Comment Re:Slashdot comments indicative of the problem (Score 1) 1262
You are 100% correct about the historical issues within masculinities. In fact, masculinities is a field in which I could have studied and then actively researched in college because it is such an important point of discussion right now. Alas, every single Gender Studies class I went into focused on the "plight of woman". While obviously important, you can't have "gender studies" while studying the issues of just one gender.
Concepts in Masculinities to actively study in a research environment: Dominance, Self-Reliance, Dependent Support, Virility, Expression, Rebellion, "Competence, Excellence, and Failure", and lastly The Visible Masculine. While my vocation and avocation are both in the setting of a research university, I don't have the time to take on this research.
But I digress.
I think it is unfair to the younger men of this country who grew up under parents who followed the literal women's liberation movement. I'm going on 32 years old and grew up an egalitarian feminist. I may have been just a tad ahead of the curve on this, but there is a massive proportion of men in the western world that have significantly divergent opinions on gender, the sexes, and sexuality than their fathers did.
Today's young men grew up spousal abuse being a crime against the state.
Their fathers grew up with spousal abuse being a "private matter".
Today's young men grew up knowing that men and women are equal in all things not physical.
Their fathers grew up with a patriarchal interpretation of chivalry and thus chauvinism.
Today's young men will likely vote for this nation's first president/vice-president.
Their fathers grew up thinking that women were just too emotional for that kind of extreme responsibility.
Today's young men are, socially, leaps and bounds beyond their fathers and to hold them accountable by requiring that they play the whipping boys for their fathers' sins is an injustice to them. It is also an injustice to the young women growing up with these young men (who would otherwise continue to grow unimpeded) by continually putting in their heads that the massive male patriarchy is still in place.
The patriarchy is crumbled and will die off with those that are 45+. There will always be jerk males and they will always abuse anyone they perceive to be weaker. Unless we raise our young women to be strong and confident, they will continue to be easy targets. That can't happen if we continue to push the bogeyman of patriarchy.
Let's celebrate the coming death of the patriarchy and the normalization of egalitarianism.