Masculinism

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Masculinism is the advocacy of the rights and needs of men with an ideology of natural male superiority or androcentrism , which is articulated in men's groups and anti-feminist movements. A core thesis of masculinism is that men should be oppressed by mothers and women and should go back to their masculinity .

Occasionally the term masculism is used as a synonym for masculinism; however, other authors strictly distinguish between the two terms.

In the United States, masculinist men's and paternal rights groups emerged in response to feminism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries . Anti-feminist groups since the 1970s, which proclaim rights and needs that they consider typical of men , use the modified term masculism or men's rights movement for their movement .

Concept history

According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the term masculinism was first used in 1911 in an article in The Freewoman magazine . In the Merriam Webster the English word masculinist (Eng .: masculinist, masculinistic) was first recorded in 1918. The English expression masculist was coined and popularized by Charlotte Perkins Gilman at the beginning of the 20th century. As masculist, she characterized misogyne men, like the author Otto Weininger , the androcentric political and cultural behavior of men and their resistance to women's suffrage as masculism. In 1914 she titled a lecture series Studies in Masculism , in which she condemned the First World War as "masculism at its worst".

Michael Kimmel describes masculinism as one of the “anti-feminist responses” by American men to the growing women's movement and the erosion of traditional gender roles towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The masculinists of this current of anti-feminism opposed an assumed feminization of American culture and wanted to create pure male areas and institutions ("purified pockets of virility") in which boys should be educated to the virility and toughness that are appropriate to their gender .

Terminology since the 1970s

The American sociologist Arthur Brittan defines masculinism as the “ideology of patriarchy ” that naturalizes and legitimizes male dominance . This belief is supported by a part of the representatives of the men's rights movement ( "men's rights movement") represented; some men’s rights activists describe themselves as masculinists or are so called. Michael Meuser examined masculinism as a decidedly anti-feminist discourse in German-language men's literature since the late 1980s, in which "in a reinterpretation of feminist theses, men are referred to as the oppressed gender, in an effort to restore the unquestioning dominant patterns of masculinity".

An examination of the word "masculinism" in English and French-speaking countries has shown that the term in English (masculinism) usually refers to a patriarchal ideology or an androcentric view. In French (masculinisme) , the word has been used primarily for anti-feminist trends since the 1990s. Anti-feminists are themselves disagree on how they should call, and vary between the words "Maskulinist" (masculinist) , "Maskulist" (Masculist) , "Hominist" and "activist for the rights of men" or "fathers".

Analogous to the term feminism , men's rights activists like Ferrell Christensen describe a political view that assumes that (also) men are discriminated against and that this discrimination must be eliminated as masculism. Daniel Boyarin argues that the term masculism is problematic because of its terminological similarity to feminism, since masculism is historically a project of male dominance over women, whereas feminism does not pursue the goal of female dominance over men. Daniel Boyarin uses “masculism”, in connection with the traditional reading of the Bible, as a term for the traditional ideology of masculinity, and not as a term for the special (younger) political current of the men's rights movement.

frequency

As part of the study “Men's Perspectives: On the Way to More Equality” by the Federal Ministry for Family, Women, Seniors and Youth , the frequency of masculist attitudes among men and women in Germany was surveyed in 2017 . Queries were u. a. Statements like:

  • Equality policy is just another name for the advancement of women.
  • Women have received enough support, now it's the turn of the men.
  • Men and women have the same rights but different duties.
  • The legal regulation for more women in management positions puts men at a disadvantage.
  • The role of women in society is to be a good housewife and mother.
  • In the effort to achieve equality between men and women, one overshoots the mark.
  • Equality between women and men means more justice (rejection).
  • Gender equality policy does not yet sufficiently address the needs and concerns of mothers (rejection).
  • Feminism in our society systematically discriminates against men and gives preference to women.
Masculist attitude Men

%

Women

%

total

%

Hard closer core 01.0 00.1 00.6
A wider circle of convinced 05.3 01.4 03.4
Receptive to individual masculist attitudes 33.7 15.2 24.7
Distanced from masculist attitudes 53.4 63.2 58.1
Opposition to masculist attitudes 06.6 20.1 13.2

Among men, masculist attitudes find supporters across all social classes and are most widespread between the ages of 40 and 60.

literature

  • Mellisa Blais, Francis Dupuis-Déri: Masculinism and the Antifeminist Countermovement . In: Social Movement Studies . 11th year, no. 1 , 2012, p. 1–19 , doi : 10.1080 / 14742837.2012.640532 .
  • Arthur Brittan: Masculinity and Power . Basil Blackwell, Oxford / New York 1989, ISBN 978-0-631-14166-2 .
  • Robert Claus: Masculism . Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-86498-827-1 ( full text pdf ).
  • Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth: Men's Perspectives. On the way to more equality? Penzberg 2016 ( full text pdf ).
  • Andreas Kemper : (R) real guys. On the companionship of the men's RIGHT movement (= Unrast transparent, right edge. Volume 4). Unrast, Münster 2011, ISBN 978-3-89771-104-4 (70 pages).
  • Michael Meuser : Masculinism. The return to the dangerous glory of men. In: Gender and Masculinity. Sociological theory and cultural patterns of interpretation. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften / Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-17169-2 , pp. 148–155 (also slightly revised version by: Univ. Bremen, Habil.-Schr., 1997; restricted Preview on Google Books).

