Shira Tarrant: Feminism For Men

Modern feminism means equality for men and women whereas, a century ago, feminism meant that women should have the same rights as men. People are all given the same human rights, yet men and women battle for equality. Genders struggle against each other and also with each other for equality. Women strive for equality in the workplace, and to be heard without being labeled as bossy or aggressive. Women fight in our country to be equal in a position in politics. Some men hide behind society’s norms of what a man should be. Society norms say men should not show their feelings, or in any way have feminine traits or roles. Men feel they need to be aggressive instead of submissive. Some feel if they are not portrayed the "manly type" they are looked at as weak and/or not in control. Feminism is found to be viewed as man-hating, when in fact it is the belief that men and women have the same rights.

Feminism in the 1960’s-1980’s is a very different concept than Feminism in the 21st century. Back in the 60’s, feminism meant to fight for equal rights. Now, modern feminism means women-dominance. While the dictionary definition of feminism is “a range of political movements, ideologies and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women”, many modern feminists take this to the point of fighting for the “right” for women to dominate men. Many modern feminists support female superiority, rudeness, and demonizing men.

The definition of feminism is very elusive. Maybe because of its ever-changing historical meaning, it’s not for certain whether there is any coherence to the term feminism or if there is a definition that will live up to the movement’s variety of adherents and ideas. In the book “No Turning Back,” author Estelle Freedman gives an accurate four-part definition of the very active movement: “Feminism is a belief that women and men are inherently part of equal worth. Because most societies privilege men as a group, social movements are necessary to achieve equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies” (Freedman 7).

Why is the feminist lens focused only on one perspective: females?. Throughout history females have being oppressed by sexism and racism ideologies, not only based on gender differences, but in skin color and body shape as we see in today’s society. Due to this reason, can men do Feminist theory?. To illustrate, “[men] do not have the life experiences of belonging to an oppressed group and [do not have] shared personal stories that reveal their wounds from patriarchy”(Klocke). This demonstrates that men can not be in the feminist theory because they didn't suffered the struggle and the pain that many women experienced in order to gain their natural rights. Moreover, of course males can relate and be part of the theory, but the main focus will

Feminism can be defined as “the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” It is something that is debated all throughout society today. However, the problem of whether or not women should be equal to men has been around for much longer than any of us.

Today, most men do not want feminism because it shortens their power. Men like having the authority and that was easy to maintain when many women were not working and stayed at home, following their orders. However, times have changes and more than half of women population work, causing men to lose power. There are still issues that shows that men are supposedly more superior to women such as wage gaps. Women get paid less than men is many jobs, such as medical. Many men seek power and they feel inarticulate if they are seen lower than women. Many men are abusive because they want to feel empowered and in control and in return, many females feel powerless and believe is that they are doing the wrong, which is what the man whats her to

In feminist movements, there's a tendency to exclude women of color and trans women from the women category. There are laws that gives men the shorter end of the stick, such as giving mothers more rights than men in custody battles and allowing women to receive majority of the profit after divorce settlement.

Through the past few years more and more women consider themselves feminist and for good reason. Women have been oppressed for years and have made some progress to where we want to be. Sure we can vote and own property but we are still experiencing gender inequality, we have unnecessary gender labels on everyday items, making excuses for rape culture and our reproductive rights are in jeopardy.

The answer; we have little idea. So, how can a man be a “feminist” then? Well, men do face oppression, and yes, men are subject to discrimination under patriarchal ideals, and sociological perspectives. An article published by a National Post journalist pointed out vital imagery that men are subject to, and an insight to the oppression they encounter: “From anti-rape campaigns that stigmatize all men as potential rapists, to pedagogical strategies that favour the learning style of girls and women, and the explicit denial that men are even capable of being oppressed unless it is on grounds of race, class, disability or homosexuality, men’s issues advocates say males are becoming a campus underclass, under-represented in the student body, and vulnerable to the same marginalization that women have faced.” [Brean, 2013]. This powerful statement outlines the imagery males are subjects to, as men are treated as inherently aggressive, and violent creatures. Furthermore, if men veer from conformity, if they do not participate in physical sports such as hockey, football, or rugby, and join a gymnastics team, they are categorized as "wimps" or "girls". Additionally, a man can be a feminist, or hold feminist views from the relationships they hold with their significant other, or whether it be from their daughter, a relative, a friend, or an acquaintance. These relationships not only enable a

