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Masculism
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Masculism (or Masculinism) has two contrasting meanings. When used by self-identified masculists, the term refers to social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies primarily based on the experiences of men. Masculism, when used by masculists (or masculinists), provides a general critique of social relations; many of its active proponents also seek to analyze gender inequality and promote men's rights, interests, and issues.
In an older, usually critical, sense used in sociology, anthropology, psychology, and some feminist thought, masculinism refers to a belief in the superiority of men or the masculine. Traditional academic usage tends to use the form "masculinism" whereas the newer movements focused on men's rights tend to use the form "masculism." However, this distinction in usage of the two word forms is only approximate, and both forms are used in both senses.
History of masculist movement
Masculism as a movement or self-identification emerged in the 1990s or 2000s as a response to changing gender roles. Warren Farrell is a prominent author using the term "masculist" today. Feminist advocacy for professional women led to a analogous advocacy for fathers, and in relation to male-only military conscription (or registration).
Popular cultural imagery started widely portraying working and professional woman in the 1970s, and started portraying single fathers later, in the 1980s or 1990s. A widely watched example of the former was the TV program, The Mary Tyler Moore Show; the latter theme was a focus of, the TV programs Diff'rent Strokes and Silver Spoons), and the film Kramer vs. Kramer.
Masculist concernsMasculists cite one-sided legislation, selective enforcement, and neglected civil rights as examples of discrimination against men and boys. Examples may include:
Violence
Masculist concerns focus on societal acceptance of violence harming men paired with the stigma against violence harming women, as well as males being taught or expected to take on violent roles.
- men forced to risk their lives in male-only conscripted military service
- claims by radical feminists that the majority of men have the potential to be rapists.
- portrayal of "violence against women" as more important than other forms of violence, including "violence against men" (e.g. "never hit a woman/girl, but it is acceptable for a woman to beat a man")
- depiction of violence against men as humorous, in the media (e.g., the movie I Love You to Death) and elsewhere (see Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them!), when women are equally violent.
- assumption of female innocence or sympathy for women, which may result in problems such as disproportionate penalties for men and women for similar crimes, lack of sympathy for male victims in domestic violence cases, and dismissal of male-by-female rape cases.
- societal failure to address prison rape issues such as prevention (e.g., reducing prison crowding that requires sharing of cells), enforcement, and even correctional staff punishing prisoners by confining them with known rapists. Attention has been drawn to portrayals of male rape by women, or implied rape, as humorous (as seen in the Virgin Mobile adverts featuring Wyclef Jean) where portrayals of female rape could not acceptably be used in this fashion.
- male genital mutilation being socially accepted or even advocated as opposed to female genital mutilation.
Parenting - equality in child custody, such as shared parenting
- pregnancies carried to term despite agreements ahead of time that they would not be, subjecting men to unwanted parental responsibilities and/or child support expectations (see Dubay v. Wells)
- The opposite of the above, where a man who feels he wants to have a child has no say in whether his girlfriend/wife aborts his child (see paternal rights and abortion)
- equality in adoption rights (several states allow single women to adopt children but not single men)
Discrimination - Legislation that addresses women's needs without considering the corresponding need in men (e.g., Women, Infants, and Children Act; Violence Against Women Act)
- Biases in the justice system against men, such as higher incarceration rates and longer sentences for men (compared to women) for the same crimes
- Statutory rape laws enforced more vehemently in instances where the victim is female and/or the perpetrator is male (e.g. the cases of Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau, Pamela Rogers, and Debra Lafave )
- Rape shield laws, which may prevent some men from adequately challenging their accuser
- Cathy Young, who does not consider herself a "masculinist," argues that in rape cases, "the dogma that "women never lie" means that there is, for all intents and purposes, no presumption of innocence for the defendant"
- Women may marry at younger ages than men in some U.S. states. )
- Men pay higher premiums for auto, health, life and disability insurance, though other forms of discrimination are prohibited.
- In some countries, men have to pay more income tax than their female counterparts.
