Comments on: What My Father Taught Me About Feminism

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Sat, 08 May 2010 03:36:39 +0000

Well, I wrote a huge, long, rambling post in response to this, but I can just make it so much easier.
Thank you for writing this. I noticed my dad’s struggle with gender stereotyping a couple of years ago, and that cemented my belief in feminism. Plus, he was the one that taught me that no, you do not have to do this or act like that just because you’re a girl. Now, here’s some shorts, and a hammer, wanna help me build the fence?

By: Tisi

Tisi — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:29:41 +0000

Agreed. I was also raised by a good man who was a victim of gender stereotyping his entire life. He has fought it my entire life, and I’m a better person because he wanted both of us to both just be human beings. This article really made me think. Thanks.

By: Helen Gallagher

Helen Gallagher — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:19:52 +0000

Randall: do you not think that *any* word that denoting a fight towards equality for women would end up bastardized?

The problem is not the word, but other people. There is no point trying to ‘rehabilitate’ feminism and make it more ‘palatable’ because people havent changed yet.

By: Randall

Randall — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:16:36 +0000

I’m a man, and a feminist. Period. I am not ashamed of it, and I understand what it means, but many women don’t, and far more men really haven’t a shred of a clue of its real motives and goals.

Unfortunately, a lot of people also aren’t aware that men are also victims of the sexism. I think we all really participate in it, and women even encourage a lot of the sexual stereotypes that we see today–as well as men. It’s pretty obvious if you open any magazine. These women are being paid to mutilate their bodies, and are encouraged to do so regularly to create surreal ideals that no one can touch without a scalpel and a mint, or fantastic genetics. Objectification isn’t even adequate to describe how demoralizing it really is.

We are all responsible for what happens to men, and women. When we can face that, we’ll maybe work toward a common understanding with each other. Humanism is also a better term for feminism–the connotation of the f word is pretty bad nowadays, and I wonder if the public imagination can recover from the onslaught of name-calling that has been done to bastardize the term into a woman who hates men.

By: bugged

bugged — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:35:38 +0000

@ Terminal Hope

Feminists with a bone to pick with men are not extremely rare and there is a point to be made that any “equality” based movement that tends not to focus on one genders needs is not equality based. We don’t have to think that feminists want women to be superior to think that they don’t really care about the needs of men.

Sadly patronizing articles like this (mainly the comments) are often as close as we get to actually discussing a male perspective on equality. This basically says – “aw, poor men” without talking about it at all.

You think it is sad that many men think they have no role, then tell us what roles you think they have. You have discussed nothing here about military conscription, mens sexual rights etc etc.

I am not aginst what has been said in this article but as food for thought goes sadly this is just another nibble.

By: Emma

Emma — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 19:04:33 +0000

Can’t deny that some men suffer because of stereotypes for masculinity. I know a lot of guys who do.

But many, if not most, benefit far more than they suffer.

Men don’t suffer nearly as much as women do due to patriarchy, and I feel it’s just plain silly to go on and on about “oh no, poor men!”

You’d see many more male feminists if gender equality didn’t mean taking away male privilege.

By: TerminalHope

TerminalHope — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 23:23:56 +0000

roro, if this is the case, you haven’t read much feminist literature. Feminists with a bone to pick with men are incredibly rare, and shouldn’t be a reason to discount the entire premise that people make it.

By: roro

roro — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:51:16 +0000

good article. this is the first time i have ever seen a feminist article actually consider the male viewpoint, and actually consider us as people. that is the biggest problem for me, feminism is usually so exclusive, so anti-male. how do you expect us to join with you in your fight when you either ignore or vilify us.

By: sammylif» Blog Archive » Superfart

sammylif» Blog Archive » Superfart — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:28:56 +0000

[...] mean, it only caught my eye because I just read these posts about how men are affected by gender norms, and it’s worth noting how men are always morons [...]

By: -Z-

-Z- — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:40:56 +0000

I’m always interested in individual definitions of “feminism”. For me, the feminist movement transcends creating equality for women. I think that feminism is a lens through women’s lives that attacks the patriarchal social structures and ideologies. These patriarchal systems negatively effect women in all their diversity, women of color, sexuality, identity, age, abilities, socio-economic status, etc. etc. What I think this post is getting at, is that men are also negatively effected by patriarchal systems, though they may benefit from it in certain inconsequential ways (ie. access to jobs, wealth, dominance, etc.). Feminism seeks to use a gendered historical lens to help achieve peace for everyone, and equality for people.

Also, as a great P.S….my brother and father both identify proudly as feminists.

How great is that?