9 things that do make you a better feminist

[AskBasil]

This seems reasonably comprehensive.

Any thoughts?

""#7) Not being an MRA"

So to be a better feminist, you have to make sure not to care about men's issues like prostate cancer, male homelessness/prison population/suicides etc?

Got it. jots down notes on notepad"

Of course those things are important. The problem with MRA is that they say a) that these things are women's fault and b) that it is women who should do something about them.

"I still don't understand why men can't be feminists - surely if you support gender equality you're a feminist? Men can also be the victim of sexism. Can you not support racial equality if you're white or sexuality equality if you're straight?"

In my experience, men who have thought deeply about these issues prefer to call themselves "feminist allies" - acknowledging that they do not have shared experience. I would prefer this too, personally. But I'm not going to get bent out of shape if a man calls himself a feminist. So long as he doesn't use any discussion to demand his right to the label, or proceed to tell women how to do feminism. As someone wise recently said "Men don't need space in feminism- they need to take the space they already have and make it feminist"

Is everyone convinced that automatically deleting MRA is the right thing to do? It's obviously mn policy- but is it the right thing to do? Could it not be read- by them- as them getting to us?

I'm not sure I care much what MRAs think. They have their own spaces in which to put forth their ideas, they don't need ours. I'm pretty sure it's read by most (?) other people as an eye roll and sigh from MNHQ and not 'Quick, we must suppress these unequivocal truths!'.

If they were saying constructive things, it'd be a different story.

Yeah- I've been banned from several of their spaces! But I do wonder. There are plenty of mumsnetters who share some of their vIews, and might see their deletion as proof positive that feminists think that they are right and won't consider other points of view. Oh, I don't know......

Well, we are all terribly aggressive lentil-weaving feminists here

I don't think MRA and feminists are ever really going to be firm friends. I think we spend enough time worrying about men's feelings. A feminist space should be a respite from that.

Other spaces...well, how would you feel about MN having an MRA board?