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Fact: I like men.
Generally speaking, men are decent human beings. I do not like all of them, but I don't like all human beings. I know many men who are kind, loving, funny, hard-working, generous, witty, corageous people. I like these men for their particular constellations of personality traits, just as I like the women I like for their particular constellations of personality traits.
( I do not like men *despite* their gender )
Here endeth the lesson. And yes, I know that's an outdated piece of seventies lesbian-feminist criticism, but something of that ilk - sometimes older, sometimes newer, comes across my Tumblr dash or my Google Reader every few weeks. Let us not start on things like the time someone told me that the reason I had strong memories of my father reading to me was that I'd internalised the patriarchy, and ridiculous things like that.
Fortunately, many respectable forms of feminism these days do care about men and about masculinity these days. However, it remains a choice that one makes as a feminist, not an automatic assumption. The degree to which any given sub-group or critic cares can vary widely. Thus, "I care about men" is a worthwhile statement to make.
Editorial note: this post, in its Dreamwidth iteration, is a public post. I'm closing comments on the LJ version - feel free to respond using OpenID or anonymous comments (signed w/ names, please) here.
Generally speaking, men are decent human beings. I do not like all of them, but I don't like all human beings. I know many men who are kind, loving, funny, hard-working, generous, witty, corageous people. I like these men for their particular constellations of personality traits, just as I like the women I like for their particular constellations of personality traits.
( I do not like men *despite* their gender )
Here endeth the lesson. And yes, I know that's an outdated piece of seventies lesbian-feminist criticism, but something of that ilk - sometimes older, sometimes newer, comes across my Tumblr dash or my Google Reader every few weeks. Let us not start on things like the time someone told me that the reason I had strong memories of my father reading to me was that I'd internalised the patriarchy, and ridiculous things like that.
Fortunately, many respectable forms of feminism these days do care about men and about masculinity these days. However, it remains a choice that one makes as a feminist, not an automatic assumption. The degree to which any given sub-group or critic cares can vary widely. Thus, "I care about men" is a worthwhile statement to make.
Editorial note: this post, in its Dreamwidth iteration, is a public post. I'm closing comments on the LJ version - feel free to respond using OpenID or anonymous comments (signed w/ names, please) here.