As I travelled down to Feminism in London 2010 a couple of weekends ago (the third annual, one-day conference) I couldn’t help but feel a touch of anxiety. As a feminist and a man I have always felt that others (feminist or otherwise) have considered these identities to be, at best inconsistent, and at worst dichotomous. I am often confronted by remarks to the effect of: But you’re a man, what are you complaining about? Or, you’re not a feminist, you have no idea of the experience of women under patriarchy. I wondered whether the conference would augment a sense of non-belonging that these comments foster? And whether I would be trapped under the collapse of the definitions: man and misogynist?
Arriving with two delegates from the Leeds University feminist society (both still reeling in awe from our close encounter with Finn Mackay on the tube) we made our way into a small, hot room lined with stalls representing a myriad of feminist organisations. Many a petition was signed and flyer happily stuffed into pocket, however amid the happy thrall of networking and consciousness raising I was disappointed to see very few male faces as I scanned the room. “Oh, it’s nice to see a man here”, commented one woman from the Fawcett Society stall. This same welcome sentiment was echoed throughout the day; the speeches given made clear that men’s support was welcome and in fact essential to the feminist movement. However, I was still unclear as to whether this meant that I was a feminist and a man or a mere “feminist-supporting” man in the eyes of the London Feminist Network (LFN; the organisation behind the conference), and whether the answer to this question would answer my second: why were there so few men?
It was made abundantly clear in the inspiring speeches and seminars that I attended that “man” was not synonymous with “misogynist” and “woman” did not only mean “victim”. It was repeatedly made clear that as a man that opposes the asymmetrical power relations of gender in society I was welcome and that as an inhabitant of the male body I was not any less entitled to open up a can of whoop-ass on patriarchy and smash oppressive gender constructions. However this does not mean that the conference was gender-blind in the same way that liberal politics claims, and fails, to be.
The LFN is committed to the provision of women only space in its meetings and conferences. This position addresses the need for biological women, as a class oppressed by the unmitigated force of patriarchy, to discuss their experiences of womanhood without interference from men. This position, and other segregationist policies like it, are hot-potatoes in both political theory and activism, and have strengthened and weakened the women’s movement in different contexts. I believe that it is these issues that scare men into thinking they are not feminists but, instead, mere pro-feminist supporters relegated to the margins of the movement, or non-feminists. While women only spaces are important and I largely agree with the need for women only spaces for sharing experiences in a very pro-woman environment (this is, after all, the practice that has produced quantum leaps in women’s consciousness and feminist theory), this does not, and should not, mean that men are not feminists or any “less feminist” than any woman. Men have a duty to their sisters, daughters, mothers and to society at large to stop umming and arring over the feminist stereotypes fed to them and to start to behave like caring members of the human race. In short, a duty not only to support the feminist movement but to be the best feminists they can be.
Contrary to an article published in the Mancunion a few weeks ago (edition 4) titled “Pro feminism, but not a feminist” I, and many others, believe that if it walks like a feminist, talks like a feminist, it must be a feminist. Patriarchal society creates the substantive categories of man and woman, with woman the oppressed category, hence the feminist movement must organise to meet the challenges that are presented. Women only groups are a part of this attempt to address the specifics of patriarchal oppression and in no way lessen the crucial role of the male feminist, let alone relegate him into a disempowered, mere supporting role. This is why I can proudly and confidently say I am a feminist and a man.
