If you haven’t heard of the #AllMenCan movement, hold onto your wigs and keys, because it’s a doozy.
On the heels of the liberal Women’s March during the inauguration weekend, the hashtag campaign that started a few years ago, #AllMenCan, picked up steam. This is another of those movements where people hold up handwritten signs to show how sensitive they are. In this case, it’s a bunch of men telling the world they stand by women.
What it really amounts to is well-meaning guys looking like a bunch of saps. Why? Because this campaign isn’t about respect for women. It’s about promoting feminism. And the two aren’t one and the same.
While some of the #AllMenCan messages are fine on face value (is anyone really FOR rape or domestic violence? And don’t most people agree we should be nice to one another?), they are mostly insidious attacks on masculinity. Here are a few pics from the original online campaign back when it started, followed by some recent tweets from #AllMenCan.
I’m sure there are a lot of men who’d like to hold up a sign that says “#AllWomenCan shut up sometimes and listen.” In fact, an entire Man’s March could probably be formed around this one concept.
We have a legacy of male entitlement? What about female entitlement? In sexual assault cases, a woman’s word is often taken over a man’s. Men are often presumed guilty until proven innocent on college campuses. In custody cases, women are given preferential treatment. The welfare system is constructed in a way that allows women to raise children without men, thereby shutting out fathers.
Women can abandon their duties as mothers by killing their offspring, and they’re celebrated for it. But if a man abandons his duty as a father, he is shunned by society. Men pay for dates more than women. When women are out of work, that’s okay, but men face stigma.
Women receive more government entitlements than men, but men pay more in income taxes. Women outnumber men with bachelor’s degrees. Men are more likely to die at work than women—92 to 8 percent. Maybe men should start an “equal occupational fatality day” movement.
So. What were you saying about male entitlement?
Again, where is this mysterious patriarchy that’s so powerful in our nation? It’s doing a pretty bad job of getting men preferential treatment structures.
In other words, support a woman’s right to an abortion or consequence-free sex, or you’re a sexist pig.
As if women always give other women credit for their ideas. Not.
This one is simply pathetic. No one expects you to be a superhero, but women do appreciate heroes. Strength (either physical or strength through competence) is tied to masculinity, and when good men are strong, women are safer. Male power equals female security.
Telling men to just shut up and listen seems to be a big theme in the #AllMenCan movement. Maybe this is the real goal.
More lessons on how to be more like a woman. Now, if these were chats about how to be better people, that’s one thing. But the focus on masculinity itself implies there’s something inherently wrong with it. There’s not.
When so few men turned out in support of the Women’s March, community organizers went into action. They had to get men involved. According to the Washington Post,
On Donald Trump’s first day in office, organizers of the Women’s March on Washington are calling on ‘all defenders of human rights’ to join to stand up for women and other groups that have been marginalized.
But there is one group, composed of about half of the population, that is hard to find in the social media and logistical frenzy leading up to the highest profile event protesting Trump’s politics: men.
… ‘This is a movement that is led by women, but it is not just for women. It’s for all people,’ said Linda Sarsour, one of the march’s lead organizers.
One caveat: ‘You have to be okay with being led by women,’ she said.
The article goes on to cite “scholars of gender and politics” who explain that the reason men aren’t participating isn’t because there aren’t a lot of men who support women’s rights, but “many still aren’t comfortable shouting their views through a bullhorn or spreading them on Twitter.” So men are just too timid? I don’t think so. Maybe they just think the movement is stupid.
Others say it has to do with Trump and Republicans challenging “the masculinity of men who support liberal causes or women in leadership.” Alex Mohajer, co-founder of Bros 4 Hillary, told the Post: “There is a sense [that] if you outwardly support a woman you are less deserving of your man stripes.” No, you only lose your man stripes if you support feminist agendas that undermine both sexes.
Men who did participate in the Women’s March said they want to show that they respect women. “It’s not enough to say, ‘I’m not a misogynist,’” Gerald Dudley of Austin said. “This year I am trying to put my money where my mouth is.”
Another said, “Being part of a loyal opposition is important. I want to oppose what Trump stands for, and women’s issues are clearly a part of that.”
Abortion Isn’t Pro-Women, and Men Aren’t Anti-Woman
Clearly, these men have bought into the propaganda that Trump is out to get women and that they have to prove that they’re not misogynists. The president has offered no policy proposals that threaten women in any way, a point that is often made to women who supported the march. When asked how their rights are being threatened, they keep coming back to “reproductive rights.”
These men are merely parroting liberal women and supporting abortion—something that’s convenient for men because they can have sex with women without the responsibility of caring for them if they get pregnant. Quite a nice arrangement for these guys who are so concerned about respecting the ladies.
As for their need to prove they’re not sexist, this is a trap. When you try to prove you’re not a misogynist, you will become enslaved to women’s will and whims. It’s no different than white people having to prove they’re not racist. You can’t prove a negative. You will never be able to do enough to prove that in the deep recesses of your heart you’re not what these women think you are—a sexist pig.
If you don’t think the wage gap is an issue of discrimination and therefore doesn’t require government solutions, then you’re a sexist. If you don’t support abortion, then you don’t respect a woman’s right to make choices in life; you’re a misogynist.
If you don’t want to pay for free contraception, you’re a pig who wants to keep women barefoot and in the kitchen. If you notice an attractive woman and compliment her on her looks—especially to other guys!—then you’re a sexist. If you value physical strength and don’t want women in combat because it weakens the military and flies in the face of a man’s role to protect women, then you’re a sexist who hates women and probably doesn’t care if they’re raped or assaulted.
There’s nothing wrong with men wanting to support women on legitimate issues. It’s great to promote goodwill, love, and respect among all people. But that’s not what’s going on here with the #AllMenCan movement. Men who buy into it might think they’re noble souls and deserve praise, but they’re really dupes whose consciences have been taken captive by a feminist ideology that isn’t about empowering women. It’s about empowering the state—because to get what they want, they need the state to be big and powerful and involved in every area of our lives, from health care, to our families, to our churches, to our employment.
That’s not good for anyone—not women, and certainly not men. So if men really care about women, they’ll do what real men do: refuse to participate in movements that undermine individual liberty. Instead, they’ll respect themselves as men and show women love and respect in their personal lives, not scribble their intentions on a piece of paper and post it online.
