It’s a pity that men’s issues are often taken up by those who don’t do their cause very good service – people who seem more concerned with knocking women than helping men. However this piece by Glen Poole seemed a reasonable one to me. He anticipates with interest a speech by Diane Abbott in which she will touch on what Poole calls ‘Britain’s crisis of masculinity’.
Abbott in particular will place a specific focus on the importance of Labour feminists developing a male-friendly narrative, a nuance that points to the real issue here – how do feminists deal with men’s issues?
Poor educational attainment, homelessness and suicide are some of the issues Poole identifies as problems which disproportionately affect men. This all seems fair enough, although I wished Poole had not treated feminists as a monolithic group, as I’m sure many do not want to trivialise sexual abuse against men.
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.
He seems to think that gender equality is – or will be perceived as – a zero sum game by feminists, but in fact breaking down stereotypes (whether your immediate focus is women or men) should benefit both sexes. He claims that Labour will need to ‘face up to the crisis that tackling men’s issues creates for feminism’. But, going by the comments under his piece, I think he may be overstating the amount of resistance to projects which help men.
Update: I thought Laurie Penny’s short article on this topic was reasonably sensible and sympathetic, in line with other statements she has made about the problems faced by men and boys. It’s a great pity it attracted so many hostile comments.
