The masculist movement seems to think it has girl cooties at any rate
By Rachel Braeuer
Photos by Mark Burnham
There was a point in my life where I thought being a feminist was abhorrent. If you’ve read anything I’ve ever written before, take a minute to let that sink in. I understand the motivations that make the growing masculist movement want to grow independently from feminism, but I’m here to tell you it’s an unnecessary divide.
Eric Bock’s proposed event “Why UBC needs Masculism” is an enigma. Is it serious or is it a joke? Bock didn’t respond to a request for an interview, so the best I can do is assume based on the responses given on the page. He does cite studies about men getting raped and the increasing incidence of eating disorders in men. Comments from others who seem to take the event seriously felt honest, but were all shrouded in what I’d call hipster irony, save for fear that would be patronizing, err, matronizing?
None of the serious posts made on the board that I saw were off base. Men do face serious issues that are directly related to their gender. But let’s make two things clear: women had to fight for their right to be taken seriously in a man’s world for a long time and (with less frequency) still do. I appreciate, if the organizers are serious and not just mocking the “Why UBC needs feminism” event from the week before, how it feels to have people not take you seriously because of your gender. Really, this response proves their point, if they’re genuinely trying to make one.
Secondly, feminism (maybe not radical feminism, but generally) has, for at least a decade, been talking about and trying to proactively resolve these “men’s issues.” It was in women’s studies classes that I was introduced to studies in masculinity, not while interloping in the men’s locker room. This is what really gets me down. Men can be and are feminists. The white ribbon campaign was started by men, for men. One of the organizers of Slutwalk in Vancouver is male. If asked, I’d call most of the guys I know feminists. However, if I told them that, I imagine some would be displeased.
Masculists often talk about the need for “safe spaces for men.” I think this is one of the areas where feminist and masculists aren’t seeing eye-to-eye, and I wonder if this is a question of phrasing. When feminists talk about safe space for women, it references women only having a voice inside their own homes, and still being thought of as either the father or husband’s property (fun fact: rape was, until the mid-20th century, thought of as property damage because of this!)
Until women demanded their safe spaces outside of the home, all other spaces were, by default, men’s spaces. I agree that men don’t have arenas where they can talk about issues that impact them the way women do, but trying to usurp the need for safe spaces or appropriate feminist phrases demonstrates the unchecked privilege some masculists exhibit and places the movement in direct and arbitrary opposition with feminism.
If the masculist movement takes off and makes positive changes for men that in turn benefit everyone, I’ll still be sad I didn’t get to bro-out with everyone under the banner of feminism, but I’ll still be happy. I will support any movement that raises consciousness and promotes equality, but if masculists are going to rhetorically posit themselves against a movement that has been trying to advocate in similar way to them for years, I can’t help but be matronizing.
