James Plunkett believes that progress takes focus, and he asks men not to confuse egalitarianism with feminism.
Vancouver journalist Meghan Murphy recently wrote a fascinating article for Aljazeera’s Opinion section entitled “Feminism: Unpopular Because of Bad Marketing?” In the piece Murphy suggests that the current movement to re-brand feminism under a more palatable aesthetic or ideology, exemplified by the campaigns of VITAMIN W and Elle magazine, is the exact wrong direction that the feminist movement needs to move towards. She argues that radical social movements like feminism should not be packaged and sold to an audience so that they may be easier to swallow; making feminism popular or easy reduces the entire point of the movement. Although Ms. Murphy’s points are many I thought it would be especially useful to bring to the Good Men Project her suggestion that this re-branding trend is greatly emboldened by the myth of a post-feminist society.
“The assumption that as humanity grows older we become somehow more humanist only serves to bury notions of inequality and prejudice further into our psyches.”
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The post-feminism myth is basically what it sounds like: the false belief that we live in a society where feminism is no longer useful or needed, ergo that sexism is dead and relative gender equality reigns supreme. It is difficult to decide exactly how to tackle this naïve sentiment. First of all, it is not my intention to define feminism or attempt to make some absurd statement about who can be a feminist or what kind of actions are feminist. These type of grandiose statements have only served to minimize discourse concerning feminist movement and even if they did not, to be quite frank, as a white American male I think it would be grossly inappropriate for me to define what feminism is or isn’t.
I do agree quite immensely with Ms. Murphy’s point that regardless of what feminism means to individuals there has been a noticeable shift, at least in popular culture, that it should be taken on as a personal identity choice rather than a radical social movement. This may be due in part to some kind of mythologized notion of a dream achieved — ideas that we live in a modern age where misogyny is a relic of the past. We have Facebook. I mean, how could we possibly live in an age of sexism, right? Wrong. The assumption that as humanity grows older we become somehow more humanist only serves to bury notions of inequality and prejudice further into our psyches. Equality does not evolve concurrently with modernity.
I would like to point out, though, that the concepts of feminism as radical social movement and personal identity choice do not have to be mutually exclusive. Indeed, as the power of individuals to create self-images increases rapidly we cannot afford to divorce individual identity from campaigns or causes. Quite the contrary, the ability for individuals to embody a cause or ideology in their individual aesthetic (in this case, so-called ‘lifestyle feminism’) can make a movement all the more potent. Murphy’s point remains, however, that taking on the identity of feminism is much easier than taking on the radical standpoint and that this ease may in fact dilute its power.
“I would ask men to not become enablers of the post-feminist myth for the betterment of self-image or to ease some kind of patriarchal-guilt.”
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Although the reasons for this are complex and varied, I think one especially relevant to this forum is the concept of feminist allies. Male feminist allies or so-called pro-feminist men too often speak to what they think feminism should be defined as, or, worse, attempt to speak for the feminist movement in general. While I will never slight anyone for contributing to the discourse of a pertinent subject, as I hope this article has done to some degree, I do think it is incredibly problematic for individuals to take up the moniker of a movement without fully understanding its meaning or relevance.
Too often in online forums or casual conversations men confuse egalitarianism with feminism and further defuse an incredibly important social, political, and personal force for women. I would ask men to not become enablers of the post-feminist myth for the betterment of self-image or to ease some kind of patriarchal-guilt. Recognizing that sexism still exists, especially in the most hidden and dangerous of ways, is a critical step in the realization that feminism, both as a personal identity and a radical social movement, is necessary for the eradication of inequality.
–Photo Jay Morrison/Flickr
Yeah Archy,I’m right there with you on this one too. This is as confusing a mix of ideas as I have seen in sometime. When one has an ironclad belief in the patriarchy, all things are possible. I suppose In that regard, the author has achieved a semblance of clarity.I suppose there is an upside.The author affirms that my decision to quit feminism was the correct choice. I refused to be the muted lackey,unless there were large sums of money involved,they wanted me to be. I was surprised and a bit taken aback upon realizing what being a male and… Read more »
Talk all you want about feminism, but any member of the movement that tells a person:
A) Their privileged, white-male status negates the harms that were caused by both genders, particularly girls and women.