- Men not being 'believed' when being raped by their wife, girlfriend or fiancee; lesser or no penalty for women that rape men
Social concerns - Increasing suicide rate among young men, four times higher than among young women ; (73% of all suicide deaths are white males in the United States; In the United States, more women than men report a history of attempted suicide, with a gender ratio of 3:1)
- Lack of advocacy for men's rights; more social programs for women than for men
- Bias in health concerns; for example, more advertisements and awareness for breast cancer than prostate cancer, though the latter kills more men than the former kills women
- Incarceration for not paying child support, particularly for unwanted children, in contrast to women's right to abort (see Male abortion)
- Special government agencies for women's affairs with no corresponding agencies for men's affairs
- Lack of legal ramifications or enforcement for paternity fraud
Education Lack of educational aid for boys and men, given that their performance/enrollment at most levels lags behind that of girls and women; some states declaring (de jure or de facto) all-male schools illegal and all-female schools legal.
Investing money addressing female underachievement in mathematics or sciences, while ignoring male underachievement in reading.
There is concern that some university women's studies departments are more concerned with teaching feminist ideology than equality of gender. The content and emphasis of these courses vary, and some even discuss "masculinities"; but masculists fear that many such courses contribute to animosity towards men.
Some universities also carry "men's studies" courses. Some feminists argue that these are redundant, stating that academia throughout history was predominantly focused on men; however, supporters of these courses note that most subjects throughout history have not dealt with gender directly.
Employment- Harder physical entrance criteria for men in many occupations, such as the army, police and fire service. Requiring men to be physically stronger than women in these occupations leaves men responsible for a greater share of the physical work, for no more pay.
- Legal inequality and protections of paternal vs. maternal leave
Differences in masculist ideology There is no consensus as to what exactly constitutes "masculism." Some feel the word describes a belief that the male and female genders should be considered complementary and interdependent by necessity. Such expressions of masculism are built around the belief that differentiated gender roles are natural and should be exempt from government interference. Others masculists, such as Warren Farrell, support an ideology of equivalence between the sexes, rather than a belief in unchangeable gender differences. A more encompassing definition might be "a movement to empower males in society, and to redress discrimination against men."
Because it is the name of a political and social movement, masculism is sometimes considered synonymous with the men's rights or fathers' rights movements. However, many of the fathers' rights movement make a clear distinction between masculism and their own often quite varied approaches to gender relations.
Some masculists state that there is a covert matriarchy and that one of their goals is to overturn it, and elect masculist politicians, whom they would consider more altruistically motivated. Theorists such as David Constantine envision structural changes in taxation or other areas to compensate for what they see as natural differences and expectations between genders.
Gender roles in religion are a source of disagreement among masculists: some support a general leadership role for men, while others argue for relative equality between the genders. Liberal masculists such as Warren Farrell tend to favour a secular, gender-neutral stance, whereas conservatives tend to prefer a religious approach, such as represented in The Inevitability of Patriarchy by Steven Goldberg. Conservatives may promote a "New Patriarchy" by countering feminist ideology with their own. Such liberal-conservative dynamics illustrate the diversity of a movement that nonetheless has a unified purpose of promoting men's welfare.
Progressive views Progressives tend to view masculism as a complementary movement to feminism, the so-called "New Masculinity." Both feminism and masculism are seen as attempts to correct disadvantages induced by gender roles. Whereas feminists address areas they believe women to be disadvantaged, such as equal pay, job opportunities and promotion, masculists address areas they believe men to be disadvantaged, such as divorce and custody, health, criminal prosecution and sentencing. These masculists may object to specific aspects of feminism or to the expressed views of specific feminist groups, without rejecting feminism as a concept or believing that the feminist movement as a whole is hostile to masculism. Some sociologists regard masculism with suspicion, seeing it as a reactionary, even misogynistic movement at odds with feminism. Others accept that feminists and masculists are natural allies against a common enemy, sexism, which is (or can be) as damaging to men as it is (or can be) to women.
