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Men's movement

Encyclopedia : M : ME : MEN : Men's movement

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. Major movements with the men's movement include pro-feminist, men's liberation, anti-sexism or masculism, mythopoetic and men's / fathers' rights.

Participants vary in terms of religion, politics, sexuality and a number of women are 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[[Citing sources citation needed]], bride-burning, and other issues have resulted in large scale false imprisonment of innocent men[[Citing sources citation needed]] 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.

Contents

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.

Significant writers

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:

Significant writers

Mythopoetic Men's Movement

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 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:

Significant writers within the Men's Mythopoetic genre

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, they share some of the ideas of other groups, however with: To some extent they are a reaction 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.

They 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; few are linked to conservative Christian and non-Christian political groups.

Issues addressed by men's rights advocates include:

Men's rights groups advocate: Main activities include: Some people claim that Masculism is a different strand to Men's rights, but often it is referred to as the same.[link] 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.

Significant writers

Further reading

See also

External links

 

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