Feminism isa loaded term. Defined as the advocacy of woman’s rights on the ground of political, social and economic equality to men, feminism has become a movement for woman to have the same rights and respect as men, but just as racism is still relevant, so is the inequality of woman because of stereotypical gender roles. Woman have alway had their role in history, but those roles are often dictated by men. Historically woman have been shown doing "woman 's work" and are defined in terms of their marital status

Men think that women biggest mistake is acting like women, In order to women be completely part of this community they do not need feminism. What they need is think, act, and work as men. According to Denise Cummins, Why the STEM gender gap is overblown. “ So we must turn women into men so that women can achieve economic parity with men”. Women already are taking men's roles in the house. For example, in the USA there is a huge percent of women who are single mothers. They do both gender work, they just maintain their sense of feminine that distinguishes them. If women decide to act more like men they will completely become one. Women do think, act, and work as men, they just keep have a balance and retain their feminine style as well. In order for women to achieve their goals, they do not have to change the way they are, due to those argument men had said about women. Women had been noticed the privilege men have in the earth, some of them change their gender according to the benefit is giving, but men still are not satisfied because they judge this cause as well. in sequence to, women institute feminism globally they have to focus on their point as feminist and believe what their right should

Another issue that men face is the ambiguity of their position within feminism, therefore it becomes unclear how much they are required to contribute to the cause However in many cases female feminists are more open to listening to the contributions of women as they are the ones directly affected by discriminatory practices. Some feminists however disagree and align themselves more with the argument that sexism towards women is just as maladaptive to men as it alienates them from roles in society most commonly associated with women, for example single fathers are perceived as less competent within the rigid boundaries of what

Men and masculinities also called men studies, which was a critique to the rising men’s rights movement. It is a sub study of gender studies which gave the definition to masculinities by R.W. Connell.*** A lot of people believe feminism is what put gender in the mainstream. Years in the past we always saw men as leaders to led international relations but as times are changing females are getting in power. We tend to stereotype and automatically think this image of a man is the higher authority who is masculine and the aggressor. Women we see as like content, shy and as a victim. As times changed we saw women stand up for their rights and achieve that so-called masculine role. Feminists as always asked for equal gender rights but this raises the question about men getting equal rights as well. Men deserve equal rights like women so as a society we need to move away from the typical stereotype’s of men and just focus on the whole of a gender.

Who needs feminism? Most people believe that only straight men and women needs feminism. Lesbians, bisexuals, gays, and transsexuals, or the “LGBT” community needs feminism. It is not fair to exclude them, especially when they experience the same. They are also targeted when it comes to relationships such as, marriage equality and gender roles. Today, men argue that feminism is sexism. Sexism is the discrimination towards the other sex. Also it means unfair treatment or judgments because of their sex. Most men believe that women want more power and that it is injustice. John Haltiwanger states that, “Feminism is a term that makes most men very uncomfortable. They see it as an attack on their masculinity, and an affront to their very way of life.”(Haltiwanger, “I Am A Man and I Need Feminism”). What they do not realize is, that they are victims. Most men are victims of physical abuse and sex crime. They feel insecure about themselves when

According to Wade and Ferree (2015) feminism “is the belief that all men and women should have equal rights and opportunities (p. 157). However, this definition is simple and does not explain what feminism means today. Feminism still deals with gender inequality, but it has become more than that over the years. Feminists today are also concerned about “differences among men and among women – intersectionality” (p. 157). Females are disadvantaged compared to males, but both males and females have to overcome harmful gender stereotypes. If gender equality is going to exist, the focus cannot entirely be on females. Also, if feminism was only about women it would exclude everyone else, and they would be perpetuating inequality as well. It is important