For example, Warren Farrell states in The Myth of Male Power that both genders are hampered by the "bisexist" roles of the past: sexism that oppresses both genders. He emphasises the compatibility of both movements: "I use two podiums to debate myself as a feminist and masculist". Fred Hayward, in his speech to the National Congress for Men in 1981, states: "We must not reverse the women's movement; we must accelerate it... [Men's liberation] is not a backlash, for there is nothing about traditional sex roles that I want to go back to."
This suggests that masculism in his conception can assist and aid the women's movement. Feminists have responded to this with both encouragement and trepidation. Some feminists believe that space for women to have a voice would be threatened by the presence of men, or that a growing presence of men in the women's movement would displace the voices of the women. Others greet masculist interests in the women's movement as important for the eradication of sexism in society.
Likewise, gender egalitarians call for both masculists and feminists who are truly interested in equality to unite under one banner of gender egalitarianism. This philosophy is sympathetic to legitimate grievances of both males and females.
Masculinist literary theoryA branch of literary theory that works as an antidote to feminist literary theory. Coined from "The Masculinist Manifesto" created by Dr. Rachel Bishop, this radical testament of gender egalitarianism uses the imbalance created through feminist theory to in fact unravel feminist assumptions.
See also
Men's movements and organizations
People associated with masculism
Bibliography- of Aristotle asserts excellence varies with social role, including gender.
- , 1908 antithesis of John Stuart Mill's 1869 The Subjection of Women.
- by Ernest Belfort Bax, 1914.
- The Myth of the Monstrous Male and Other Feminist Fallacies; John Gordon, Playboy Press, New York, 1982; ISBN 0-87223-758-3
- The Myth of Male Power: Why Men Are the Disposable Sex; Warren Farrell, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1993: ISBN 0-671-79349-7
- Manliness by Harvey Mansfield (2006) Yale Press ISBN 0-300-10664-5
- Not Guilty: The Case in Defense of Men; David Thomas, William Morrow and Co., Inc., New York, 1993; ISBN 0-688-11024-X
- Good Will Toward Men; Jack Kammer, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1994; ISBN 0-312-10471-5
- Moral Panic: Biopolitics Rising; John Fekete, Robert Davies Publishing, Montreal-Toronto, 1994: ISBN 1-895854-09-1
- The New Men's Studies: A Selected and Annotated Interdisciplinary Bibliography (2nd Edition); Eugene R. August, Libraries Unlimited, Inc., Englewood, CO, 1994: ISBN 1-56308-084-2
- A Man's World: How Real Is Male Privilege - And How High Is Its Price?; Ellis Cose, Harper Collins, New York, 1995: ISBN 0-06-017206-1
- Why Men Don't Iron: The Real Science of Gender Studies; Anne & Bill Moir, Harper Collins, Hammersmith, London, 1998; ISBN 0-00-257035-1 (Trade Paperback); ISBN 0-00-257048-3 (Hardcover)
- The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity; Leon J. Podles, Spence Publishing Co., Dallas, TX, 1999. (The title is a play on the Catholic theological terms church militant and church triumphant.)
- Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture; Paul Nathanson and Katherine K. Young, McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal, 2001; ISBN 0-7735-2272-7
- Sex Differences, Modern Biology and the Unisex Fallacy, Yves Christen
- Who Stole Feminism?: How Women Have Betrayed Women; Christina Hoff Sommers ISBN 0-684-80156-6
- The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men; Christina Hoff Sommers ISBN 0-684-84956-9
- If Men Have All the Power How Come Women Make the Rules?; Jack Kammer
- Domestic Violence: The 12 Things You Aren't Supposed to Know by Thomas B. James ISBN 1-59330-122-7
- Ceasefire! : Why Women And Men Must Join Forces To Achieve True Equality; Cathy Young ISBN 0-684-83442-1
- The Masculine Mystique; Andrew Kimbrell ISBN 0-345-38658-2
External links - - A blog united with the men's movement. Thought provoking original articles on men's liberation, masculism, as well as articles taking aim at radical feminism.
- Fathers For Virginia
- Men's Movement and men's rights
- Men's rights Discussion group
- Masculist Movement in India
- Unofficial Pitzer College Masculinist Coalition
- Indian site opposing the heterosexualisation of society
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