Background: I have recently got the opportunity to study post-structuralist and deconstructivist thought, which also includes a few feminist writings like Le Deuxième Sexe. What I have discerned alarmed me, therefore I found it appropriate to share some of my insights in a forum where I would not be labelled some sort of a monster.

Feminist thought, it seems, has succeded in their attempts to equate Masculinity with power. Power here is understood as the ability to force behaviour onto an individual without his approval. If Masculinity is understood like that, the concept of Patriarchy seems to be a completely legitimate and real issue. Since Masculinity is power, it is only rational that some sort of a system centered around Men would emerge in order to entrench and privilege them. This paradigm immediately suggests that femininity is oppressed and subjugated by Masculinity. I find such discourse simply wrong. Starting with the definition of Masculinity. It is my understanding that Masculinity itself does contain an aspect of power within it, but this power is self-contained, as in not immediately relevant to society. For example, physical strength can be understood as power, but does physical strength immediately suggest some sort of a structural power relationship? I think not. Intellectual prowess does not have that innate quality of establishing structured power relationships either. Usage of these qualities over a certain period of time, however, can entail a system of subordinated relationships. And it is absolutely true that men used to have more rights in society than women because they used their advantages in order to advance their interests. What is often ignored though is that a right implies something else – obligation. There are no rights without obligations. For example, if employment is only available to men (a right), then they must provide for their family (an obligation). What I see happening now is the slow erosion of Men's rights without the corresponding erosion of obligations. It is still expected of a Man to provide for his family, even though he has much more competition now. It is still expected of Men to be financially independent, even though the tools necessary for that (education, money in form of a loan, job) are now prioritised for women. What in the past was a system of rights and obligations is now turning into a system of privileges (rights without obligations).Therefore, it is my opinion that feminists are wrong when it comes to Masculinity and their discourse is destined not to achieve equality, but a system of privileges for women.