Meninism: What is it?

Meninism. Many have heard the term through articles or social media. Most likely, you related it to another more word you’ve heard before: Feminism. It may seem confusing: if Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes, what is Meninism?

Meninism is a movement of men’s rights whose followers are known as meninists. The term was used within the first ten years of the 2000s to used to describe male feminists who opposed sexism and supported the women’s right for equality in society. As time has passed, however, the term has been more readily used on social media to make jokes which mock and criticize feminism. The article,”#BBCtrending: Feminism v Meninism”, reported in 2013 that the hashtags “#MeninistTwitter” and “#YesAllMen” was started by men sharing jokes but was later on used to express the difficulties of being a man in the 21st century.

The term has evolved from men supporting equal gender rights into a movement promoting awareness of issues that affect men, such as oppression men face in the 21st century, such as domestic violence , divorce issues, fathers’ rights, the disproportionate male prison sentences, as well as mental illness and homelessness rates. the belief that men are victimized by modern-day feminism, and periodically, violence against men. Meninists often disagree on the goal of the feminist movement: whether it’s to degrade men or equalize men and women. The term “Anti-feminism” is also associated with the Meninist movement.

Abigail James, author of “Feminism takes a sharp hit as men fight back with Meninism”, believes that while meninism raises issues that should be taken seriously, it is based on a misinterpretation of the meaning of feminism which is that “feminism’s focus on equality is unbalanced in favor of women.”

James’s viewpoint relates back to the disagreement between meninists and feminists and highlights the fact that the feminist goal is not to make women superior, but rather to make them equal in society.

“Although we’ve come a long way in Western countries, women worldwide are still distinctly discriminated against and killed for their gender.” Senior Jemma Clint, who identifies as a feminist, Clint says “Men face difficulties because of their gender, such as the lack of resources for male rape victims, bias in custody courts, harsher sentences, etc.”

She believes that feminism does advocate for both the equality of men and women, therefore a whole new movement is not necessary, especially since meninists often try to speak over women or use meninism to discriminate women further.

Equality for both men and women is an end goal that will be achieved hopefully in the near future, just maybe having separate terms isn’t another battle we should be fighting.