Recently, a new, and incredibly stupid, social movement has cropped up all over the Internet. These new marauders of social justice are fighting for the obviously “lacking” rights of men, and they call themselves meninists. I’m not sure what exactly has sparked this development, but perhaps it is because there has been a greater push in the last couple of years to break down the stereotypes surrounding female behavior. It is becoming more “socially acceptable” to be a feminist, or at least more people in the public eye are coming out of the closet, so to speak, and labeling themselves as feminists. Obviously this is a problem for any self respecting man, because clearly in order for a woman to be secure in herself and self reliant would mean she will have to stop believing that men are superior, and we just can’t have that now can we? It is simply unacceptable to allow a woman to see herself as anything more than an object for men to posses. These meninists have therefore selflessly taken it into their own hands to cure these blasted women of the silly idea that they can be their own person.
I promise I’m not actively trying to attack the idea of meninism, but it is hard because the whole concept is just so horribly mistaken. These men, and women too I suppose, although I have yet to see a woman supporting meninism, have taken the idea of feminism and mutilated what it actually stands for. A feminist is someone who believes in the complete and utter equality of all genders, that includes trans and non binary persons as well. People who believe in feminism are not trying to strip men of their rights or force a matriarchy on society, as I have seen some feminist haters argue. They are simply striving for equal opportunity for everyone and seek to break down the negative stereotypes surrounding femininity that hurt both men and women alike. What it boils down to, is that meninism is for people who honestly just don’t know what feminism really is and have not made the effort to become informed.
For anyone interested in learning more about the need for and power of feminism, I encourage you to watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk “We should all be feminists”. I promise it is worth the 30 minutes. But don’t read the comments, they may make you want to hit something out of sheer frustration.
Kara,
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! While I also think meninism is misled and based off of a misunderstood definition of feminism, I don't think it's crazy that it exists. I think meninism goes along the same lines as the "I'm not a feminist because..." meme: but both of them are a reaction to a specific type of feminism that may or may not be "true feminism". It seems to me that feminism has broken off into several brands of feminism that all seek to elevate women to a place they deserve, just in different ways and with different rhetoric. So when people come up with meninism, I think they're reacting to one of those brands that rightfully or not threatens them. The question to consider is whether or not the different brands of feminism are all legitimate, or whether one is "real" and the others are pretenders. I'm not particularly well versed in feminism as it appears in society today, so this is just what I've picked up. I may have it all wrong.