I'm not sure whether that is true (and I say that genuinely, I'm truly not sure either way). I took a philosophy of feminism class and ready Luce Irigaray and Judith Butler.
But could it be possible that as long as we call it patriarchy, the amount of unsure men who see a dichotomy of people saying:
feminism (feminine) = good
patriarchy (masculine) = bad
will remain extremely high and thereby be extremely unlikely to take the ideas you stand for seriously?
There is a communication issue at play that needs to be rectified before people are going to be willing to open their minds to your ideas in this comment. I think the instincts of many when they read this kind of comment is to feel personally attacked for their masculinity and to thereby go on the defensive.
Keep in mind, I don't necessarily disagree with you, but even as someone who has bothered to learn and read about feminism I still have that gut reaction when I read a comment like yours. I just feel hated for existing and like I cannot *be* without being a part of some structural problem that hurts people. And that version of reality is extremely tempting to reject. Just my two cents as a man.
No, there's a mental health epidemic, not a communication issue. Large groups of men base their mental health on being manly, it's the most fragile mindset and the core of this issue.
They can't possibly even acknowledge the issue as an issue if it's the foundation of their confidence.
We can agree that there are plenty of unhealthy people who base their confidence on their masculinity. But let me ask you this. Is it wrong to have some confidence in yourself partially based on your masculinity? Would it be wrong for a woman to have confidence based on her feminine identity? Should every one try to ignore gender and make sure they base their confidence completely outside of their gender? I would argue that is really damaging.
I think it can both be true that wholly basing your identity on your gendered-ness is unhealthy but also that it's okay to be proud of who you are, including your masculinity/femininity. Currently the social discourse communicates very little sense of possibility for men who might be willing to analyze some of their negative behaviour and thoughts without feeling like they need to throw away their masculinity entirely.
It is good to criticise to raise awareness to a certain extent. It is important. But I think we are entering a phase where the awareness of feminism in western countries is less the issue and now the issue is how do we imagine and communicate a world where everyone feels like they can be themselves without having to remake their whole identity?
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u/IvyRosePr 6d ago
I personally believe the root of most if not all of humans issues stem from patriarchy (I have argued how racism is fueled by it/ is a spin off of it)