Why International Men’s Day is Feminist Too

Why International Men’s Day is Feminist Too

As a feminist, we talk a lot about women. Thatโ€™s because women have to deal with a lot of crap from the patriarchy. From the […]

November 20, 2016
3 min read

As a feminist, we talk a lot about women. Thatโ€™s because women have to deal with a lot of crap from the patriarchy. From the gender pay gap and workplace discrimination to reproductive rights, slut shaming and rape, thereโ€™s a lot to work on. However, feminism is about equal rights, and that includes men too. Itโ€™s not only women who are oppressed in a patriarchal society. Yes, men enjoy privilege under a society that positively discriminates towards men, but that doesnโ€™t mean they get off lightly.

Letโ€™s take a look at some of the issues that affect men too:

Gender Roles

Just as the traditional roles of a woman as a homemaker and mother still affect our society today, so does the traditional role of a man being the breadwinner. I was watching Channel 4โ€™s Hunted (I know) and one of the contestants was a man who was a househusband. He had taken that role because he had a child that needed constant care. He was on Hunted so he could win the prize money and prove that he wasnโ€™t a failure. Let that just sink in. He wanted to prove that he wasnโ€™t a failure. Can you imagine a someone who was a stay-at-home mom doing the same?

This idea that men should be the breadwinner also informs the fact that men only get 2 weeksโ€™ paternity leave in the UK. Paternity leave is really beneficial for both babies and mothers and yet, men are only given a little time to support them.

It really is two sides of the same coin.

Body Image

While body image for women is pervasive, the menโ€™s equivalent is fast catching up. If you donโ€™t look like the unrealistic, rugged and muscular societal ideal, then sorry guys, itโ€™s just not good enough. You gotta diet better and train harder.

On top of this, the ideal for men isnโ€™t really changing, in contrast to women, where the body positivity movement is gaining lots of traction. There doesnโ€™t seem to be the equivalent for guys. Weโ€™re not seeing a plus size male model grace the cover of menโ€™s magazines.

Suicide

All this and more contribute to a toxic masculinity where men canโ€™t do what makes them happy. Under pressure to look muscular, be violent and misogynistic and not talk about their feelings, men are quite literally killing themselves.

In the UK and worldwide, suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50. And out of all the people that commit suicide in Britain, 75% of them are men.

Intersectionality

Personally, I think International Menโ€™s Day feeds into intersectional feminism. Now, this is a whole other blog post that Iโ€™d like to get into (Iโ€™ll link to it here when itโ€™s done), but itโ€™s basically the idea that oppression can be experienced in varying degrees of intensity depending on what kind of section of society you are a part of, i.e. race, class, gender and ability. So this means that a white, able bodied woman does not have the same experience of oppression as a black disabled one might have, because the second woman has to deal with racism and ableism as well as sexism. However, I think this definitely has an application to men, and trans men, too, in that men will experience sexism and oppression from the patriarchy, simply in a different way from the way a woman will.

In short, if you consider yourself a feminist then the issues that men face should be an issue for you too.

DarcieRae

Start the conversation

Let's start a personal, meaningful conversation.

Example: Practical philosopher, therapist and writer.

Link copied to your clipboard

More Articles

Subscribe

Join the newsletter to receive articles straight to your inbox.

* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required



Bound in Bone

About

Work with us

We may earn commission on items you choose to buy.

2023 ยฉ Bound in Bone. Website made with care by Pixelgrade

Begin typing your search above and press return to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Or, browse through the popular tags:

%d bloggers like this: