Crosspost "We Don't Need Allies - We Need Friends! Why superficial systems of hierarchy would be harmful to male advocacy." from /r/LeftWingMaleAdvocates:
Hi,
Going to try and make this a short one. I noticed a post recently by a woman, wanting to be sympathetic to men's rights. She asked how she could be a better "ally". This was already pointed out by others in the post, but I thought I would offer my opinions in their own separate post...
First off, I am grateful to anyone who even acknowledges male issues. I do not believe anyone is obliged to try and resolve them however, nor do I believe there is a cut off point for how much someone has to do before they can be considered a male advocate. I believe anyone has a right to share their opinions on how to approach male advocacy and I do not believe that genitalia is a metric for whether those opinions are valid. This separation of power structures by superficial hierarchies is an identity politics that I can't get behind. Everyone is entitled to their opinions here (or they should be as long as they follow the rules). This is not a military operation. This is just a group of people asking for consideration on certain aspects of how society functions. That is all there is to it. Being a woman who advocates for males doesn't make your opinions any less (or more) valid than anyone else's.
Being a male advocate is not against rights for women. Sometimes, it is just as simple as wanting to be included in the conversation. These false dichotomy's are part of the problem, and reinforce double standards. There is no need to find anyone to blame for how the world has developed. I can point out to certain ideologies that I don't think are helping the situation (or doing more harm than good), but neither men nor women are responsible for how society has grown. There is no war against an oppressive force as far as I am concerned, I merely seek to challenge unfair biases. Include men in the domestic violence/sexual abuse conversation by separating it into victim and perpetrator (rather than the unnecessary categorisation by gender (i.e. Violence Against Women). Build resources for men where they are lacking.
There are no need of allies here...
We only need friends to walk beside us, as equals.
Posted by LawUntoChaos | 17 November 2022 |
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