Men's movement

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The men's movement is a social movement that includes a number of philosophies and organizations that seek to support men, change the male gender role and improve men's rights in regard to marriage and child access and victims of Domestic Violence. Major movements with the men's movement include pro-feminist, men's liberation, anti-sexism or masculism, mythopoetic and men's / fathers' rights as well as male victims of rape by females.

Participants vary in terms of religion, politics and sexuality with a number of women also involved. The movement is predominantly western, although since the early 1990-s men's movements have been growing in non-western countries; an example is India, where dramatic rises in false accusations of dowry harassment as cited by the Karnatka judicary in 2003 "In as many as 44% of these cases prosecution is thoroughly unjustified"[1], bride-burning, and other issues have resulted in large scale false imprisonment of innocent men and their parents, which have in turn provided impetus to a growing men's rights movement. Attitudes vary on issues such as gender roles, human relationships, sexuality (including gay rights), reproduction (including birth control and particularly the abortion debate), work, violence (its causes and resolution) and aspects of women's rights.

The development of the men's movement in the US can be divided into two eras with distinctly different focuses. Earlier, the men's movement was sympathetic to feminism and reached its peak in the 1970's and 1980's. Many detractors saw this approach as emasculating and misandrist. As a movement it was generally not accepted by men, though it gained considerable support from women, particularly by single parents raising boys. More recently, starting in the early 1990's, masculism is more evident, more "pro-male" with a rejection of perceived politically correct gender feminism which was seen as anti-male (or misandrist). It has also been called the "feminist backlash" as a response to the perceived excesses of the feminist movement of the 1960's and 1970's. Supporters of the masculist movement generally reject many, if not most, of the philosophical points of the previous men's movement.

Contents

[edit] Men's and father's rights, Masculism

Main articles: men's rights, fathers' rights, and Masculism

The men's rights and fathers' rights differ in their orientation with men's rights relating more to civil law and civil rights and fathers' more to family law. However, they share some of the ideas of other groups, such as:

  • the men's liberationists' view that men's roles are harmful and limiting to men, particularly regarding the failure to enhance nurturing behaviours (and in particular in terms of their relationships with their own offspring), and
  • mythopoetics' idea that masculinity inherently comes with prescribed qualities, roles, responsibilities and privileges.

To some extent they are a reaction (or, perhaps more appropriately, a response) to feminism and there is a tendency to draw attention to feminism for harm done to men through affirmative action and institutions like the family court, etc. The major men's and fathers' rights theorists dispute the proposition that all men are empowered and privileged in society. Some hold that men can be objectified as "success objects", just as women can be objectified as "sex objects" and that a symmetry exists between these roles. The majority of men's rights groups are non-religious and politically neutral, however, a few are linked to conservative Christian and non-Christian political groups.

Issues addressed by men's rights advocates include:

  • The general neglect of male issues and the structural oppression of men (such as male depression, the fact men commit suicide approximately 4 times more often than women, constitute over 90% of the prison population, a majority of alcoholics, drug addicts, homeless people, have lower levels of university attendance and life expectancy etc.)
  • Women's role in and responsibility for family or domestic violence.
  • Family courts' discrimination against men.
  • The correlation between single parent families (ie: single mother families) and an increased crime rate and prevalence of drug abuse in children.
  • The false claims of domestic violence or child sexual abuse put forth by some women during divorce proceedings.
  • Ethical appraisals relating to the fairness of child support procedures for non-resident parents.
  • The influence that financial/legal benefits and child support has on womens' decisions to leave relationships.

Men's rights groups advocate:

Main activities include:

  • Providing support for men facing proceedings in the family court
  • Providing information and advice on child support
  • Challenging many feminist-dominated aspects of the mainstream media.

Some people claim that Masculism is a different strand from Men's Rights, but often it is referred to as the same.[1] The history of masculism and the men's rights movement is complex, with numerous influences; as such many see masculism as synonymous with the men's and fathers' rights movement (see below). Masculism comprises an inter-related group of social movements to address issues of equality and justice for men, fathers, and boys. While masculist thought has been present for over a century (see, for example, The Fraud of Feminism, written by E. Belfort Bax in 1908), as a broad social movement it traces its origins to the divorce societies of the 1940's through 1960's. It branched off from a divorce-only emphasis to address broader issues in the mid-late 1970-s as a result of the influence of feminism.

Whereas feminism questioned the roles of women and girls in society, and highlighted the limitations and disadvantages of those roles, masculism applied analogous methods to the analysis of the male role. In contrast to feminism, masculism does not deny that the opposite sex has had significant limitations and disadvantages. There are numerous strands within masculism; there are a conservative "traditionalist" patriarchical strand, a moderate equality-oriented one, and a liberal one which takes a more socialist approach and suggests a larger governmental role in resolving the problems.

[edit] Significant writers

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Pro-feminist

Main articles: Pro-feminism and Pro-feminist men

Pro-feminist men see the current model of manhood as oppressive to all: women, children, and men. They feel that men as a class do not take responsibility for their behaviors and assert that men need to take responsibility for their own behaviours and attitudes and work to change those of other men. They often work with feminists and women's services, and may be involved in issues such as men's health policy, the development of gender equity curricula in schools, and the counselling of male perpetrators of violence, including domestic violence.

They see society and personal relationships as characterised by injustice and inequality by men towards women and children.

They believe that homophobia and hetero-centrism are key issues for all men. Whether this leads to attitudes which benefit males, while negatively affecting females, is a long-standing matter of debate.

[edit] Significant writers

[edit] Men's liberation

Main articles: Men's liberation and Gender role

The perspective of men's liberation is that men are hurt by the male gender role and that men's lives are alienating, unhealthy and impoverished.

They believe that men are over-worked, trained to kill or be killed, brutalised and subjected to blame and shame. They give attention to the damage, isolation and suffering inflicted on boys and men through their socialisation into manhood.

They may seek ways to "liberate" men and have some sympathy with pro-feminist views.

Activities include:

[edit] Significant writers

[edit] Mythopoetic men

Main article: Mythopoetic

The Mythopoetic men's movement is based on spiritual perspectives derived from psychoanalysis, and especially the work of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and the poet Robert Bly. It is called "mythopoetic" because of the emphasis on mythology communicated as poetry with some appropriation of indigenous mythology and knowledge (Bly draws on Native American mythology). There is an emphasis on "elder honouring", "reclaiming" fathers, and "unleashing the wild man within", but with an emphasis on the impact of fatherlessness on men's psychological development which is related to their criticism of "soft" men - the victims of militant feminism and single motherhood. With the exception of a few groups such as the Radical Faeries they are generally not politically active as groups, but may be as individuals.

Masculinity is seen to include deep unconscious patterns and archetypes that are revealed through myth, story and ritual, as supported by theories drawn from analytical or "depth" psychology.

There is some overlap with men's rights and men's liberation perspectives.

Activities include:

  • Male mentoring programs (based on the belief that mature males should help boys to become healthy men)
  • Ritual, drumming and storytelling camps.
  • Support groups
  • Attempts at developing curricula for boys' programs in schools.

This movement is generally seen to have peaked from the mid 1980's through the early 1990's and has since dwindled into being the butt of many jokes and comic strips. Participation in this form of male bonding has been primarily baby-boomer men from urban environments.

[edit] Significant writers within the Men's Mythopoetic genre

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Crl.A. no. 589 of 2003 Decided on 4-9-2003 reported in 2000(1) Karnataka Law Online starting on Page no 560

[edit] External links

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