One of the greatest bulwarks against men accepting the feminist movement is that they seem to think that women gaining power must necessarily dilute their own exclusive powers and status. But in so holding onto this erroneous notion, they forget that they themselves are powerless in the face of the corporate plutocracy that now weighs down so heavily upon all of us. If they could get their heads around the fact that they too are powerless and insignificant and ignored, they would stop trying to beat up on the kids they perceive to be weaker and instead acknowledge their own weakness, ally themselves with them, and move forward with them in a new movement that would grant greater freedoms for all of us. It shouldn’t be about trying to maintain some illusory advantage over others. It should be about trying to create concrete advantages for all of us.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Feminism Helps Men
Great post over at Shakesville by Mr. Shakes about why men ought to be feminist allies:
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3 comments:
I would be curious as to your thoughts on, while quite a few men don't denounce feminism, they are indifferent or uninformed. What I mean is as far as the obvious issues, abuse, rape, for some equality in pay there is agreement and even alliance, but when it comes to more of the more intricate threads that even some feminist are not in agreement on many are sorely confused and/or opposed. Then there is the very common pseudo-feminism which is what I like to call the "pedestal" which is just as oppressive as patriarchy but one that many men feel comfortable in calling themselves feminist-friendly.
While each of those have their own distinct challenges in having a conversation with men about feminism, I think by far, especially white males is the acknowledgment of privilege. To recognize it seems to bring forth a conviction of guilt, which is not the point and certainly not productive, but it seems to be the largest reason for denial and resistance.
How do you see is the best way to address that, on an individual to a much larger scale?
Sassywho - you ask some difficult questions! I think that most of us men deep down (if we even think) don't feel like we have privilige at all. There is a tendency to feel: 1.) like one is on top - and "fight to stay on top" - which can lead to both misogyny and simply being obnoxious to both women and men or (more commonly perhaps) 2.) that other men (and some women) are on top of us - and thus we lack privilige.
Having a Black, Female, bi, large-bodied partner, I'm very, very aware of oppression related issues. My partner is always clear that Race is the largest issue she faces, not gender. I really don't think that Most U.S. (at least) White Folks feel like we are "priviliged" by being White. The more honest among us will say something silly like: "Oprah and Michael Jordan and many other Black people are far better off than I am."
I don't think that Guilt is anywhere near the issue that Denial is! As Males and as White People we often rarely, if at all, see things from the perspective of "the other".
I think that we best learn about Feminism and Sexism (and Racism) by having meaningful, repeated in depth interactions with Women who unfortunately face the task, they shouldn't have to face, of educating those they care about.
Ideally, and more importantly Men need to work with Men (and Boys) so that: 1.) We actually listen - because of our Sexism and 2.) We don't doubly "punish" women.
I think that to-date the Pro-Feminist Men's Movement and allied Movements have largely failed to reach more than token numbers of men.
For Men to succeed reaching Men I think that we initially need to reach Men on issues most of concern to Men - which may relate to Men's physical and emotional health and gradually move in more depth into Feminism. All this takes a long time and a lot of effort!
In a "best of world" - things might happen within a short period of time and more radical shifts and positions might succeed. Unfortanately I think that progress among and related to Men - has really not moved significantly forward in the 24+ years since I began my feminist related work and my major writing from 1987 - seems pretty on target related to men and rape 20 years after I wrote it.
Thanks~
Geo, thank you so much for the thoughtful response. I, myself only recently became aware of the idea of privilege, with regard to my "color". It was relatively new and unsettling for sure. But, also allowed me to look at more constructive conversations about feminism and society as a whole.
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