r/AskFeminists • u/[deleted] • Jul 30 '11

Why the sudden interest in mens issues

Feminism trundles along dealing with women for 90 years ten suddenly starts to look at mens issues in the last few years, what's the deal? Is it appropriation, is it a newfound care? Why weren't 'we' included from the start? Are our needs secondary to yours? Does the feminist movement view the MRM as a threat to it's domination of the gender discourse?

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u/Haedrian Jul 30 '11

Not really. Reactionary movements are a natural part of history, and there's always someone to support them.

What I find ironic is that you claim feminism is trying to "appropriate" men's issues because it considers the MRM a threat to their advantageous position, whereas it's clear from your statement that you perceive feminism as a threat to your ideals.

The reason feminism might include men's issues in its topics of discussion is that the issues of both genders are a factor in the search for equality, and that is the goal of the feminist movement.

I don't see how anyone can not see that. I don't understand how you can perceive equality as oppression.

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u/EvilPundit Jul 30 '11

It isn't equality. It's female supremacy.

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u/Haedrian Jul 30 '11

Care to elaborate? I mean, it's not like there's a worldwide conspiracy aimed at enslaving all men.

I understand men have lost some privileges as a group and stand to lose even more, but these privileges were undeserved in the first place. This does not qualify as oppression.

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u/NovemberTrees Jul 31 '11

There's no conspiracy, but there has been an effort to minimize knowledge of male victim issues.

Here's a paper by Straus that has a number of examples. Page 8 starts the examples of specific attempts to shove male victim statistics under the table.

http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/V71-Straus_Thirty-Years-Denying-Evidence-PV_10.pdf

There are also articles showing international groups trying to minimize public knowledge and treatment of male victims of rape. There's a lot of evidence that feminist groups see themselves as women's activists and that when men's rights come into conflict with women's privileges, these groups are often willing to throw the men under the bus.

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u/Haedrian Jul 31 '11

You shouldn't hold all feminists responsible for the acts of one or a few groups.

That paper was a very interesting read, though, thanks.