From: chris@psych.toronto.edu (Chris Hitchcock)
Subject: Re: Male Men Bashers
Organization: Dept. of Psychology, University of Toronto
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 22:19:44 GMT

In article <93025.034314RIPBC@CUNYVM.BITNET> <RIPBC@CUNYVM.BITNET> 
Rohit Parikh writes:
>
>   There is sexism against both men and women in  American society, but
>there is a great deal of action and enthusiasm, especially at the official
>level, towards eliminating sexism against women.  There is very LITTLE
>action and enthusiasm in official-dom towards eliminating sexism against
>men.

>   This is a reality.  There is a symbiosis between male politicians and
>female voters on this issue.  Until men themselves become aware of this,
>and they have help from the more reasonable women like you, things are
>not going to change.

The current political interest in relieving the effects of sexism, and
treating the social causes of it, does indeed centre around the effects
of sexism on women. It follows a history of several decades of exploration
of sexism by some women (and some men), of personal and political searching, 
research, interest. 

The effects of sexism on men are not well known. The men's movements (there
are several kinds) have not been around for as long as the women's movements,
and, as far as I know, do not have a long history such as the history of 
women's explorations in the work of Mary Wollestonecraft in the mid 1800's,
and of Virginia Woolf, and various feminists at the turn of the century in
the quest for the right to vote and have equal rights as citizens. 

I think that the current stage of gender exploration must focus on men's 
roles, must focus on the way in which the status quo is suppressing men.
When I listen to some men in this group I hear resonances with the blind
anger of some feminists, the need for an enemy that is not the self, the
need to shift blame. The anger hides the issues sometimes, but they're 
real issues. 

But like feminism, I think it is really men who must explore the reality of
what it means to be a man in this society, what the issues are, to 
discuss and create an agenda. It's going to be hard for women to stay out 
of it, and lots of women will try to "set the men straight", just as many
men have tried to set women straight in their gender explorations. 

And of coures, we're going to have to talk to each other. So I guess my
main point is that, if you're a man (or woman) complaining about the ways
in which feminism fails to address the needs of men, that the solution is
to work for recognition of the needs of men as well, not necessarily within
feminism, but within a movement which men construct of their own. Many of the
ways in which men do seem to be getting the short end of the stick were 
news to me as a feminist. Just as many of the ways in which women have 
been disadvantaged by society were "oversights" by the primarily male
establishment, many of the ways in which men are (justifiably) aggreived
now are as much a result of ignorance as of malice. It's up to men to 
explore and to present ideas and solutions. As much as I as a woman may
support you and defend you, I will never have the insight into what it
is to be a man in our society that you will.

Finally, I wish more of this exploration were constructive, building
on what feminism *has* told us about women's needs, and using that to
build something new, rather than suggesting that these "hypocritical
feminists" just give up feminism, go back to the kitchen, and leave men
and women in their nice, oh-so-familiar gender straitjackets. 

Chris.

-- 
Chris Hitchcock, Dept. of Psychology     chris@psych.toronto.edu
University of Toronto      in my new life: clh@vax.ox.ac.uk                 
Toronto, Ontario          UseNet:  I only read it for the  
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