What if we took a Men's Rights stance instead? Hear me out...

submitted by respectmyidentity from self.GenderCritical

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[–]Bitchcraft 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

You are right in that we should avoid becoming a "circular firing squad" that is more concerned with purity of ideology than actually getting things done. Being a single-issue coalition of people that maybe disagree on other issues is powerful.

Courage is contagions. I believe one of the major reasons libfems and women's groups keep giving in to the "validation rain-dance" that currently drowns out absolutely everything is that we have been raised to apologize for speaking ("I don't mean to say x, but ...") and many men have an unconscious habit of dismissing women, even if they would agree to what is being said. As you have pointed out, men could benefit enormously from feminism, but feel humiliated by what this implies for them, like doing "women's work" or accepting that they have emotions. I don't see any other way to normalize women voicing strong opinions by getting out of our comfort zone and speaking up. Breaking the cognitive distortion field is more important than any single issue. We cannot logic people out of something that they didn't logic themselves into.

I'm sorry about your job, I hope you find a new one soon. Stay angry.

[–]respectmyidentity[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I will, I guess I feel like we are asking a group of people who have a lot to lose (and less opportunity) to risk themselves further by breaking the stereotype. I also want to voice opinions, but perhaps it could be useful to highlight opinions that actually do show it harms men. The reason TWAW works is that it harms women, not men. Women will harm themselves before they'll harm men because we are socialized that way (to take the side of men, be selfless). That's what is so insidious. Women feel validated as women when they hurt themselves. They feel like they are being good girls, and look forward to the pat on the head they get from society. Just as men get validation for fulfilling prescribed gender roles for men. Can't we try to take advantage of that as the TRA's do, but in a way that helps women instead of harms them?