After Paul’s controversial video on Christina Hoff Sommers, some of the predictable dissents were quite hostile. One AVFM commenter, William Baker, is now insisting that Paul should step down and surrender control to activists who would view Sommers as an ally. His screed inspired the following response by new AVFM contributor, Donna White. Eds.
Imagine telling Paul Elam (founder of A Voice for Men), a man who has dedicated his fucking life to the rights of men and boys to “step down” from his podium because he has the balls to go against the ever so popular “Based Mom,” Christina Hoff Sommers and her “equity feminism.”
Will men ever learn? What the fuck is the point in me and other women standing in solidarity with men if they are foolish enough to keep falling hook line and sinker for the charms of some women?
Let me explain exactly what equity feminism is. Equity feminism is a less obvious “toned down” form of radical feminism. It doesn’t address and has no desire to truly recognize the extent of men’s issues.
Christina Hoff Sommers has rightly identified some of the problems with third wave feminism and has also brilliantly exposed where feminism got it wrong but she isn’t exposing or critiquing feminism for the benefit of men, she’s doing it for the benefit of women.
She’s telling women to “tone down” their feminism and be less radical about it. She knows and has known for years that feminism is dying because it’s becoming less and less popular among both women and men, so she wants to introduce equity feminism. A fresh new perspective on how to “once again” fool men into drinking the kool-aid.
Sommers believes in the old traditional value of chivalry. She knows that today’s men are growing more and more frustrated with women because the efforts of those men are being continually trampled on and taken for granted. She knows women have become more and more entitled, showing less and less appreciation for anything men do for them.
Her brand of feminism is a call for women to tone down their rhetoric and mimic her more “equitable” approach. Equity to her does not involve addressing men’s issues, rather it’s a plea for women to start appreciating men a little bit more. That is not for the benefit of men but for the benefit of women. She knows that if things continue going as is, more men will be less willing to perform their “role” of provider and protector.
So equity feminism is basically a call for women to say:
‘We’re sorry men, will you continue to play second fiddle to us if only we’ll agree to be less obvious about our hatred and contempt for you? If we pretend to be more appreciative of the sacrifices you make for us in exchange for the continued privilege of putting us on a pedestal?’
And men are falling for it once again.
Men everywhere have been blasted for decades, criticised for their treatment of women, stereotyped as violent and oppressive rapists, had their children separated from them and literally had all of their issues brushed under the carpet.
It must have softened them to the point that when a new and less obvious form of hatred arose it felt like a breath of fresh air. In reality, men are just being conned into accepting a less obvious form of the same evil.
Equity feminism is nothing more than gynocentrism behind a prettier facade. Superficially, it seems like a better deal for men because everyone is acclimated to feminism in the more familiar form of contempt and goodies for women.
Guys, no matter what form of feminism is introduced, it’s still feminism at heart and that means men will remain secondary to women. You’re basically being asked to continue playing second fiddle and continue to place women on a pedestal in exchange for some extra pats on the head.
Men are so used to being treated like shit for their efforts that these “equity” feminists think a little appreciation is all it takes for men to willingly accept a subservient role.
Are they right? Is that how low the bar is set here, guys?
I personally think more of men. I can’t even begin to imagine that after all the years of hard work and dedication in establishing a men’s movement that actually seeks to address men’s issues, that men would give all that up and blindly walk into yet again another cunning trap.
Equity feminism is suited to tear apart the men’s movement and again ensure that feminism, no matter what kind of feminism it is, is the only established voice of equality or “equity” between women and men.