Research literature on homosexual masculinism in Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

  • Claudia Bruns : The masculinists: “You men, are men!” In: dies .: Politics of Eros. The men's association in science, politics and youth culture (1880–1934). Böhlau Verlag, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-14806-5 , pp. 138ff.
  • Andrew Hewitt: The Philosophy of Masculinism. In: Journal for German Studies , New Series 1, vol. 1999, pp. 36–56 ( jstor ).

Individual evidence

Commons : Masculism  - collection of images, videos and audio files
  1. ↑ masculinism, n . Oxford English Dictionary Online (3rd Edition). Oxford University Press, 2000: “masculinism, n. Advocacy of the rights of men; adherence to or promotion of opinions, values, etc., regarded as typical of men; (more generally) anti-feminism, machismo ”.
  2. ↑ a b Nicholas Bunnin, Jiyuan Yu: Masculinism . In: The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. John Wiley & Sons, 2008, ISBN 978-0-470-99721-5 , p. 411.
  3. ^ Daniel Chandler, Rod Munday: Masculinism (masculism) . In: A Dictionary of Media and Communication . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2011, p.  411 : “From a feminist point of view, masculinism is an attitude which ignores the existence of women and is concernced exclusively with male opinions and interests. It tries to justify the claim that only male views have value and the further claum that anything that cannot be reduced or translated into men's experience should be excluded from the subject-matter of philosophy. In another sence, masculinism advoces the elimination of all discrimination against men because they are male. The goal of this sort of masculinism is the equality between men and women, and it is a reaction agains extreme feminist claims for the superiority of women over men. "
  4. ↑ See, for example:
    • masculinist, n . Merriam-Webster Dictionary, accessed February 16, 2016.
    • Melissa Blais and Francis Dupuis-Déri: Masculinism and the Antifeminist Countermovement . In: Social Movement Studies . 11, No. 1, 2011, pp. 21-39. doi: 10.1080 / 14742837.2012.640532 .
    • David H. Kahl: Analyzing Masculinist Movements: Responding to Antifeminism through Critical Communication Pedagogy . In: Communication Teacher . 29, No. 1, 2015, pp. 21–26. doi: 10.1080 / 17404622.2014.985600 .
    • Francis Dupuis-Déri: The "masculinisme": une histoire politique du mot (en anglais et en français) . In: Recherches féministes . 22, No. 2, 2009, pp. 97-123.
    • Arthur Brittan: Masculinity and Power. Basil Blackwell, Oxford / New York 1989, ISBN 0-631-14166-9 , p. 4.
    • Sheila Ruth: Issues in Feminism: An Introduction to Women's Studies . Mayfield, Mountain View, CA 2001, ISBN 978-0-87484-937-0 , p. 61: “Masculism (sometimes called androcentrism) is the elevation of the masculine, conceptually and physically, to the level of the universal and ideal. ”
    • Marion Löffler: Gender Political Strategies: Transformations of statehood as a politically shapeable process . Campus Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 2012, ISBN 978-3-593-39658-3 , p. 64 f.
    • masculinism, n . Oxford English Dictionary Online (3rd Edition). Oxford University Press, 2000: “masculinism, n. Advocacy of the rights of men; adherence to or promotion of opinions, values, etc., regarded as typical of men; (more generally) anti-feminism, machismo ”.
  5. ↑ Michael Meuser: 6.2 Masculinism: The return to the dangerous male glory . In: Gender and Masculinity: Sociological Theory and Cultural Patterns of Interpretation . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften / Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-17169-2 , pp. 148–155 (also slightly revised version by: Univ. Bremen, Habil.-Schr., 1997).
  6. ↑ Melissa Blais and Francis Dupuis-Déri: Masculinism and the Antifeminist Countermovement . In: Social Movement Studies . 11, No. 1, 2011, pp. 21-39, doi: 10.1080 / 14742837.2012.640532 .
  7. ↑ masculism, n . In: Oxford English Dictionary Online (3rd Edition). Oxford University Press, 2000: “masculism, n. † 1. The possession of masculine physical traits by a woman. Obs. rare. 2. = masculinism n. "
  8. ^ A b Francis Dupuis-Déri: Le "masculinisme": une histoire politique du mot (en anglais et en français) . In: Recherches féministes . 22, No. 2, 2009, pp. 97-123.
  9. ^ A b c Ferrell Christensen: Masculism . In: Ted Honderich (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Philosophy . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1995, ISBN 978-0-19-866132-0 .
  10. ^ Georgia Duerst-Lahti: Gender Ideology: masculinism and femininalism . In: Gary Goertz, Amy G. Mazur : Politics, gender, and concepts: theory and methodology . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-89776-1 , pp. 159-192.
  11. ^ Michael Kimmel : Men's Responses to Feminism at the Turn of the Century . In: Gender & Society . 1, No. 3, 1987, pp. 261-283. doi : 10.1177 / 089124387001003003 .
