Interesting view on the role of modern feminism, gender related traits and more.
Quoting from the article:
"Hard-driving lawyers, neurosurgeons and investment bankers—indeed, all historically male high-status jobs—also require some version of assertiveness and single-mindedness. In other words, such jobs are designed around masculinity and men."
Let’s Rethink Masculinity -- In These Times
Where do you stand on this?
Posts
My own opinion is that this is an ineffective approach to addressing the role of gender in society.
ReplyDeleteShe seems to display a femino-chauvinist bias in her text, in statements like, "Feminists need to engage men on this issue." It is chauvinist in that men are depicted necessarily as misogynist. What about male feminists? Should they engage with themselves or only with male non-feminists? Or are only women allowed in the feminist club?
What about the subtitle, "Real men should be more than breadwinners"? This can be construed in many senses, but they all propagate the very concept she is fighting against. Perhaps, by using the term “real men”, she means exactly the first-degree impression—that masculinity is based on more than “bread-winning-ness”. Or perhaps she desired to spur men to action through calling into question their masculinity. But basing her (misandrist) thesis on misogynist views of masculinity vindicates the misogyny that she intends to counter. Both of these illnesses are fundamentally the same--the subjugation of one gender to another. The adoption of one excuses the other.
Accordingly, I believe she is wrong to state "Masculinity holds the key to understanding why the gender revolution has stalled." The feminist revolution has succeeded in many senses, and may have stalled temporarily, since the easy challenges are won, and the difficult ones remain. But the gender revolution has not stalled, because no revolt has taken place! The primary issue is not that men subjugate women–-that is only the surface. The deeper issue is that people subjugate other people: men subjugate women, the rich subjugate the poor, whites subjugate other races, and et cetera and vice-versa on all counts. Until we start addressing that, we may have gone as far as we can.
While I attack her statements, she and I share different aspects of a common “library” of cultural biases, as we all do. We recognize those biases and fight them, and often we lose. I respect the fact that she fights at all.
DPH