"self examination", "introspection" and why feminist approaches to men's issues don't work.

I was reading through some comments about menslib. And one of them caught my eye.

i'm disappointed that the community does not seem to like the hard work of self-examination

And it reminded me of one of the biggest gripes men have with menslib.

The persistent framing of male issues as merely personal and outright denial that men may face sexism or discrimination at an institutional level.

I'm also reminded of the proposal at Simon Fraser University (near Vancouver) to open up a men's centre on campus to address issues like suicide, drug/alcohol addiction, and negative stereotypes.

The women's centre, which already existed, opposed this.

They argued that a men's centre is not needed because the men's centre is already "everywhere else" (even though those issues aren't being addressed "everywhere else"). The alternative they proposed was a "male allies project" to "bring self-identified men together to talk about masculinity and its harmful effects"

Now, to me this illustrates something very clearly.

And that is that the widespread feminist viewpoint is that there is a problem with men. Or that men themselves are the problem.

This is why feminist attempts at addressing men's issues usually just ends up victim blaming men.

People often get upset at men's advocates for "just wanting to bash feminism"

But unfortunately if we want to actually work towards egalitarian goals. That means we must challenge and deconstruct these negative and counterproductive beliefs about men.

If anybody needs to do some introspection or self examination. It's the people who are upset because they don't understand why we oppose feminism.

if you really want equality. Start by not treating men like we're monsters.