The Backlash Is For Everybody

I was sensitized to anti-feminist cultural phenomena after Brazen Hussy asked me to read Susan Faludi's "Backlash." It had a lot to do with my transformation into a feminist. Something that I'm always looking for are media representations of "traditional" gender roles that reinforce stereotypes.

What is interesting is that lately I've been noticing a lot of this sort of thing directed at men. In the last month I have seen commercials to the effect that real men only eat meat, that real men burp and watch sports, and that real men drive hummers. In each case a man feels poorly about himself and/or is being harassed by his friends for being a so-called "girly man." And in each case, purchasing the product in question reinforces his status as a "real man."

I've written a little about this before, but I believe it's worth underlying. Although men are not in the same socially inferior position that women have been placed in, they are trapped in externally defined gender roles that are just as rigid.

While I like sports, and meat, and cars that go fast, at the same time I look books, and romantic comedies, and hugs. By some definitions this makes me less than man. To which I can only respond: men who slavishly follow the fads of the day aren't confident, strong men. They're tools. So screw you.