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Should Feminists Care About Male Suffering?
Yes, and…
Men, I’ve heard, aren’t doing too well. They are lonely. They are depressed. They are underemployed, undereducated, and underloved.
As a woman, I have empathy for male suffering because I have empathy for all human suffering. Yes, suffering is part of life, but I’m of the humble opinion that we are all doing far too much of it, particularly considering how many resources and how much knowledge we have at our disposal.
I also have empathy for male suffering because there are boys and men in my life whom I love very much. It’s hard to see anyone I love suffer, especially when they shouldn’t have to.
So yes, as a human, I care about male suffering. As a feminist, I also care about male suffering because no one “wins” the fight for social justice when there is still unnecessary human suffering. Feminism is not, and never has been, about women “winning” at the expense of men.
Perhaps this is why I struggle with some of the conversations we’re having about male suffering right now. At one extreme, of course, there’s the manosphere, which I struggle with for obvious reason. These dark, frothing corners of the Internet exploit male suffering by stoking rage and making women the target. It is women who perpetuate oppression by scheming between our pillow fights…
