"I am a man and a feminist."
I am also a man, and I wish men would stop saying things like this in places like this thread and show a little more thought.
"In my job I teach feminism as part of a broader course on ethics and law."
You are a man who has been given a job teaching feminism as part of a broader course on ethics and law. I ... just... [incoming radical feminist]
"One of the fundamental ideas we discuss is that feminism is needed because men fail to empathise with the experiences of women."
o...k...
"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?"
No no no no no. A gender does not think. An argument that men cannot be feminist is that men cannot fight against male privilege, but they can use their privilege to help level the playing field, which is not the same thing. Evidence against men being capable of being feminists is... this thread, so far, frankly.
"For this reason, I think it's incredibly important for everyone to be open to idea of male feminists."
It's not incredibly important for everyone to be open to the idea of male feminists. Male feminists, should they exist, should be a tiny insignificant part of feminism. The one and only place they should be heard is in male only conversations.
"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."
No, they won't. Thoughtful men, who feminists may or may not want on their side, will not give a monkeys what anyone calls them, they'll just be trying to use their advantage to level the playing field.