Well first, let me share with you a little conversation I had with a random dude on Twitter.
It started when I replied to Madison Lawrence, a viner and fellow feminist, who tweeted a photo of a girl wearing a #MENINIST sweater (pictured on the homepage). That girl started getting "hate" because people were frustrated about her supporting this so-called movement which makes fun of feminism in a way, and I sort of got pissed off too. From what I've seen, meninism on social media is just disgusting.
This is how it went down:
This little incident actually got me thinking about what does Meninism actually stand for. Yes, most people treat it as a "jokes" that degrade women, but some use it to fight the unrealistic expectations and unfair treatment of men by women. Buzzfeed did an article about it and included these tweets:
"How about you girls make a guy's day for once? We enjoy cheap gifts too".
"I'm done sliding in dms. you slide into mine #MeninistTwitter"
"Stop objectifying men. Real men have curves. #MeninistTwitter"
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But this just completely confuses me. Feminism is about equality for everyone, that includes men too. Plus, most of the tweets featured on the article not only generalize the female population as a gender that is so picky with men's physical appearance, but also does show mockery towards women. I also don't see the point of having to come up with a new term to call a man who supports the ideals of feminism. Is it because fem is in it? From my knowledge, the only reason why this gender equality movement is called feminism is because this was coined in the late 1800's when a patriarchal society was way too evident to give women equal rights. So this did start as a way for women's voices to be heard at a time when people only listened to men, but it has come along way since then. Why can't men who support equality be called feminists too?
I think this just goes to show how a lot of people are still misinformed about feminism and what it really supports. I feel like people still think of it as "man hating" but it isn't. There's a difference between feminism and misandry. I myself am a feminist that supports equality for all genders.
I personally do not support this whole meninism thing because I only see it as a means to hate on feministic views, but then again I might be wrong and meninism could actually be a good thing. Although, it might be hard to convince me if that's the case.
What do you think about meninism?
- Reign Gonzales