This Huffington Post article speaks to an issue I've been noticing among feminists, watching them from the perspective of the men's rights movement.
Yes, as feminists tell you, they divide into a lot of different groups, but there's an overall, underlying ideology that links them all - the belief in patriarchy theory. That theory boils down to the idea that society is male dominated. They support it with various claims, including the ridiculous claim that somehow the male to female ratio in leadership positions translates into regular guys having power over regular gals, an argument I've addressed here. One of the concepts feminists often express in debate is the idea that 'patriarchy' is responsible for gender stereotypes.
Both feminist groups and men's rights groups agree that traditional gender stereotypes aren't suitable for modern society - they don't work any more. They're not needed, not helpful, and often are detrimental to human interaction and societal progress. Feminists blame male control. Men's rights activists blame the conditions under which humans had to survive prior to and during the evolution of society due to technological and intellectual advances over time.
Though the article has some very raw and very important points about enforcement of traditional gender roles on gay men by gay men, the use of the word misogyny is a big fat red flag. Why would anyone use the word "misogyny" to describe the way one man treats another man? Misogyny is hatred of women. Misogyny is not homophobia. It's got nothing to do with male sexuality. It's a feminist concept, and that article shows how feminist ideology is invading the gay rights movement. At its heart, the misuse of the word misogyny in the article communicates something most people won't notice - the insinuation that gay men, having male partners, are usurping the place of a female partner in each others' lives, as if women just automatically own you, and you're doing something in violation of that.
Within the overall umbrella of the feminist movement, there is a move to demonize men, whether gay, bi, straight, trans, old, young, no matter what characteristics. They express concepts based on it, like 'all men are potential rapists' and 'all men are potential pedophiles' and treating domestic violence as a male-perpetrated, female experienced issue. That's the underside of feminist ideology. It's leaking over into the mainstream press, with articles about how one man's violence represents the attitude of all men, how men should accept being treated as potential offenders, how it should be viewed as normal to treat all men as predators, and now, how the issues of the gay community - a community of men - are somehow about women.
No matter how nice they may sound about gay issues when they find it useful to associate with gay rights activism, that demonization is still underneath, and in the end, that's where their leadership and activism are coming from, even though the rank-and-file grassroots doesn't all consciously know it. No matter how you feel or what you think about feminist activism in and of itself, the feminist co-opting and politicization of gay experiences, rights issues, and social issues is not going to benefit the gay rights movement. It's going to overshadow you and slowly replace gay rights activism with the promotion of feminist ideological concepts.
If the men involved in the fight for gay rights don't take note of that and resist it, feminist groups will co-opt your movement, twist the politics of it to suit their own needs, and gay rights will take a back burner to feminist advocacy before you even know what's going on. Then, when being associated with the gay rights movement is no longer politically advantageous to feminist groups, they'll turn on the movement and the concepts involved, and without warning you'll be looking at the underside of the bus.
Yes, as feminists tell you, they divide into a lot of different groups, but there's an overall, underlying ideology that links them all - the belief in patriarchy theory. That theory boils down to the idea that society is male dominated. They support it with various claims, including the ridiculous claim that somehow the male to female ratio in leadership positions translates into regular guys having power over regular gals, an argument I've addressed here. One of the concepts feminists often express in debate is the idea that 'patriarchy' is responsible for gender stereotypes.
Both feminist groups and men's rights groups agree that traditional gender stereotypes aren't suitable for modern society - they don't work any more. They're not needed, not helpful, and often are detrimental to human interaction and societal progress. Feminists blame male control. Men's rights activists blame the conditions under which humans had to survive prior to and during the evolution of society due to technological and intellectual advances over time.
Though the article has some very raw and very important points about enforcement of traditional gender roles on gay men by gay men, the use of the word misogyny is a big fat red flag. Why would anyone use the word "misogyny" to describe the way one man treats another man? Misogyny is hatred of women. Misogyny is not homophobia. It's got nothing to do with male sexuality. It's a feminist concept, and that article shows how feminist ideology is invading the gay rights movement. At its heart, the misuse of the word misogyny in the article communicates something most people won't notice - the insinuation that gay men, having male partners, are usurping the place of a female partner in each others' lives, as if women just automatically own you, and you're doing something in violation of that.
Within the overall umbrella of the feminist movement, there is a move to demonize men, whether gay, bi, straight, trans, old, young, no matter what characteristics. They express concepts based on it, like 'all men are potential rapists' and 'all men are potential pedophiles' and treating domestic violence as a male-perpetrated, female experienced issue. That's the underside of feminist ideology. It's leaking over into the mainstream press, with articles about how one man's violence represents the attitude of all men, how men should accept being treated as potential offenders, how it should be viewed as normal to treat all men as predators, and now, how the issues of the gay community - a community of men - are somehow about women.
No matter how nice they may sound about gay issues when they find it useful to associate with gay rights activism, that demonization is still underneath, and in the end, that's where their leadership and activism are coming from, even though the rank-and-file grassroots doesn't all consciously know it. No matter how you feel or what you think about feminist activism in and of itself, the feminist co-opting and politicization of gay experiences, rights issues, and social issues is not going to benefit the gay rights movement. It's going to overshadow you and slowly replace gay rights activism with the promotion of feminist ideological concepts.
If the men involved in the fight for gay rights don't take note of that and resist it, feminist groups will co-opt your movement, twist the politics of it to suit their own needs, and gay rights will take a back burner to feminist advocacy before you even know what's going on. Then, when being associated with the gay rights movement is no longer politically advantageous to feminist groups, they'll turn on the movement and the concepts involved, and without warning you'll be looking at the underside of the bus.
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