As a feminist, we talk a lot about women. Thatโs 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, thereโs a lot to work on. However, feminism is about equal rights, and that includes men too. Itโs not only women who are oppressed in a patriarchal society. Yes, men enjoy privilege under a society that positively discriminates towards men, but that doesnโt mean they get off lightly.
Letโs 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 4โs 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 wasnโt a failure. Let that just sink in. He wanted to prove that he wasnโt 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 menโs equivalent is fast catching up. If you donโt look like the unrealistic, rugged and muscular societal ideal, then sorry guys, itโs just not good enough. You gotta diet better and train harder.
On top of this, the ideal for men isnโt really changing, in contrast to women, where the body positivity movement is gaining lots of traction. There doesnโt seem to be the equivalent for guys. Weโre not seeing a plus size male model grace the cover of menโs magazines.
Suicide
All this and more contribute to a toxic masculinity where men canโt 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 Menโs Day feeds into intersectional feminism. Now, this is a whole other blog post that Iโd like to get into (Iโll link to it here when itโs done), but itโs 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.