Li Yinhe talks about sex

Chapter 58 Men's Sports in the West

The progressive men's movement works with women to build a new society of equality between men and women; while the conservative men's movement cannot face the reality of gender inequality, and its essence is to maintain gender inequality.

In the 20th century, after the women's movement was in full swing in Western society, a men's movement appeared again.Men's sports can be divided into two categories: those that support women's sports, and those that oppose women's sports.

The basic idea of ​​the progressive men's movement that supports the women's movement is that if men and women are not equal, it's not just women who are oppressed, but men who are more oppressed.The so-called oppression of men means that according to the rules of patriarchal society, men have to work to earn money to support their families, and bear the heavy pressure of survival and competition; Women are oppressed, and men also lose the experience of living in an environment where men and women are equal.The current gender system is both male privileged and oppressive at the same time.This oppression led to disease and early death in men.

The Progressive Men's Movement thus came up with slogans for the reconstruction of fatherhood: men openly professing their rejection of the traditional rules of masculinity, sharing feelings of tenderness, and expressing a masculinity that is more loving, caring, and less competitive and aggressive.The new type of men and fathers advocated by the Progressive Men’s Movement should do things that traditional men disdain to do. They help women shop, cook, and take care of their children. attitude and share parental responsibilities.

There are class differences in the degree of support for the progressive men's movement. The higher the social class, the more inclined to accept the progressive men's movement, while the lower the social class, the more traditional the concept is. A 1979 survey showed that men from the bottom of society were the only group focused on "getting ahead" and making more money.Among the surveyed men aged 18-49, most of them put more emphasis on "personal growth", "self-realization", "love" and "family life" than earning more money and "success" attention.Even in relation to the relationship between the sexes, the progressive men's movement has a new idea that it takes a lot of energy to be with a woman who has no independence; it is more fun to live with a woman who is independent.

The male image that the Progressive Men's Movement yearns for goes against the toughness and crudeness of traditional men, and adds tenderness and delicacy.The film "Four Weddings and a Funeral" is such a story about a man who is too cute to be a (traditional) man.In a traditional patriarchal society, homophobia and sissyphobia are very strong, and it is impossible to imagine such a gentle and lovely male image in the movie.

Friedan, an important figure in the women's movement, said with emotion: It seems that men and women are running in opposite directions.Women are going out of the family to realize their selves in the world of men's work; while men seem to be liberating themselves from defining themselves by success in the work field and tending to give themselves to family and other new areas of self-realization. a new definition.In conclusion, women's ideas about the "new nice man" are not mere fantasies.Since masculinity is neither biologically determined nor morally immutable, a new masculinity can be socially constructed.

The second category within the men's movement is the conservative men's movement against feminism.The women's movement entered a low ebb after the 80s, and there was a resurgence of anti-feminism in Western countries.The performance of this conservative male movement in the academic field is male studies, and its social performance is the emergence of male conscious groups.

The conservative masculine movement is mainly manifested in the following aspects: First, a political and cultural atmosphere that is increasingly hostile to feminism has emerged in Western society, which turns feminist thinking into an object of ridicule, saying that it is outdated (the relationship between gender and gender). Inequality is over and women are now free to do whatever is psychologically problematic (hysterical, overreacting, no sense of humor), or incorrect (not objective).

Secondly, the conservative men's movement strives to restore the rights that women have already won in real life, such as legal abortion rights; restrict women's promotion, such as the "glass ceiling"; promote movements aimed at suppressing women, such as fundamentalism; Violence; aborting a baby girl, etc.For a while, a trend of "women go home" is rampant, hoping that women can return to traditional female roles.According to this view, women's competition with men in the public sphere is doubly harmful: on the one hand, they drive men into workaholics so that they can keep good jobs, such as intellectual jobs; Easier to accept bad jobs, such as manual labor positions.They believe that women's entry into social productive labor is to "make men unemployed and increase the burden on women".

Third, emphasize family values ​​and advocate returning to the family.It relies on biological determinism and Darwinian evolution, hoping to restore the traditional male-dominated nuclear family.The most representative is the so-called "commitment movement" that appeared in the spring of 1990, initiated by Bill McCartney, a Christian conservative, calling on men who advocate returning to family values ​​to promise to be good husbands, good fathers, Good community member.The Pledge Movement had 1991 men in 4300; 1993 in 50000; 1994 in 278000; 1995 in 727000; and over 1996 million in 100.The movement calls on men to be devout Christians; against male irresponsibility, family abandonment and infidelity.

These men also believed that homosexuality was sinful and unacceptable, so they were criticized as a conservative political movement rather than a movement for the healthy spirit of society.Fourth, to promote masculine values, one of the manifestations is the Age of Mythology movement.This movement advocates rediscovering the mysterious roots of men's thinking and feeling, believing that this will reshape men's mental, emotional and intellectual health organisms, and make men confident and powerful.The book "Iron John", which advocates masculine values, has been at the top of the list for 30 consecutive weeks.They held reading events, advocated that men stay with nature, get rid of women and civilization, restore their brotherhood, and get rid of the oppression of industrialization and feminism.During back-to-nature activities, men collectively go to the forest to beat drums, sing songs, listen to poems and fairy tales, get close to hunting ancestors, and express a man's desire to establish a deep spiritual connection with another man.

To sum up, the progressive men's movement is to join hands with women to build a new society of equality between men and women; while the conservative men's movement cannot face the reality of gender equality, and its essence is to maintain gender inequality.If Chinese men can choose the former instead of the latter, I believe that our society will become a more equal society between men and women, and both Chinese men and women will benefit from it.

(End of this chapter)