Feminism Isn’t Anti-Men
Feminism is often caricatured as antagonistic towards men. However, this framing misunderstands feminism’s central purpose: “the advocacy of woman’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.” Feminism does not seek the inversion of hierarchy, but rather the dismantling of hierarchical gender relations altogether. It challenges hegemonic masculinity that constrains male emotional expression and perpetuates gender role strain. By destabilising patriarchal norms, feminism offers men a liberatory framework in which vulnerability, care, and relational equality become socially permissible — so yes, boys do cry and they should be allowed to.
This post will argue that hegemonic masculinity not only subordinates women but also disciplines men through rigid gender role expectations that condition boys to suppress vulnerability.
Comments:
Cousin who burnt my Minecraft kingdom when I was 10, I know you’re reading this
Section I: The Psychological Costs of Masculinity
Friedrich Engels, a German philosopher best known for his collaboration with Karl Marx, argues in The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State (1884) that the beginnings of patriarchy are rooted in the rise of private property and class society — what he described as the overthrow of “mother-right.” To secure economic surplus, it was decreed to that “the offspring of the male members should remain within the gens, but that of the female should be excluded by being transferred to the gens of their father” thereby overthrowing the female line and matriarchal law of inheritance. Engels describes this as the “world historical defeat of the female sex.” Engel contends that this overthrow led to “the woman… degraded, and reduced to servitude, she became the slave of his lust and a mere instrument for the production of children.”
From this, we can acknowledge the structural benefits men receive from phallocentrist patriarchy.
However what is often overlooked, is the detrimental impact the patriarchy has on the well-being of men. Patriarchal constructions of masculinity condition men to suppress any signs of vulnerability. This expectation for men — often exemplified in modern-day phrases such as terms like “man up” and “be strong,” can “lead to mental health difficulties such as depression — lead to poor emotional socialisation and mental health difficulties.
While mental health is not black-and-white, but rather a dynamic, multi-faceted concept, restrictive codes of masculinity may prevent men from seeking help, in what is already a difficult situation. Approximately, 70% of people globally with mental illnesses receive no treatment. This phenomenon is often referred to as the treatment gap.
Additionally, although depression rates for men are statistically lower than depression rates for women, suicide rates are significantly higher for men. We see here that while men accrue structural advantages through the patriarchal dividend, the same system simultaneously enforces restrictive norms of masculinity that harms men. Men may benefit from this patriarchy structurally, but socially and emotionally, it can be profoundly damaging.
Section II: Feminism as Liberatory Framework
“Traditional masculinity is just as crippling a venture as the summons of femininity.”
Feminism challenges the idea that masculinity must be synonymous with dominance. When dominance stops being the benchmark of masculinity, hegemons masculinity loses its central principles — control over women, emotional suppression, economic provision, and physical dominance. Feminism also rejects the belief that patriarchal masculinity is natural, and argues rather, it is socially constructed. When feminism is applied, dominance stops being the benchmark of masculinity, hegemonic masculinity loses its central origin (control over women, emotional suppression, economic provision, physical dominance) and the revelation of patriarchal masculinity being socially constructed makes it contestable.
Once patriarchal masculinity becomes understood as constructed rather than something that is biologically innate, it becomes contensible. This recognition liberates men from the singular mold hegemonic men imposes. It frees men from this pressure to perform according to expectations and opens spaces for alternative masculinities. Men can reject dominance, express emotions, and seek support for their mental health openly.
Section III: Why the Backlash?
If this is so, then why all the backlash? Why is this opposition to feminism so prevalent?
Susan Faldi writes how the Women’s Liberation Movement “experienced a backlash,” driven in part by media’s portrayal that “aimed to undermine the progress women had made in the previous decade by maintaining that women were worse off.” The media framed feminism as the cause for women’s “newfound struggles.”
In modern-day society, these tropes are amplified through social media. Online anti-feminist movements such as Women Against Feminism argue that feminism is antagonistic toward men and harmful for women to speak and act for themselves. Narratives like these reinforce the patriarchal’s traditional gender roles and imply that gains for women means a loss for men.
The rise of the manosphere, described by the UN as “a loose network of communities that claim to address men’s struggles,” often treats feminism as an attack on men. These spaces can form echo cambers of misogyny, where harassment, threats, and conspiracies are framed as “defence” against feminism — despite feminism’s broader liberatory aims. These narratives are dangerous because they paint feminism not as a movement for equality and mutual liberation, but as a threat.
Feminism Does Not Impoverish Men
Feminism does not impoverish men, it impoverishes patriarchy. In doing so, it exposes that dominance was never synonymous with freedom. However, feminism still has a long way to go to achieve true gender equality. Dismantling hierarchy is only the beginning, true equality requires a multi-faceted reimagining of how power, care, and identity are organised in everyday life.
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