid of here. Recognising male privilege doesn’t have to be scary, and it doesn’t mean that we have to spend our lives apologising for everything we do (as some men might assume it does). Instead, it’s about acknowledging the unavoidable privilege we have benefited from, and supporting the vision of a more equal society.
It’s important to note here that male privilege does not mean we don’t have any problems of our own to contend with. Far from it – men have a host of difficulties to deal with in the 21st century, from forging a career to getting on the property ladder. You may feel that you, as an individual man, have not benefited from any kind of patriarchal advantage in life – you may be struggling to support your family, for example, and resent any implication that you’re an elite. And this is all fair enough – these are problems that need to be addressed by society too.
But feminism is not about an individual situation, but collective society as a whole. Believe it or not, women have an even greater series of obstacles they need to overcome – as well as the existing societal problems that men have to contend with, women have to deal with sexism on top of everything else. From unequal pay and everyday sexism, to domestic abuse andperiod poverty, women have a lot to deal with.
Men have it tough in many ways, but women have an extra load to bear. Male privilege does not mean that men live in mansions made of gold – perhaps the word “privilege” has too many unhelpful connotations here. But it does mean that men have the “privilege” of not having to deal with the ingrained, systemic sexism that still has a dramatic affect on women’s lives.
New gender roles are a good thing for men, too
Although there are enough reasons for men to be feminists without taking self-interest into account – we should all want equality for all, no matter their gender – there are other positives for men that are often forgotten about. Let’s take gender roles as an example.
Many anti-feminists fear the erosion of traditional gender roles – they might subscribe to the idea of “separate spheres”; with the man’s sphere commonly associated with work and the woman’s sphere being associated with homemaking. Many mistakenly associate the separation of gender roles with the success of society, and fear change. But one counterfactual they should consider here is what about all the women who didn’t have the chance to pursue their own fields of professional interest in the past? The potential cost to society is unknown, and undoubtedly dramatic. For most of human history, we have been neglecting the intellects of half of our species. We’re only just catching up now.
Men can be liberated by the dissolution of such strict, traditional gender roles too. Toxic masculinity is a real issue – and as a man, I know how ingrained this is in society. Almost subconsciously, I have felt the pressure to “be a man” – to be strong, and suppress my emotions. It hardly needs saying that this is a disaster formen’s mental health.
You’ll undoubtedly be familiar with the grim statistics by now. Men are less likely to open up about their mental health – we bottle up our emotions, perhaps because we’re afraid of appearing weak and vulnerable, and so dedicated to maintaining the traditional idea of a “strong man”. But emotions don’t simply disappear, and if they’re bottled up without release this can cause significant damage to our mental health.
Men need to open up about their vulnerability more. Instead of seeing this as a weakness, we need to recognise that opening up about our vulnerability actually takes a great amount of strength, bravery, and honesty. There is no reason to be ashamed – and ironically, in order to be the strong male figure we are all programmed to model ourselves on, we need to address our vulnerabilities rather than repress them. We can’t be there for other people if we’re not there for ourselves.
Men should be feminists because feminism frees us, too. It frees us from the choking hold of a damaging identity that has been forced onto us for generations. It’s time to break free, and be ourselves – in a society that treats everyone equally, no matter their gender.
Hoppy Bunny
September 26, 2023
Since female feminist assert that they and only they, possess an exclusive monopoly on all higher morality and ethics, and feminists insist they and only they, are uniquely qualified to determine, define and judge the lived experiences of all men, more than the men living their experiences…
…feminism as an ideology only imposes equality as a theory, but observably not in practice. Instead virtually every feminist, takes eager part in public man bashing, expressing condemnation and contempt for men, is preoccupied with persecuting and prosecuting men. You will have read nor seen a feminist of prominence equally mention male achievement nor accomplishments in society, nor credit men with a single historical role in evolving society for the better. Feminist are impossible to engage with in any meaningful forum that points out their vast hypocrisies, misandry and anti-male ideals.
It’s simply easier to label any man unwilling to suspend critical thinking, and unquestioned deference to feminism as an incel, misogynist, or other blanket terminology of character assassination.
Feminist frequently judge all men guilty upon any accusations and is indifferent to any possibilty or discovery that he may be innocent, therefore feminist do not support social or legal due process for men, again this is easy to objectively observe.
Feminism sees men and straight male identity in literally one dimension without acknowledgement that men as a gender are complex, nuanced and contrary to frequent feminist commentary, very distinct, different and possess several group and personal perspectives. Feminist insists on grouping all straight men as “the problem” and you will not have heard or seen a feminist mention female culpability or female expressions of transgression collectively or individually. In all cases of known female crimes high and low, (particularly against men) feminist either ignore, or dismiss it with blanket vague rationalizations, or turn the catalyst for female against male violence or other crimes back to blaming men.
Even the concept of “patriarchy” and “misogyny” is constructed by feminists to mean and be anything not mindlessly deferential to a singular deference to women along with participation in demeaning and deriding men as the only acceptable practice for what defines social progress.
Feminist solution to almost every issue involving men can be summed up as an analogy. Men believe if an arm has an itch, scratch the itch, feminist believe if an arm has an itch, cut off the whole arm. When the definition of misogyny is anything and everything, then as feminists eagerly apply, there is no need for examination, self-reflection or introspection, just unending caustic judgement.
In the end, feminism is a social political ideology of dark ages judgement, essentially no different than the authoritarian practices affirming the very bigotries and prejudices or early 29thbcentury racists\eugenicists, the medieval Catholic church, or the National Socialists of 1936 Germany by analogous comparison.
Feminist can be observed taking distinct pleasure in male physical and psychological suffering, is completely dismissive of men’s issues that are the result of some female contribution.
Finally, over 90% of men are completely invisible to feminists, they have no interest or inclination to examine the lives of men mainly responsible for creating and maintaining all the practical scientific, engineering, brick laying, construction of highways, waste disposal central air and heating or the millions of working men in occupations they look down upon and sneer at, yet have no problem entering a conference hall constructed by mostly men, to enter a large room our together by men of which she arrived in a luxury vehicle made mainly by men with petrol supplied by mostly men at oil rigs, to drive in a road made possible by male road crews to luxuriate in central air and heating installed likely by a man, to continue her feminist conviction laughingly to the spoiled hyper-privileged feminist women in the audience that all they need to know about men is a reductionist centralizing of all male endeavor and beliefs is exclusively embodied in rape, oppression and abuse. While also maintaining men as a gender is useless, inferior and not needed.