This article contains some information about sexual assault and/or violence.

Feminism, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” A feminist is, therefore, someone who follows that theory and supports its beliefs. Why, then, can men not be feminists?

I came across this article the other day entitled “There Is No Such Thing As A Male Feminist.” Since I identified as one these “non-existent male feminists,” I decided to check it out. From my understanding of the movement and conversations with other feminists, I found this article, to be frank, flat out wrong. The author’s ideas are similar to those of white feminists who tend to make the movement extremely exclusive rather than inclusive. The feminism that I, as well as many of my friends, believe in is “intersectional feminism,” which is the belief that “all oppressive institutions (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, classism, etc.) are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another.” The intersectional feminist movement also recognizes how gender stereotypes hurt men as well as women. If you want to read more about white feminism, black feminism, and intersectional feminism (specifically during the 1960s), contact me and I can share a research paper I wrote on it.

In the article, there were many times in which I thought that the author was generalizing about the majority of men and even using fear-mongering tactics to further her argument.

First, she uses a quote from Brian Klocke of the National Organization for Men Against Sexism that states that,“to be a feminist one must be a member of the targeted group (i.e a woman) not only as a matter of classification but as having one's directly-lived experience inform one's theory.” She follows that by saying “And it's not only that men cannot understand the patriarchal institutions that hurt women; often they themselves are causes of harm to women.

While I respect her opinion, I do not believe that to be true. First of all, the “patriarchal institutions that hurt women” also hurt men. So, if experiencing limitations from the patriarchy is a requirement to be a feminist, then men can still be considered feminists. Gender stereotypes, while largely negative towards women, affect everyone in all aspects of life.

She also talks about men who self-describe as a feminist in order to be accepted into social circles and then take advantage of the women. “There’s no shortage of men who claim to be feminists in order to seduce and abuse girls (who usually end up being underage).”

This part of her article actually made me a little angry. She essentially was saying that men can’t be feminists because a few of them have used that title to get close to women and take advantage of them. This is pure fear mongering and paints men as predators which is something that honest, intersectional feminism fights against. The idea that all men are predators and all women are victims ignores the realities of male sexual assault victims and continues to paint women as weak and fragile beings. Those stereotypes are extremely harmful, especially to young children.

In the end, she explained that, “if you are truly a male feminist ally you won't be mad that there is no specific place for men within feminism because you can recognize that feminism is a movement for and about women, not men.”

This is one point that I most agree with. While I do believe men can and should be considered feminists, there is a fine line. Feminism as a movement shouldn’t have to benefit men to be considered valid. All the time, I hear women validate feminism by saying, “oh, but it helps men, too.” While this statement is true and an important part of the movement, it shouldn’t be the reason for men to become feminists. They should become feminists because the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes shouldn’t be a radical notion. Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, describes male feminism pretty perfectly in this video.

All in all, men shouldn’t be afraid of the term “feminist” and they should openly and happily join the movement for gender equality.