Masculism

Masculism or masculinism may variously refer to advocacy of the rights or needs of men and boys; the adherence to or promotion of opinions, values, attitudes, etc. regarded as typical of men and boys.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines masculism as a synonym of masculinism which the OED regards as the "advocacy of the rights of men; adherence to or promotion of opinions, values, etc., regarded as typical of men; (more generally) anti-feminism, machismo."

Philosopher Ferrell Christensen differentiates the words "masculism" and "masculinism"; he defines the latter as promoting the attributes of manliness. Political scientist Georgia Duerst-Lahti also distinguishes between the two terms, with masculism being more associated with the early gender egalitarian days of men's movement, while masculinism refers to patriarchy and its ideology.

Christensen differentiates between "progressive masculism" and an "extremist version". The former welcomes many of the societal changes promoted by feminists, while stating that many aimed at reducing sexism against women have had the effect of increasing it against men. The latter promotes male supremacy to some degree and is generally based on a belief in women's inferiority. Nicholas Davidson, in his book The Failure of Feminism, describes an extremist version of masculism which he termed "virism". According to Davidson, in this view "What ails society is 'effeminacy'. The improvement of society requires that the influence of female values be decreased and the influence of male values increased…."Gender theories, which have frequently focused on woman-based or feminist approaches, have come to include a "masculism" approach which seeks to examine oppression in a masculinist society from the perspectives of men, most of whom do not benefit from that society. From a feminist perspective to philosophy, masculinism seeks to value and include only male views, and claim "that anything that cannot be reduced or translated in men's experience should be excluded from the subject-matter of philosophy.

The term masculism was coined by Charlotte Perkins Gilman who used it a 1914 public lecture series titled "Studies in Masculism". She used the term to refer to androcentrism and opposition to women's rights and, more broadly, to describe men's collective actions on behalf of their own sex. The Oxford English Dictionary cites the first recorded use of the synonym masculinism in a The Freewoman article in November 1911.

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