Men and Feminism - Male Feminism and Pro-feminism

Male Feminism and Pro-feminism

As feminist writer Shira Tarrant has argued, a number of men have engaged with and contributed to feminist movements throughout history. Other men have lobbied and campaigned against feminism. Today, academics like Michael Flood, Michael Messner, and Michael Kimmel are involved with men's studies and pro-feminism.

There is debate within feminism over whether or not men can be feminists. While some argue that men cannot be feminists because of the intrinsic differences between the sexes, others argue that men’s identification with the feminist movement is necessary for furthering the feminist causes. A number of feminist writers maintain that identifying as a feminist is the strongest stand men can take in the struggle against sexism against women. They have argued that men should be allowed, or even encouraged, to participate in the feminist movement. Other female feminists argue that men cannot be feminists simply because they are not women, cannot understand women's issues, and are collectively members of the class of oppressors against women. They claim that men are granted inherent privileges that prevent them from identifying with feminist struggles and thus make it impossible for them to identify with feminists.

A common idea supporting men’s inclusion as ‘feminists’ is that excluding men from the feminist movement labels it as solely a female task, which is argued to be sexist in itself. They assert that until men share equal responsibility for struggling to end sexism against women, the feminist movement will reflect the very sexist contradiction it wishes to eradicate. The term ‘profeminist’ occupies the middle ground in this semantic debate, because it offers a degree of closeness to feminism without using the term itself. Also, the prefix ‘pro’ characterizes the term as more proactive and positive. There has been some debate regarding the use of the hyphen (identifying as a ‘pro-feminist’ as opposed to a profeminist) claiming that it distances the term too much from feminism proper.