Do you think men can be feminists?

[AVirginLitTheCandle]

This may sound like a stupid question but do you think men can be feminists?

I've always thought they can be but I perhaps some radical feminists will disagree with me.

What do you think about this, men on the thread? Seems like an actually relevant topic for me so rights groups- how to make nursing attractive to men.

mobile.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/upshot/why-men-dont-want-the-jobs-done-mostly-by-women.html?referer=

to those of us who visit this board to discuss feminism. Nothing I love more than reading pages upon pages of opinions, sniping and ignorance

That's feminism for you just in case it's not obvious that was a joke

DeviTheGaelet the US is a different place to the UK. I don't think the UK has this "nursing is a woman's job" mentality. I believe the lack of people going into nursing is down to the entry requirements and then pay and conditions.

The UK very definitely has a nursing is a woman's job idea, has done ever since Florence Nightingale and her delightful lamp. The general consensus is that men who want to go into nursing are probably gay which is an enormous shame from several angles.

And fewer people will be going into nursing now because there is no longer a bursary, applications have already been affected by that.

I'm not sure if that is a general consensus.

Obviously not real life but I occasionally catch the odd episode of Casualty and Holby City and they seem to have plenty of non gay male nurses on their staff.

I thought it was interesting that men in the US would rather be unemployed than do "womens" jobs even though there are more women's jobs.
As I understand it from other illuminating posts on recent threads, there is a higher rate of unemployment for men in this country too so I was wondering if this was also applicable here. Maybe not though and American men are more hung up on gender stereotypes.

I am a man and a feminist. In my job I teach feminism as part of a broader course on ethics and law.

One of the fundamental ideas we discuss is that feminism is needed because men fail to empathise with the experiences of women.

It strikes me that anyone who argues that men cannot be feminists is guilty of the very same thing: A lack of empathy. How can you know with such certainty what another gender thinks?

For this reason, I think it's incredibly important for everyone to be open to idea of male feminists.

Otherwise thoughtful men, who you really want on your side, will just switch off. They'll deem you emotionally unintelligent, just like the idiot men who you rail against.

PEACE

"Otherwise thoughtful men, who you really want on your side, will just switch off. They'll deem you emotionally unintelligent, just like the idiot men who you rail against."

Well, actually, thoughtful men wouldn't -and don't- do that at all. Because thoughtful.

I don't really care what men deem me. I know men think I should care, but I don't.

Why aren't you content being a feminist ally? Why wouldn't other "thoughtful" men be? Why this need to label yourself as a feminist? I'm genuinely interested.

Aren't you bothered about structural inequality if you can't call the shots or tell women how they should do feminism? Don't you think women are entitled to their own movement centred around their needs?

An advance search on our latest mansplainer is quite illuminating

There's not much "thought" going on, for sure

No quite, I've just seen him in action on another thread.

PEACE OFF

hi venus,

I'm fine with being a feminist ally. I think all thoughtful men are. The label, I guess, is artificial.

But why create an exclusionary club in the first place?

Something is right if (i) it leads to external positive consequences (consequentialism / utilitarianism / economics etc), or (ii) it accords with some internal idea of human dignity (rights, duties, deontology etc).

Barring men from the feminist club does neither in my mind.

You say women have the right to establish their own movement. That right presupposes a denial of men's rights to join said movement. Such an argument would justify male-only golf clubs, which I imagine you're against?

I am bothered about structural inequality. But I think the solution lies in education and empathy rather than the creation of social boundaries.

Because I can't sleep...

You really can't see the difference between a movement created by women for the advancement of women's rights and an all male sports club which excludes women?

And yes I am happy for men to have their own spaces to discuss the male experience. And am not suggesting shutting them out of feminism entirely, just saying that feminism as a movement should not give a voice to men, that's not what it's for.

And I think some of the views here expressed are incredibly counter-productive.

Feminism doesn't stand a chance until it starts and ends with empathy.

CHEERS

I'm surprised you have time to post- what with having to masturbate all the time because that's the way men roll. Do you type one handed?

FASCINATING. AND GOOD FOR YOU.

Now off you pop and pull your goady fucker act somewhere else.

Why can't I be a part of a movement for the advancement of women's right? Why should different genders have separate spaces for discussing their separate experiences? Surely that just sows division, which I think is the very thing that causes the problem in the first place?

Bertrand

Haters gonna hate

but seriously... i'm fucking right

I spend endless hours marking essays on feminist jurisprudence

Why can't I be a part of a movement for the advancement of women's right? Why should different genders have separate spaces for discussing their separate experiences? Surely that just sows division, which I think is the very thing that causes the problem in the first place?

CHILL OUT BOYS!