Feminism is not as narrow minded as some may think. Unfortunately, that stigma is still around today, in 2016, fifty years later- Unbelievable. With this movement expanding to ideas such as “second-wave feminism” and “third-wave feminism” it is literally impossible to not be able to identify as a “feminist.” However, like Newton said: “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” and it is no surprise that a male-activist group has emerged. Established in the early 2000’s, “Meninists” are a (semi-satirical) group focusing on gender equality and men’s rights. Sounds a little bogus, am I right? Men’s rights? WHAT could they possibly be fighting for? Higher pay? THAT is funny. So let’s talk about this.
Feminism is, simply put, about equal rights between genders. “Second-wave feminism” was more about women’s sexuality, family, reproductive rights, and so on. “Third-wave feminism” is more about different strains of feminism joining together as one, drawing special attention to the suffrage of queer and non-white women and looking at the interpretation of gender and sexuality as a spectrum, rather than a binary concept. Because of these movements, women currently have support from society (unfortunately not all of society, but we’re working on that) that encourage us to keep pushing forward.
Like I have said many, many, many times, I am a feminist- Duh. And at first, I was thoroughly offended by this concept of “meninism.” Like, what the hell? I honestly believed that the people who identified as Meninists were incompetent, low-life, chauvinistic assholes that CLEARLY had no idea what was going on in the world and feared for their crippling masculinity. I found it repulsive that these people believed that sexism affected them; all the while it was always the “meninists” cat-calling me on campus.
But then I thought a little bit about this movement, and I can kind of see its point. Don’t get me wrong: I understand completely that this movement is simply a way to poke fun at all the women standing on the frontline of this gender war, and I know that it’s a way to make mockery of the women that know they are equal to men. But, if used correctly, I feel like maybe, just maybe, the feminists and meninists could join forces. We could call ourselves… I don’t know… human beings? What if this group, one day, wasn’t composed of insecure white-men who thought that strong women were a threat to their masculinity? With the right tools, right mindset, and right attitude, we could turn this “anti-feminism” movement into something truly special. For instance, meninists could focus on the oppression of trans men, gay men, male emotions, and so on and so forth, giving today’s males the opportunity to truly express themselves. I cry probably 20 times a day (no exaggeration) and I have accepted it, that is just who I am. I cry when I am happy, I cry when I am sad, I cry when I see something heartwarming, and I cry every time I see a dog. Why shouldn’t men be able to do the same? It’s awesome to be able to express these emotions whenever I want, and I strongly believe that everyone should be able to do the same, no matter what pronouns they use to identify themselves.
So here’s a call-to-action to all the Meninists out there who think that your snarky comments and cat-calls are going to slow us down and somehow reverse this movement: remember that oppression is what started this revolution in the first place. So, why don’t you come join the winning side and support the men in this society (and while you’re at it, show us women some support as well).