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Masculism/masculinism, masculists/masculinists are advocates of the rights or needs of men. Masculism is a movement organized around the belief in equality between the sexes. It opposes prejudice and discrimination against men as well as women. Prominent supporters of masculism are Warren Farrell, Jack Kammer and other activists of the men's rights movement.

The term masculinism was coined as the counterpart of feminism in the early 20th century. The shortened form masculism appeared shortly after, and became more common in the 1980s.

The masculist political movement originated with E. Belfort Bax's 1913 The Fraud of Feminism.

The term masculism itself gained currency in the late 20th century, particularly in the 1990s as advocated by authors such as Warren Farrell and Jack Kammer, in the context of changing gender roles in society.

Masculism may also refer to antifeminism. It may also refer to "the advocacy of male superiority and dominance".

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Masculist concerns

The main concerns raised by masculist men's rights activists are discrimination and prejudice against men  :

Discrimination against men

Education

• Some studies have indicated that because boys attract more teacher attention in classrooms compared to girls, boys also receive harsher forms of punishment as well as more frequent punishment than girls for the same offences.

Employment

• Harder physical entrance criteria for men in many occupations, such as the army, police and fire service. Requiring men to be physically stronger than women in these occupations leaves men responsible for a greater share of the physical work, for no more pay.
• Data from 1994 in the U.S. reported that 94% of workplace fatalities occur to men. Masculist Warren Farrell has argued that men are often clustered in dirty, physically demanding and hazardous jobs in an unjustifiably disproportionate manner.

Violence

• Violence against men depicted as humorous, in the media and elsewhere. One prominent example addressed by the masculist men's rights movement is the Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them! controversy. In December 2003, radio-host and masculist men's rights activist Glenn Sacks started a campaign against the "Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them!" T-shirts, on the grounds of misandry. People magazine ran a story on the T-shirt, opening with a quote from a then 10 year-old girl, "I want to make boys feel bad because it's fun." The campaign against the line received support from several masculist groups, such as the National Coalition of Free Men, but also from groups with broader agendas, such as the Southern Poverty Law Center.
• Violence against men ignored, minimalized or taken less seriously than violence against women.
• Women are more violent than men in some research studies asking both men and women.
• Assumption of female innocence or sympathy for women, which will always result in problems such as disproportionate penalties for men and women for similar crimes, lack of sympathy for male victims in domestic violence cases, and dismissal of female-on-male rape cases.
• In American popular culture, sex between a boy coerced by an older woman is generally considered not to be a big deal- Time has remarked that it is "viewed with a wink"- even though this form of child molestation can have serious repercussions for the male victim, including clinical mental illness.
• A 1992 study found that boys are subject to the stereotype that they need significantly less protection against sexual abuse compared to girls. It also found that this leads to less reporting of abuse and to discrimination in which victims receive less treatment and less support from others if they are male.
• Controversy exists that laws that criminalize rape of men when perpetrated by women are not properly enforced. Research has shown that when men are raped (by either women or other men), the rapists will use their bodys' unconscious natural responses- erections, feelings of dizziness, ejaculation, et cetera- to make them think they "actually wanted it". Psychologist Helen Smith has written, "Our society shames men who are abused by women just as it shamed and blamed women many years ago who were abused by men. Neither strategy is a good one for a society that purports to promote justice and fairness."

Custody

"Custody law is perhaps the best-known area of men's rights activism", as it is more common for the mother to obtain custody of children in case of divorce. David Benatar, head of philosophy at the University of Cape Town, argues: "When the man is the primary care-giver his chances of winning custody are lower than when the woman is the primary care-giver. Even when the case is not contested by the mother, he's still not as likely to get custody as when the woman's claim is uncontested".

Differences in masculist ideology

Because it is the name of a political and social movement, masculism is sometimes considered synonymous with the men's rights or fathers' rights movements. However, many of the fathers' rights movement make a clear distinction between masculism and their own often quite varied approaches to gender relations.

Reactions

Feminism

Feminists respond to the different ideologies of Masculism in different ways. Masculists who promote gender equality are often considered male feminists. It is the general opinion of modern feminists that masculism, when defined as "male superiority or dominance", is inherently opposed to the equality cause and is considered a form of misogyny. Some feminists are actively involved in promoting men's rights, especially father's rights and social equality, arguing that this position is necessary for feminism and women's equality.

See also

• Misandry
• Reverse discrimination
• Sexism
• Antifeminism
• Masculine psychology
• Masculinity
• Hypermasculinity
• Machismo
• Chauvinism
• Men's spaces
• Patriarchy
• Kyriarchy
• Matriarchy
• Complementarianism

Men's movements and organizations

• Fathers 4 Justice
• Men's movement
• Promise Keepers
• Save Indian Family
• International Men's Day (19 November: Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Australia, India, United States, Singapore, United Kingdom, Malta, South Africa, Hungary, Ireland, Ghana, and Canada)

People associated with masculism

• Warren Farrell
• Harvey Mansfield
• Henry Makow
• Glenn Sacks

Books

• Manliness (book) (2006)
• Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man (1999)

