All Men

Every man perpetuates sexism. Every man perpetuates rape culture. Men are the problem.

Are these statements unnecessary? Tainting feminism? Oppressive?

Not in the slightest.

Since basically forever, the most common argument against feminist teachings is that not all men oppress women, and so feminists and feminist theories which lump all men – each with individual autonomy – into a single category of “problematic” are being discriminatory. And in a world of equality where all genders exist on a level playing field, this would be absolutely true.

Alas, we do not live in that world.

Instead we see a world where the fabric of society is intrinsically woven with oppression, where institutions of discrimination systematically and arbitrarily assign privileges. Lots of long words in that sentence. Basically the premise we’re working off is that society is built so that there is little to no equality from the get-go, because the “natural order” is unfair.

This means that treating people equally does not necessarily create equality.

When men start on a higher social level than women, treating both genders exactly the same would still leave a disparity. This also accounts for why feminism isn’t a homogenous movement, as benefiting all women equally still leaves an inequality for black or trans women in comparison to a wealthy white woman.

I digress. But essentially we see that the fundamental system of society is extremely unfair, and equality is best achieved by treating people differently according to their needs.

Basically equity > equality. …Socialism anyone?

So when considering the “All men…” vs “Not all men!” argument, we have to acknowledge that there is an extremely valid reason that this criticism is one sided.

Alright, it’s important to disproportionately criticise men because they hold disproportionate power and privilege, but isn’t the statement still untrue? Some men are feminists!

Here’s the thing: in the context of a feminist saying “I hate when men…” or “Ugh, men!” they are not slandering the approx. 3.5 billion individual men on planet earth. Rather they are critiquing the oppressive institution that is “men”. Men are the embodiment of a system that oppresses women and defends masculinity. Men represent one of the core societal issues, and their actions are a result of this same institutionalised privilege. Saying “all men are awful” is not an attack on a man’s personhood, it is a criticism of a society which actively discriminates against, dehumanises and threatens anyone who is not a man.

To put into perspective, I hate white people. Not because I hate myself, or my Wonderbread family and friends, but because I hate the system of oppression which exists to unfairly advantage me whilst making hell for every Person of Colour in the entire world. And being white doesn’t make me feel guilty, it makes me feel very powerful because I can choose to not endorse that system and have an impactful effect on racism in our society.

When people – especially men – cry “not all men!” because their privilege is suddenly challenged, they detract from the real problem. By allowing yourself to think that you are not a perpetrator of oppression, you shuck off your responsibility to recognise your privileges and prevent your actions from unknowingly causing harm. Because when you are a part of a power majority (men, white people, cis-het people etc.), you are automatically a cog in an oppressive machine. Here is a relevant Tumblr post:

Every man does perpetuate sexism, like every white person perpetuates racism. And instead of skirting our responsibilities by derailing the conversation to alleviate blame, lets own up to it, and do something about it. Allowing women a safe space to yell and scream and say “I hate men!” is not an “excuse for women to be sexist without backlash”, it is an opportunity to criticise the system that affects women’s daily lives in a way that has been silenced for so many years.  

Heavy stuff xx

Hannah