Meninism: discrimination disguised as satire
In response to the growing popularity of the feminist movement, a reactionary men’s rights group has been created called “meninism.” Some believe this trend was created just for cheap laughs, allowing sexist comments to be made in a socially acceptable context, but others take their ideas seriously.
The goal of meninism is for men to receive equal to superior rights compared with women, which is ironic, because the whole point of feminism is for women to no longer be oppressed for their gender. Feminism is not female dominance–a common misconception by meninists and misandrists alike.
The problem with meninism is that it doesn’t deal with issues such as inequality in male custody battles, rights for queer or trans men, and hyper-masculine body or cultural standards. Actually, it doesn’t deal with anything at all. Meanwhile, feminism deals with all of these issues, because they fall under social, political, and economic equality for all genders. This renders “meninism” as useless; it also allows misogynists to harass people who express their troubles with gender inequality.
The trend has a Twitter account known as @MeninistTweet, which has over 1.1 million followers. They joke about domestic violence, saying that a woman with a black eye “obviously didn’t listen,” and mask their prejudice behind humor. In their Twitter biography, they claim the content is “obviously sarcasm”; however this allows them to express sexist ideas with little to no consequence. Instead, it only makes the viewer believe that gender prejudice is socially acceptable.
Meninism actually hurts men’s rights because it enforces the concept that men must be masculine, hypersexual beings–a societal standard that breeds insecurity, just as women experience with their own body standards. Men, women, and people of other genders must work together, rather than against one another, in order for equality to be established. @MeninistTweet condones this support of impartiality by feminists, enforcing the social standards of one’s gender.
In addition, the trend has appealed to some women who claim that feminists are man-haters or that they themselves never have been oppressed for their gender. These women claim to have never been discriminated against because they personally haven’t experienced inequality, but this doesn’t mean that other women have not.
Some women and girls are not allowed an education or other basic needs, and ignoring this problem will only worsen it. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in three women and one in four men are victims of physical abuse from a partner. 65% of women also report experiencing street harassment, according to the organization Stop Street Harassment, who conducted a national study in 2014.
Do not follow movements such as meninism just because they seem popular at the moment or because the cause does not directly affect you. Instead of placing blame on men or women for hurting each other’s rights, people of all genders need to be aware of each other’s struggles. Even men should be feminists in strive for true gender equality, as the support of meninism does not bring justice for men’s rights, but instead belittles woman’s chance of equality.
Graphic by Michael Hellard/Prowler
