The Guardian: Wie es zu einer Krise des Feminismus führt, dass man sich um die Männerkrise kümmert

Großbritannien ist Deutschland geschlechterpolitisch noch immer mehrere Jahre voraus. achdem die vielfältigen Problemlagen von Männern immer schwerer ignoriert werden können, haben dort zwei Abgeordnete der linken Labourpartei dieses Thema auf die politische Agenda gesetzt. Verschiedene männerpolitische Projekte sind dadurch im Aufwind. Für die Tageszeitung The Guardian erörtert Glen Poole, wie aus dieser Entwicklung eine Krise für den Feminismus entsteht. Ein Auszug des lesenswerten Artikels:

What many of these [men-friendly] projects demonstrate is that you don't need to take a feminist approach to be successful at tackling gender issues. In fact, even some of the most pro-feminist men's groups will tell you privately that feminist thinking can often be a barrier to helping men and boys. A prime example is the field of sexual abuse, where these groups claim that the women's sector has persuaded the government to exclude charities that specialise in helping male victims from its rape support fund.

This struggle between women's issues and men's issues is played out across the public and charitable sector and is rooted in the belief that gender equality is a women's problem often caused by men. Put simply, women have problems and men are problems.

Looking at a preview's of Abbott's speech, it becomes apparent that Labour's new message about valuing fathers is underpinned with a familiar, negative narrative about disaffected men who are hyper-masculine, homophobic, misogynistic and obsessed with pornography.

Abbott is right to say that there aren't enough men engaged in conversations about manhood, but is it any wonder when modern masculinity is described in such negative terms?

The best way to tackle the problems that men face is to follow the example of the women's sector and build a men's sector filled with independent organisations that are positive advocates for men and boys.

Tackling men's issues in this way requires the women's sector to share the gender equality pie. It also means allowing for a greater diversity of viewpoints, which will ultimately challenge the dominance of feminist thinking in the gender equality sector.

Faced with this eventuality, it is inevitable that women's groups and feminist thinkers will resist attempts to target the problems that men and boys face and try to shift the focus back on to the problems that men and boys cause.

If the Labour party is to tackle Britain's "crisis of masculinity" it will need to face up to the crisis that tackling men's issues creates for feminism. The best way for Labour to do this is by remaining true to the values of its own equalities legislation that allows for men's and women's issues to be addressed in an equitable and proportionate way.