Bolf - More than a name, it’s a lifestyle.

The best definition I could come up with was, unfortunately, the one on Wikipedia:
Feminism is an intellectual, philosophical and political discourse aimed at equal rights and legal protection for women.

Really, most definitions I could find said the same thing, but I liked the wording of the Wikipedia version best.

I would like to point out the part where it says “equal rights and legal protection” because I think this is an issue that gets forgotten along the way. Many issues on gender agendas these days seem to be more about privilege than about rights. Programs under the guise of “equalization” are a privilege - this does not mean they are wrong, it merely means that they are not an issue of rights and legal protection. Under the Canadian Bill of Rights and Freedoms, women have precisely as many rights and legal protections as men, and so classical feminism has succeeded.

The difficulty arises in the social aspect where women are treated differently than men, have different social opportunities and certain social stigmas placed on them that result in a barrier to their entrance to certain activities. These include politics, some post-secondary programs, and some jobs. These are privileges that men currently “enjoy”, and are not right because they negatively affect women. Similarly, women enjoy privileges of certain social programs, equalization programs aimed at improving quality of life for women, etc… Most of these do not negatively affect men directly, but many that are able to help a person (regardless of gender) in an identical situation are refused to men.

Then there are certain privileges of women that do negatively affect men - quota policies for employment, equalization programs that favour women in post-secondary education and prevent qualified male applicants from entry, etc… And there are a number of issues of basic human rights that are no longer afforded to men but that are afforded to women. These include issues surrounding marriage/divorce, and accusations of rape and sexual or physical abuse - where men are guilty until proven innocent.

When we talk about Equal Rights, I do not think we have achieved this - and it is the male gender that is now suffering. When we talk about privilege, there are a number of double standards that still exist in society with regards to these. These double standard privileges exist because of the notion that one gender needs their own privileges to counter the privileges of the opposite gender. I disagree with this view, and feel that privileges should be afforded to either gender equally - and should be strictly understood to be a privilege and not a right. My view on this equally condemns the “Boys Club” of politics as it does the “Girls Club” of sexual/physical/domestic abuse, where victimized men are refused the help that is afforded to many women.

For clarity, since there are a number of people who love to pick on my words to try to Straw Man the issue into something else: sexual/physical/domestic abuse programs are awesome and a great idea and very needed in our society, as is education about ending violence period. I am opposed specifically to the barriers in some of these programs, and in our legal system, that prevent males from obtaining the help and support that they need in similar situations. When I say that I oppose the “End Violence against Women” organization, it is not because I believe in violence against women, but rather that I think it should be “End Violence. Period.” or “End Violence against People” - seeing as how 40% of domestic abuse occurs with male victims.

So - let’s get this right. Feminism, as a word on its own, does not describe the current female gender debates, since (at least in Canada), equal rights and legal protections have been obtained. Gender feminism and Equity feminism are still issues to be addressed, as they discuss topics of privilege.

Tags: Men's Rights Activism //