Bibliography

• Politics of Aristotle asserts excellence varies with social role, including gender.
• The Legal Subjection of Men, 1908 antithesis of John Stuart Mill's 1869 The Subjection of Women.
• The Fraud of Feminism by Ernest Belfort Bax, 1914.
• The Myth of the Monstrous Male and Other Feminist Fallacies; John Gordon, Playboy Press, New York, 1982; ISBN 0-87223-758-3
• The Myth of Male Power: Why Men Are the Disposable Sex; Warren Farrell, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1993: ISBN 0-671-79349-7
• Manliness by Harvey Mansfield (2006) Yale Press ISBN 0-300-10664-5
• Not Guilty: The Case in Defense of Men; David Thomas, William Morrow and Co., Inc., New York, 1993; ISBN 0-688-11024-X
• Good Will Toward Men; Jack Kammer, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1994; ISBN 0-312-10471-5
• Moral Panic: Biopolitics Rising; John Fekete, Robert Davies Publishing, Montreal-Toronto, 1994: ISBN 1-895854-09-1
• The New Men's Studies: A Selected and Annotated Interdisciplinary Bibliography (2nd Edition); Eugene R. August, Libraries Unlimited, Inc., Englewood, CO, 1994: ISBN 1-56308-084-2
• A Man's World: How Real Is Male Privilege - And How High Is Its Price?; Ellis Cose, Harper Collins, New York, 1995: ISBN 0-06-017206-1
• Why Men Don't Iron: The Real Science of Gender Studies; Anne & Bill Moir, Harper Collins, Hammersmith, London, 1998; ISBN 0-00-257035-1 (Trade Paperback); ISBN 0-00-257048-3 (Hardcover)
• The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity; Leon J. Podles, Spence Publishing Co., Dallas, TX, 1999. (The title is a play on the Christian theological terms church militant and church triumphant.)
• Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture; Paul Nathanson and Katherine K. Young, McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal, 2001; ISBN 0-7735-2272-7

• Sex Differences, Modern Biology and the Unisex Fallacy, Yves Christen
• Who Stole Feminism?: How Women Have Betrayed Women; Christina Hoff Sommers ISBN 0-684-80156-6
• The War Against Boys: How Misguided Feminism Is Harming Our Young Men; Christina Hoff Sommers ISBN 0-684-84956-9
• Domestic Violence: The 12 Things You Aren't Supposed to Know by Thomas B. James ISBN 1-59330-122-7
• Ceasefire! : Why Women And Men Must Join Forces To Achieve True Equality; Cathy Young ISBN 0-684-83442-1
• The Masculine Mystique; Andrew Kimbrell ISBN 0-345-38658-2

References

1. "Definition for masculinist/masculist - Oxford Dictionaries Online". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
2. ^ Cathy Young (July 1994). "Man Troubles: Making Sense of the Men's Movement". Reason. Mas*cu*lism, n. 1. the belief that equality between the sexes requires the recognition and redress of prejudice and discrimination against men as well as women. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
3. ^ "masculinism, n". Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
4. "masculism, n (2)". Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
5. E. Belfort Bax, The Fraud of Feminism, at Marxists.org
6. "masculinist, n". Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
7. http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/militarypaytables/2009MilitaryPayTables.pdf
8. ^ The Myth of Male Power: Why Men Are the Disposable Sex; Warren Farrell, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1993: ISBN 0-671-79349-7
9. Crary, D (2004-01-30). "'Stores pull "Boys Are Stupid" merchandise'". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2009-05-17.
10. "Guy Trouble: Boys Are Stupid gear has some folks teed off, but creator Todd Goldman is cashing in". People. 2005-06-06.
11. Williams, D (2004-01-23). "Clothing Designer Misses Point of 'Girl Power'". Tolerance.org.
12. menz.org.nz/2008/minimization-of-violence-against-men/
13. iol.co.za
14. Prof. Hilde Pape, University of Oslo. The report is also referring to studies from US in 1977 (In Norwegian)
15. Professor David Fergusson and Associate Professor Richie Poulton, University of Otago, New Zealand. (Missing the research report itself)
16. "Can A Man Be Raped?". Time. 1991-06-03.
17. ^ Watkins, B. & Bentovim, A. (1992). The sexual abuse of male children and adolescents: a review of current research. Journal of Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry, 33(10), 197-248.
18. http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/ask-dr-helen-can-a-man-be-raped-by-a-woman/
19. "Just who are men's rights activists?", BBC, 2 May 2012
20. Gender Economy, section Definitions, subsection Masculism - As a political and social movement masculism is considered by some feminists to be synonymous with the men's rights or fathers' rights movements. However, many of the fathers' rights movement make a clear distinction between masculism and their own often quite varied approaches to gender relations.
21. Janet M. Martin, Maryanne Borrelli, Other Elites: Women, Politics, & Power in the Executive Branch, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000, ISBN 1-55587-971-3, ISBN 978-1-55587-971-6
22. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/masculinist
23. Susan B. Boyd; Dorothy E. Chunn; Hester Lessard (2007). Reaction and resistance: feminism, law, and social change. UBC Press. pp. 65–97. ISBN 978-0-7748-1411-9.
24. 1 Harv. Women's L.J. 107 (1978) Fathers' Rights and Feminism: The Maternal Presumption Revisited; Uviller, Rena K.
25. Unwed Fathers' Rights, Adoption, and Sex Equality: Gender-Neutrality and the Perpetuation of Patriarchy

External links

• American Coalition for Fathers and Children
• Equal Parental Rights for Fathers
• National Coalition of Free Men

• Gender studies
• Gender
• Men's movement
• Neologisms
• Words coined in the 1980s
• Social theories
• Civil rights and liberties