I have no idea what this topic was about..but it looks like it was about male rapes..and I think RTH has pretty much summed up the problem & i agree with everything except the following :
Originally posted by return_to_hades
Believe it or not the only way to protect boys and young men from this trauma and get every rape and abuse case treated equally is feminism. Not the misconception about feminism that states all men are evil misogynists, but genuine feminism that encourages equality of the sexes. We need to end the stereotypes that this is how girls behave and that is how boys behave. We have to end the stereotypes that men enjoy sex no matter what while only women are emotionally vested. We have to end the assumptions that men are always stronger and dominant and men who are weaker than women are effeminate pansies. We have to end the notions that homosexual acts strip a man of his manhood. We have to end the notions that being a victim is a loss of masculinity. And to do that we have to change the way men think about themselves and other men - socially, psychologically and biologically. Women have to change too, but the change of male attitudes is key to this. Because in the end the truth is the same male dominated patriarchal legal and social systems are guilty for abuse of both women as well as men.
How can 'feminism' be the solution to this problem ?..😲 😲.. your suggested methods to deal with this problem are spot-on but terming it 'feminism' is counterproductive in my opinion..mainly bcoz victims of male rapes fear being stigmatized as weak sissy boys .a.k.a 'feminine' & if u approach them for helping them with something called 'feminism' they will run away bcoz the terminology is in itself messed up as it will off-handedly confirm victim's stereotypical feminine status.. why name it 'feminism' ?.. cant people come up with a gender-neutral term in this case ?.. if u really intend to help the victim here, you wouldnt have a problem with changing the name to something that is gender-neutral...besides, we have already had our share of debates on what feminism actually stands for in another thread "Feminism in India" ,so i am not looking forward to the same debate again.. my point here is , helping a male victim with 'feminism' is not helping..this help should be made independent of 'feminism' & should be based on 'gender-neutrality'.. only such an approach will help male victims to break away from the stereotypes & seek help, otherwise you ll push these victims further away since ur approach though anti-patriarchal , still is emasculating since u ll further strengthen the belief that the victims are sissy as they are taking a refuge under 'feminism'.. moreover, anti-patriarchal approach need not be feminine-inspired or emasculating , it can also be gender-neutral.. approaching a male victim to help with 'feminism' is further emasculating for the already emasculated male victim..so help the male victim with proper intentions & people can/should save the aggressive marketing of 'feminism' for some other time...
P.S ... I am not saying that 'feminine qualities' are 'weak qualities' ... I am just saying that just as females identify with their gender & take pride in being 'feminine' & get offended when someone calls them 'manly' , similarly , men too derive this sense of pride from their own gender identity & might feel less-of-a-man to take refuge under 'feminism'... similarly transgenders take pride in their own gender identity... technically speaking there is nothing wrong with that , its just human nature, we identify with who we are ..the fact that, overall 'feminine qualities' are considered 'weak' is a different matter altogether.. feminism may or may not be a solution to this problem , i am skeptical about feminism..i feel bringing in a notion of gender-neutrality-equality is the proper solution here..however, i dont think its very considerate to bring in the 'feminism' agenda while dealing with male rape victims..thats very very insensitive in my opinion..you can bring in a similar agenda to help the victims but make sure that the approach is not gender-biased & feminism
IS gender biased..i feel that the notion of gender-neutrality should be encouraged to deal with this problem..
and while the feminists can take liberty to claim that they stand for gender-equality , they certainly arent in a position to make similar claims when it comes to gender-neutrality..and i believe gender-neutrality is the key to 'gender equality' ..
Edited by Quixotic5 - 9 years ago