To Galloway, neither the left nor the right — which can seem compelling to rudderless young men — are providing a genuine alternative. “The far right conflate masculinity with cruelty,” he says, referencing Tate and Vladimir Putin. “The far left thinks that men should, quite frankly, act more like women. Neither of those is productive.”
Men, especially young men, today are stuck in a no man’s land where they know that the toxicity of the past is not what’s socially acceptable, but no one’s giving them a model of what they can be. They are collateral damage of the culture wars.
Andrew Tate (just writing that name feels dirty) and his clique are exploiting this to cultivate hate and toxicity, but the traditional feminist approach that “Men should get in touch with their feninin side” will leave them isolated socially from their peers and emotionally.
The middle road will not be feminine and won’t be the traditional masculine role that’s still very present in culture, but will be a place where men can confidently own their vulnerability.
Well no, but Title IX was only ever fair as a stop gap measure until various groups can get their footing anyhow (eg to counter act the issues that red-lining are still causing).
If there’s declining male enrollment, the solution is going to be to look earlier in the school system to work out why buys aren’t getting as much as girls out of class and looking to fix it. IIRC, one idea was to have boys start school a year later to counter the developmental age gap.
In any case, tipping the scales at the university level is only ever going to mask the problem. I understand the need, but by itself it’s not going to work long term.
These groups thrive in the void that is self help for men.
The classic feminist discourse doesn’t speak to men as it was designed by and for women to allow emancipation.
The disconnect with classical feminism is best evocked by the trans community where trans men explain how surprised they were at the reality of being a man in today’s world.
There isn’t much if anything around to help young men learn how to be a man in the 21st century, so they are inevitably drawn to the simple but toxic solutions people like Andrew Tate and Jordan Peterson provide.
This void used to be filled with the pick-up artist community, so this issue isn’t new.
The obvious counter would be for feminist groups like ours to also provide non toxic solutions to the issues boys and men face so that they can go into the world.
There is a way to be manly and tolerant and express your needs and wants healthily. We’re learning it the hard way. We need to make it easier for the next generation. I’m saying this as a father of 3 boys.
Pet peeve, but even the name feminism is going to be a hard sell when you’re trying to explain to boys how to be men.
This is a textbook example of “Men as a threat” and stereotyping, and is why a lot of boys and men feel lost. You can’t find your place in society if society rejects you as a threat.
People are, once again, portraying boys and men as a broken by design and pile on the blame rather than helping them grow.
Boys and men aren’t monsters programmed to strike, and they will naturally resent being called such.
You will also immediately lose them as a target audience, and shouldn’t be surprised that you’ve pushed them into the arms of toxic influencers.
It would be unthinkable to make such a sweeping statement about any other group today.
100% this. One of things I’m greatful for is that my son has a male teacher this year.
It is really important to encourage diversity in what are currently female dominated areas. Doing so will not only help with the gender pay gap, but will also help vehicle a healthier masculinity as a role model for up and coming generations.
Francis Bacon called for scientific control over nature to exploit it.
Patriarchal masculinities pervade politics and action surrounding climate crisis and capitalist extraction.
We need to consider what might be driving us recklessly over the edge in the environmental crisis.
Patriarchy is a political-social system that insists on male dominance.
The structural and cultural system of gender leads us down the path of environmental destruction.
Anyone, not just cisgender men, can be wedded to patriarchal thinking and action.
Under our patriarchal system, there is a prevailing vision of what manhood should be, called hegemonic masculinity.
Traits like overconfidence, dominance, aloneness, disconnection, anger, and strength are core to what it means to “be a man” under patriarchy.
The video explores the role of patriarchal masculinities in driving the planet to the brink of extinction. The video traces the concept of patriarchy to Francis Bacon’s call for scientific control of nature and highlights how patriarchal thinking has pervaded climate crisis politics and action. The video argues that a structural and cultural system of gender is leading us down the path of environmental destruction, a system that these men buy into, and a system through which they maintain their power. The video also explains the concept of hegemonic masculinity, which is a prevailing vision of what manhood should be, and how traits like overconfidence, dominance, aloneness, disconnection, anger, and strength are core to what it means to “be a man” under patriarchy. The video concludes by discussing how we might forge a world beyond the obstacles of gender.
Bullet Summary:
Patriarchal masculinities drive the planet to the brink of extinction
Francis Bacon’s call for scientific control of nature foreshadowed patriarchal thinking
A structural and cultural system of gender leads us down the path of environmental destruction
Hegemonic masculinity is a prevailing vision of what manhood should be
Traits like overconfidence, dominance, aloneness, disconnection, anger, and strength are core to what it means to “be a man” under patriarchy
We need to forge a world beyond the obstacles of gender.
I feel this touches on two really important points. Firstly the need for a community hub where men and boys can meet and grow, and where we can help men who are feeling lost find places where they can exchange and realise they aren’t alone.
Secondly, brining books allows a broadening of experiences beyond just the people present and a nice counter balance to social media.
A really nice article, but one I feel needs to go a step further.
From experience, and outside really abusive relationships, if a relationship fails there’s always blame enough for both parties. I takes two to mess up a tango.
It’s worrying that social media is pushing these black and white narratives rather than helping growth.
The article is a sobering read, but unfortunately not a surprising one.
Demographically, Israel is split in 3 with secular Jews having a below replacement fecundity, orthodox Jews being off the charts (think 5 or 6 children per woman) and Israeli Arabs being around replacement.
This means that the orthodox community is getting bigger and bigger in the population, and this trend shows no sign of stopping.
Since orthodox women don’t work and orthodox men don’t serve in the army and often do religious studies, this means the community is becoming a bigger and bigger weight on Israeli society.