  12. ^ Cathy Young: Man Troubles: Making Sense of the Men's Movement. In: Reason magazine , July 1994: “Masculism (mas'kye liz * 'em), n. 1. the belief that equality between the sexes requires the recognition and redress of prejudice and discrimination against men as well as women. 2. the movement organized around this belief. Not to worry: This word is not in the dictionary. But it would be if the decision were up to Warren Farrell, Jack Kammer, and other activists in the men's movement. "
  13. ↑ masculinism, n . Oxford English Dictionary Online (3rd Edition). Oxford University Press, 2000.
  14. ↑ masculinist, n . In: Merriam-Webster . Merriam-Webster . Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  15. ^ Judith A. Allen: Women Suffrage, the Antis, and Masculism. In this: The Feminism of Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Sexualities, Histories, Progressivism. University of Chicago Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-226-01462-3 , pp. 152f.
  16. ^ Michael Kimmel: Men's Responses to Feminism at the Turn of the Century. In: Gender and Society, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Sep. 1987), Sage Publications, p. 262.
  17. ↑ Arthur Brittan: Masculinity and Power. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, New York 1989, ISBN 0-631-14166-9 , “Masculinism is the idiology that justifies and naturalizes male domination. As such, it is the ideology of patriarchy. Masculinism takes for granted that there is a fundamental difference between men and women, it assumes that heterosexuality is normal, it accepts without question the sexual division of labor, and it sanctions the political and dominant role of men in the public and private spheres. "
  18. ↑ Arthur Brittan: Masculinities and Masculinism . In: Stephen Whitehead, Frank J. Barrett (Eds.): The Masculinities Reader. Blackwell Publishers, Malden, MA 2001, ISBN 0-7456-2688-2 , pp. 51-55.
  19. ↑ a b Julia T. Wood: Gendered lives: communication, gender, and culture. Wadsworth Pub., Belmont, Calif., ISBN 978-0-495-79416-5 , p. 104: “A number of men's groups fit within the second camp of men's movements. These groups, labeled masculinist (Fiebert, 1987) or promasculine, believe that men suffer from discrimination and that men need to reclaim their manliness ... Among the most conservative branches of men's movement that subscribe to masculinist ideology are men's rights activists, whose goal is to restore the traditional roles of men and women and, with that, the privileges men historically enjoyed. Men's rights groups include MR, Inc (Men's Rights, Incorporades); the National Coalition for Free Men; and NOM (the National Organization of Men). "
  20. ^ Michael Flood et al .: International encyclopedia of men and masculinities. Routledge, London / New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-415-33343-6 , p. 421: “Because men in general are privileged in relation to gender, their collective mobilization involves the danger of enhancing this privilege… This is apparent in the energetic and masculinist activism being conducted by men's rights and fathers' rights groups. "
  21. ^ Jack S. Kahn: An introduction to masculinities. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, UK / Malden, MA 2009, ISBN 978-1-4051-8179-2 , p. 202: “Men's rights groups, often associated with religious doctrine (particularly Christian), view men as a group of people who have been oppressed by the various social changes that have occurred in the last 50 years (Clatterbaugh, 1997; Fox, 2004; Mann, 2008; Rickabaugh, 1994). They refer to themselves as masculinist, liberationists, post-feminist, and anti-feminist, and some of their major concerns are child support and alimony issues and domestic violence against men (Fox, 2004; Lingard & Douglas, 1999; Mann, 2008) . They claim that it is men, not women, who are victims of society and that men must 'take back' the culture from women and establish a true patriarchy (see Rickabaugh, 1994, Mann, 2008)… Well-known modern organization that advocate for a patriarchal perspective are: the Promise Keepers, the Men's Rights Association, the National Coalition for Men, The National Congress for Men and the National Center for Men (Bliss, 1995; Fox, 2004; Lingard & Douglas, 1999; MacInnes, 2001 ; Messner, 2001; Rickabaugh, 1994). "
  22. ↑ Michael Meuser: Gender and Masculinity. Sociological theory and cultural patterns of interpretation. 3rd, revised and updated edition. VS Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-92046-7 , pp. 160f., 322.
  23. ^ Daniel Boyarin: Carnal Israel: Reading Sex in Talmudic Culture . University of California Press, Berkeley 1993, ISBN 0-520-08012-2 , p. 228: “[The term masculist] is problematic in that is parallels feminist, but feminism is not a project of female domination over males, while masculism has historically been a project of male domination over females. "
  24. ↑ Men's Perspectives: On the Way to More Equality? (PDF) Representative social science survey of the population, on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth, 2016, accessed on March 29, 2017 .