B) They are an anomoly. Girls and women have it worse.
and said member is still given status in the movement, destroys the movement’s credibility.
That’s what it’s all about in the end: Treat a recovering survivor like garbage, don’t expect them to have their full sympathy for what you’re fighting for.
James, you lost me at “Meagan Murphy” – there’s just no room for a person at her table if one is not of her precise ideological slant, and her concise ideological interpretations of what feminism is and is not. Commonality of goals and values transcends differences (even fundamental differences) in ideologies & ideological structuralism. To achieve its broader altruistic goals, feminism is less in need of doctrinaire adherents, focused on purity of rhetoric, and more need of fellow travelers – those who, though they may reject some of the structural ideological underpinnings, actively approve of, and will act for the… Read more »
Correction on the previous post – should have been spelled “Meghan Murphy” – apologies for the misspelling on the first name.
“The post-feminism myth is basically what it sounds like: the false belief that we live in a society where feminism is no longer useful or needed, ergo that sexism is dead and relative gender equality reigns supreme. ” This statement implies that the death of sexism is a necessary condition for feminism to have outlived its usefulness. You are apparently assuming that there is some negative correlation between the usefulness of feminism and the prevalence of sexism. This is a significant logical flaw. If gender equality is truly a goal of feminism then one could argue that the continued existence… Read more »
There are some problems with (at least the common view of) feminism. Insofar as it depends on stereotyping men, there’s a problem. Admittedly there are some very badly behaved men out there, just as there are women. Sometimes their “badness” is congruent with gender roles. But, plugging in stereotypes when one thinks of men or women is misandrist or misogynistic. It should also be compassionately understood that the modern world is emerging from the reality of men and women living as symbiotes (based on their interlocking roles) in more traditional society. This was a system that, in many ways, worked,… Read more »
I don’t disagree with your main point, but you ignore an important part. Many feminists I run across like to believe that feminism = egalitarianism. They believe feminism is the only game in town when it comes to gender egalitarianism and if you aren’t a feminist (I’m not), you cannot possibly be egalitarian. You must be for subjugating women, ignorant of society’s affect on your psyche, or in some other way brainwashed into supporting patriarchy. Then these same feminists turn around and say that “Men have no right to tell feminism what it is or should be”. I am willing… Read more »
They believe feminism is the only game in town when it comes to gender egalitarianism and if you aren’t a feminist (I’m not), you cannot possibly be egalitarian. You must be for subjugating women, ignorant of society’s affect on your psyche, or in some other way brainwashed into supporting patriarchy. I was talking to two feminists a few nights ago and one of them pulled this line of logic on me. Upon finding out that I am not a feminist she almost immediately went into the “What problem do you have with the equality for men and women?” line of… Read more »
This whole double speak is bloody annoying. Men cannot be feminists, only allies….feminism is for equality for both genders but don’t use it as egalitarianism because it’s meant to be gynocentric……HUHHH. So where do I talk about issues affecting men without the incessant OMG WOMEN HAVE IT WORSE mentality derailing the convo? How do male issues get solved…are we supposed to say fuckit and co-opt the feminist movement or stick to the MRM? I REGULARLY see feminists say feminism = an egalitarian movement and that we don’t need the MRM, we just need feminism cuz feminism takes care of male… Read more »
James, this is a great piece + I appreciate it a lot. I do think, however (and this is possibly just my opinion) that there’s a difference between male feminist allies speaking about their own understanding of what they think feminism is + telling other people + especially women, what their definition of feminism is supposed to be, or what it should be. Sometimes, it’s a really gray area, I admit. And also, I think that the attempt by anyone to exclusively define what a movement or a set of beliefs or personal identity politics is or isn’t, is a… Read more »