Feminism Must Include Empathy for Working-Class Men

MelissaMiranti · 2024-07-31T23:21:06+00:00

Empathy for working class men is the lightning rod of politics. If you grasp it wrong, you're cooked. But if you get it right, you can have incredible power.

Louis_Creed · 2024-08-01T01:08:59+00:00

The article isn't compelling at all. I'm not joking, a quote from the article is: "The future for men looks bleak, and that's factoring in male privilege." Well, good thing men get a privilege bump when their stock is heavily trending down. Lord.

Anyway, to the meat of the article, the author fails to identify why either book is worth reading. Crispin's book, which aims to talk about issues that working-class men face, seems to be a backwards-looking meditation on the past and what Crispin has learned or unlearned from men of the past. I fail to see what this has to do with what men face or allegedly face or whatever at the current social moment. Further, based off the quotes in the linked article, she evinces no empathy towards men, but talks about men like they are little more than strangers to her. Which makes sense, as based off the book summary, she doesn't even talk to any men for her book. A meditation about patriarchy with no patriarchs to speak on their own behalf. As such, a self-described firebrand feminist, aiming to talk about modern working-class men, shadow-boxing with the men of her past is not compelling reading.

Further, and this really gets into why either book is not compelling reading, both books are, once again, based off the blurbs I've found online, trapped in liberals current assessment of our recent social past. A key conceptualization issue is lumping discussions of class, race, and sex together, when each concept is distinct from one another, not all linked together because everybody is under the boot of the white man traditionally. Liberals do this, I think, because they fought (in their mind) white men in the white collar workplace. It's difficult to talk about tradition when you only reach back a couple generations and ignore obvious differences between class, race, and sex.

Also, terms like "traditional breadwinner role" or "women have been demanding changes to families for centuries (what changes?)" or the horrifically incorrect phrase the "patriarchal nuclear family" are all signs both books are not worth the ink. The idea there has been anything close to a consensus of what changes are needed to family by women, or the objectively incorrect concept of the traditional nuclear family or the idea of the traditional male breadwinner role (which, admittedly, has more heft, but I assume they are referring to wage-earning being the way most families support themselves, but this is a more recent historical development with capitalism).

All this to say: I'm glad people think compassion towards working-class men is great. A fine sentiment, indeed. It still doesn't mean either one of these books or authors add anything new to the great gender debate. Interesting but ultimately flat article.

SvitlanaLeo · 2024-08-01T01:37:53+00:00

Feminism must include criticism for bourgeois women.

henrysmyagent · 2024-08-01T00:31:19+00:00

Feminists Must Be Reminded That Men Are People Too

FTFY

Nobleone11 · 2024-08-01T04:05:50+00:00

Feminism NEVER had empathy for men in general, let alone working class men.

Never will.

Factoring in Male Privilege

Case in point.

johnnycarrotheid · 2024-08-01T02:20:22+00:00

The entire working class wants nothing to do with Feminism 🤷

It's like that movie "Oliver", everyone scraping through life, and the Bankers wife being the one out protesting 🤷😂 Never seen anything else as accurate as that.

White_Immigrant · 2024-08-01T02:43:07+00:00

That headline is a lot like saying capitalism should have empathy for working class men. It's fundamentally opposed to what it's all about.

Even_Paramedic_9145 · 2024-08-01T09:17:57+00:00

include empathy for working-class men

Implying they ever had such. For most working-class men, feminism has been disastrous and has led to a direct reduction in their station.

Disastrous_Average91 · 2024-08-01T10:35:19+00:00

I think feminism needs to stop pretending to care about men. Feminism isn’t about men or for men and that’s its flaw but we do need empathy for working class men, and men in general

captainhornheart · 2024-08-01T09:49:53+00:00

It's like saying anarcho-capitalism must include empathy for welfare recipients. It's never going to happen.

Johntoreno · 2024-08-01T12:29:23+00:00

even when accounting for the relative weight of male privilege

Oh God... it never ends.

AbysmalDescent · 2024-08-01T03:42:17+00:00

They are almost there. Almost. Given everything I know about feminism though, I know that all they are really trying to say here is "lets stop shitting on poor men, so that we can get back to shitting on rich men".

ReflexSave · 2024-07-31T23:58:44+00:00

The Third Reich must have empathy for Jews.

Disastrous_Average91 · 2024-08-01T10:35:19+00:00

I think feminism needs to stop pretending to care about men. Feminism isn’t about men or for men and that’s its flaw but we do need empathy for working class men, and men in general

hottake_toothache · 2024-08-01T12:54:26+00:00

I won't hold my breath.

_name_of_the_user_ · 2024-08-01T15:46:08+00:00

Why is this here? The article is garbage.

Right from the start

small handful of elite men are in nearly complete control of society

No, they're not. The voting public still has a lot of influence and women make up roughly half of the voting public. Feminists can't do anything without first excusing women from any and all responsibility for their roles and influence in society. Women are just as responsible for this mess as men are. Until feminists are willing to admit that we can't move forward. But they never will because that gives up women's victim status.

Maffioze · 2024-08-01T23:27:17+00:00

What I find crazy is that these people can't just be like "let's abandon feminism, it's clearly not accurate about the world we live in" like a normal person would do when faced with evidence.

Instead, they have to maintain almost everything and still call men privileged even though they are suffering, and say some conspiracy type nonsense such as that a small group elite men are in complete control of society. No one is even remotely close to being in complete control of society, this is delusional.

WeEatBabies · 2024-07-31T23:24:57+00:00

Feminism doesn't, never has, never will and must be crushed!

skllyskullstyle · 2024-08-01T05:53:45+00:00

Well if you ask me, we've already as men gave them the chance to act upon it. If so, I would've been calling myself a feminist this while time. But it's all a lie.

The damage has already been done.

Disastrous_Average91 · 2024-08-01T10:35:10+00:00

I think feminism needs to stop pretending to care about men. Feminism isn’t about men or for men and that’s its flaw but we do need empathy for working class men, and men in general

Revolver-Knight · 2024-08-01T15:12:07+00:00

I feel to simply put, the reason that all these rightwing grifters and tates are so effective is not because they are right it’s because they are at least addressing men’s issues.

People on the left are like that’s bad tate is bad

(Which he is that whole crew scum)

But the left has no version of Andrew Tate, and they are telling people he is bad but providing no alternative and seem more focused on getting you to agree with them politically rather than actually helping men and men’s issues.

It literally to me just sounds like,

Men’s issues,? What’s that! All I want you to do is agree with me politically to make me feel more comfortable.

Rucs3 · 2024-08-01T15:48:00+00:00

Try posting that in menslib lmao

Illustrious_Bus9486 · 2024-08-01T18:22:10+00:00

Not a great sub from which to gain insight.

maomaochair · 2024-08-02T00:07:40+00:00

Only when feminism abandond the belief of "male as class oppress female", or it just a harmful anesthetic to men or gender equality.

Comments