Can men be a part of the feminist movement or not?

[Taverner]

Poll question: Can men be a part of the feminist movement or not?

Good question that came out of today's and yesterday's feminism posts....

[VelmaD]

1. How about a middle option...

where they play a role as opposed to a "vital" one. This is not an all or nothing proposition after all and I'd think the "vital" role in the movement needs to be played by women given the history of some "progressive" men in selling women out.

Yes, men have to be involved in the movement.

[GreenArrow]

6. vital

[VelmaD]

7. Whatever point you were trying to make...

it's obviously going to take more than a single word to get it across to me.

[GreenArrow]

14. .

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[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. Sure, unless they attempt to control it

Since, by definition, that would be anti-feminist

[hfojvt]

15. I still think that there are two feminisms (at least)

I distinguish between radical feminism which wants to transform the system, and conservative feminism which wants to preserve the system and give women equal access in it.

A comparison might be with Terence Powderly of the Knights of Labor and Samuel Gompers of the AFL. Of course, my study of feminism stops in the 1920s, but it seems like the things I hear are not in the tradition of Emma Goldman, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, or Vida Dutton Scudder. Yet, if I dare to criticize conservative feminism, my gender seems to be the only proof needed to convict me of the charge of "anti-feminism".

[oldcoot]

16. Why are you critical of conservative feminists?

You say that you are critical of "conservative" feminists, who want to preserve the system but give women equal access to it. Are you critical of these feminists because they do not want to change the system? If so, what aspect of the system should be changed?

[hfojvt]

17. the profit motive

Profits and money matter more than human, or any other life. It seems to me that conservative feminists primarily want to change the system so that 'women make more money in it.' Just like Gompers did not want to change the system of wage-slavery and international exploitation - just give workers a bigger slice of the pie.

[EFerrari]

3. I don't see how one would have a successful feminist effort without

open enrollment :)

[GreenArrow]

4. .

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[Straight Shooter]

5. That's like asking if whites could be part of '60s civil rights movement.

Or if veterans can be part of an anti-war movement.

Anybody who can help to create a progressive society with an equal playing field for all its members, I would hope they would be welcome. :)

[Double T]

8. Some Men Are Some Of The Biggest Supporters Of The Feminist Movement

[Bridget Burke]

9. Yes, but I don't think they can defiine some women as non-feminist...

Because of some controversial statements.

As seen here: www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3847201

[kedrys]

10. My dad would swear up and down he's not a feminist, but

he has the same progressive attitudes towards women that my mom has. Of course, my mom doesn't think she's a feminist either. :D

[UdoKier]

11. Feminism should be incorporated into humanism.

If feminism is the radical idea that women should be treated like human beings, it should not be a movement devoid of men.

If you are against equal rights for women, then you cannot be a humanist, IMO.

[GreenArrow]

13. .

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[Warpy]

12. Oh, please, feminism is about equal human rights

no matter what rabid types in both camps say about it.

No, men haven't walked around in our skin and can't address many of our concerns. However, they can articulate their own viewpoint on how to achieve everyone's right to a fair shake.

It's nonfeminist men who are the problem, the ones who sell us out in a heartbeat for the sake of political expediency. Look at the antichoice candidates they've dug up in races where real Democrats might have a chance of winning, and you'll see exactly what I mean. To these guys, women are a lesser species whose civil rights don't matter in the larger scheme of male rights.