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Individuals and Structures



 
 
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Old March 12th 10, 07:52 PM posted to alt.child-support
Dusty
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Default Individuals and Structures

http://mensnewsdaily.com/2010/03/12/...nd-structures/


Individuals and Structures
Friday, March 12, 2010
By Pelle Billing

If you know anything about contemporary feminism, you know that the word
"structure" is popular. Structures in culture and society explain why men
and women behave the way they do. Oppressive structures keep women down, and
maintain the integrity of the patriarchy. Free will barely exists, since we
are all programmed by the structures surrounding us. The only time that
individuals are emphasized in this kind of feminism, is when it comes to
rebelling against these structures or to illuminate how individuals are hurt
by said structures.

People who take issue with the radical feminist description of the world,
usually want to switch the focus from cultural and societal structures to
talking about individuals. After all, rights and responisibilities are
individual, and therefore it doesn't make much sense to talk about
collective rights or identity politics. This is the argument usually put
forward in Sweden when discussing whether to implement gender quotas in
corporate boards of directors. The argument is that if we prioritize gender
quotas instead of each individual's right to be considered a candidate on
his or her own merits, then we are putting identity politics ahead of basic
individual rights.

While I agree with the view that rights are first and foremost connected to
the individual, and not to groups, I think that anybody opposing feminism
and feminist ideas without addressing structures ends up with fairly weak
set of arguments. If the radical feminists are talking about individuals and
structures, and the opposing side is only talking about individuals, then
the feminist view of structures is the prevailing one by default.

At the moment, this is exactly what has happened around the Western World,
and beyond. Whenever gender equality and structures are discussed, the
seemingly self-evident assumption is that the current structures oppress
women and favor men, meaning that women are the group we need to help. This
in turn shapes everything from media coverage of gender issues, to policy
making domestically and in Third World countries.

Denying the impact of structures is not only ineffective, it is fairly silly
too. Whenever you meet someone from a different country you immediatly
notice that they speak a different language, and have different customs and
traditions. How can we explain this without acknowledging the importance of
cultural and societal structures?

-- In the field of gender issues, this means that the only way to combat
misandry and the prevailing perception that men are a privileged group that
willfully oppresses women, is to describe how cultural and societal
structures keep men stuck in their own kind of straitjacket:

-- It is a man's job to keep society safe. This cultural expectation means
that men are expendable in wars and in dangerous jobs.

-- Cultural expectations of men are narrow. Be successful. If you have a
family make sure you support it. If you fail at these tasks, there's no
place for you in society. This in turn leads to men being 3-5 times as
likely as women to be homeless or commit suicide.

-- The societal structure that is our educational system produces far more
women than men who go to college and university.

-- Men's harsh reality under the current structures leads large amounts of
random street violence between men.

I could list more examples but you get the point. It is only when we dare to
describe men's situation in terms of being exposed to unhealthy structures
that we can hold our own in a discussion with a radical feminist (or in a
discussion with virtually anybody, since the basic views of radical feminism
are embraced by almost everyone nowadays, without knowing where they got
those views).

Many men are reluctant to talk about themselves in this way. Men don't like
being victims or abandoning their sense of self-reliance. In my opinion this
is a good thing, and the strength of the men's movement rests on this very
attitude.

However, it is perfectly possible to describe the facts of men's situation
in neutral terms, without whining or abandoning individual responsibility
for one's own life. In fact, I believe that the only way to ever have men's
issues reach the political agenda is by daring to describe how men are hurt
and suffer in the face of cultural and societal structures.

It is very hard for a politician, or for anyone wanting to come across as a
decent person, to say that they don't care about male suicides and male
homelessness. Consequently, the very moment a critical mass of individuals
start talking about structures hurting men, that is the moment radical
feminism crumbles, once and for all.


Pelle Billing is an M.D. who writes and lectures about men's issues and
gender liberation beyond feminism.

 




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