The current moves seem aimed at trying to appease the orthodox, and stave off an economic collapse in a few decades. Unfortunately by then the orthodox could well be a majority, and women look like the big loosers in this situation.
It depends “Is transphobia a problem” is not the same thing as “Are trans people a problem”.
For one thing trans-women seem to get far more hate than trans-men, which could sway things. Also being less exposed to progressive attitudes could also blind people to what trans people face (which would affect men more).
All this to say that the question asked in the study and what the article makes of it are very different things.
Also the spreads put up as evidence are no where near large enough (2/3 points each way) to push the idea that “cis” men are driving the issue (the study didn’t mention gender identity, the article just assumed).
All in all this article feels more like rage bait than anything that would push the discussion on trans rights Vs women’s rights forward in any reasonable way.
I think the click baity title jinxed any discussion here.
I’m all for trans people having the right to live as their chosen gender and be left in peace to use the toilets of their choice, but the article clearly slanted it to be a case of “let’s ignore JK Rowling and co and bring this back to being a man problem”. This is from the first paragraph that gives the lens you’re supposed to read the data through.
Now, just to clear up on my origins, I’m a British expat so English is my native language but I’m also painfully aware of the scourge that is the Tory party and the havoc they’re wreaking, and I broadly agree with /u/crypticcoffee regarding the fact that there isn’t really a gender devide when it comes down to who is pushing the war on transgender people, it’s transphobes Vs the rest of us.
The revised title is much cleaner and frankly I agree with what it says, men are generally less accepting of trans people than women.
What I see in the article is that the devide is between professional and social settings.
In the educational or professional space lots has been done and a lot of progress has been made, so much so that the young women interrogated didn’t feel like sex was an obstacle in those areas.
In the social, or romantic sphere though things still seem largely unchanged with men and women still in very classic gender roles.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if things haven’t moved as much in these spheres, it’s because there’s less pressure to achieve equality here. This could be due to the fact that inspite of the issues women face there is still an advantage to their place in social circles and romantic relationships and as such feminism hasn’t touched on them as much, or it could be that some of the issues have a more biological component that we will need to accommodate and compensate for rather than trying to simply level the playing field.
“The first act of violence that patriarchy demands of males is not violence toward women. Instead patriarchy demands of all males that they engage in acts of psychic self-mutilation, that they kill off the emotional parts of themselves. If an individual is not successful in emotionally crippling himself, he can count on...
Whilst traditional gender normes are hurting everyone (“be a man”, “smile more”) I really don’t feel that “patriarchy” and it’s evident undertone of finger pointing are the main cause.
I’d go even further and say that what people call “patriarchy” is really more of an emergent phenomenon coming from those underlying gender normes.
I’m very lucky to have a healthy relationship with my partner where we can both be vulnerable and we support each other.
That said, to get there I also had to integrate the fact that I could be vulnerable whilst also being confident and assert my beliefs, views and opinions (in a healthy way).
This will be a controversial recommendation but “Models” by Mark Manson was instrumental for me in finding this new road to being masculine but in a way that was healthy and respectful. The chapters on aggressive/assertive vulnerability and living your truth especially.
I feel that men today need to learn to live their truth, be proud of that truth and not hide it under traditional gender normes (aka agressivité and blatent sexism) or make it subservant to attone for some original sin linked to their sex.
All humans deserve respect and all humans deserve to be able to speak their inner truth and be vulnerable and accepted, no matter their sex or gender.
Wear pink but don’t cry - "Men under 25 are less likely than their elders to feel comfortable hugging another man or weeping in front of them. What happened?" ( www.thetimes.co.uk )
Paywall Removed
‘There Was Definitely a Thumb on the Scale to Get Boys’ - Declining male enrollment has led many colleges to adopt an unofficial policy: affirmative action for men. ( www.nytimes.com )
Paywall Removed
Vulnerable young men, masculinity and extremism | The Strategist ( www.aspistrategist.org.au )
[DISCUSSION] Weekly Discussion Wednesday - "Boys and men have been told from birth on to believe that at some point they must be violent, to prove that they are men"
This week’s prompt is:...
Gender bias deters men from healthcare, early education, and domestic career fields, study suggests ( www.psypost.org )
Here’s What I’ve Learned About Raising Boys in My 30 Years as a Child Psychologist ( www.self.com )
How the patriarchy contributes to climate chaos ( www.youtube.com )
Online gaming communities could provide a lifeline for isolated young men − new research ( theconversation.com )
Where barbershops are a community hub, he's filling them with books to help young boys find excitement in reading ( www.cnn.com )
Why does carceral feminism support the prison system? ( www.youtube.com )
[DISCUSSION] Would you feel comfortable using a male contraceptive medication?
Relevant post: slrpnk.net/post/1480928...
Framing men as the ‘villains’ in relationships also frames them as unable to change ( www.theguardian.com )
Though I don’t think this terminology is used, this article is primarily about heteropessimism and it’s effects on relationships from both sides.
Growing Segregation by Sex in Israel Raises Fears ( www.nytimes.com )
cross-posted from: infosec.pub/post/1537875
Despite rhetoric, anti-trans sentiment higher amongst cis men in Britain ( www.thepinknews.com )
Many Ways to Be a Girl, but One Way to Be a Boy: The New Gender Rules (Published 2018) ( web.archive.org )
bell hooks got it
“The first act of violence that patriarchy demands of males is not violence toward women. Instead patriarchy demands of all males that they engage in acts of psychic self-mutilation, that they kill off the emotional parts of themselves. If an individual is not successful in emotionally crippling himself, he can count on...
An Comparative Essay on Masculinity
Everything below is my perspective on the issue. If you feel I misrepresented something, then let’s discuss. I’m open to learning more....