The men's liberation movement is a

social movement A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...

critical of the restraints which society imposes on

men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...

. Men's liberation activists are generally sympathetic to

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

standpoints. The men's liberation movement is not to be confused with different movements such as the

men's rights movement The men's rights movement (MRM) is a branch of the men's movement. The MRM in particular consists of a variety of groups and individuals known as men's rights activists (MRAs) who focus on social issues, such as specific government services, w ...

in which some argue that modern feminism has gone too far and additional attention should be placed on men's rights. The men's liberation movement stresses the negative aspects of "traditional"

masculinity Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there i ...

, whereas the men's rights movement is largely about perceived unequal or unfair treatment of men by modern institutions because of, or in spite of, those traits ubiquitous to traditional masculinity. The men's liberation movement additionally aims to liberate men from stereotypes and attitudes that prevent them from expressing their emotions in a healthy manner.

History

The men's liberation movement, as recognized by feminists and gender scholars, developed mostly among heterosexual, middle-class men in Britain and North America as a response to the cultural changes of the 1960s and 1970s, including the growth of the

feminist movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and wom ...

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

, women's and

gay liberation The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s in the Western world, that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoff ...

movements, and the

sexual revolution The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the late 1950s to the early 1 ...

. Jack Sawyer published an article titled "On Male Liberation" in ''Liberation'' journal in the autumn of 1970, in which he discussed the negative effects of stereotypes of male sex roles. The year 1971 saw the birth of men's discussion groups across the United States, as well as the formation by

Warren Farrell Warren Thomas Farrell (born June 26, 1943) is an American political scientist, activist, and author of seven books on men's and women's issues. Farrell initially came to prominence in the 1970s as a supporter of second wave feminism but has ...

of the National Task Force on the Masculine Mystique within the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

. Robert Lewis and Joseph Pleck sourced the birth of the movement to the publication of five books on the subject in late 1974 and early 1975, which was followed by a surge of publications targeted to both lay and more academic audiences. The movement led to the formation of conferences, consciousness raising groups, men's centers, and other resources across the United States. The male liberation movement as a single self-conscious liberal feminist movement dissolved during the late 1970s. By the early 1980s, members of the male liberation movement had fully split into two entities. The members who had placed greater emphasis on the 'cost of male gender roles to men' than the 'cost of male gender roles to women' had formed the

focusing on issues faced by men. The members who saw

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

exclusively as a system of men oppressing women rejected the language of sex roles and created

pro-feminist Pro-feminism refers to support of the cause of feminism without implying that the supporter is a member of the feminist movement. The term is most often used in reference to men ("male feminists") who actively support feminism and its efforts t ...

men's organizations focused primarily on addressing sexual violence against women.

Race

Racial differences have existed within the men's liberation movement which, despite its best efforts of inclusion, such divisions have on occasion been problematic. Some feminist scholars in political opposition to the movement have arguedHoch, Paul. "White Hero, Black Beast: Racism, Sexism, and the Mask of Masculinity", reprinted in ''Feminism & Masculinities'', Peter F. Murphy, ed. ( 970 Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 93–107.Messner, Michael
"Politics of Masculinities: Men in Movements"
Oxford: AltaMira Press, 2000, pp. 4–5. that racism within American society has emasculated non-white men. For example, black men are perceived to lack control over their innate sexual aggression. Within this ideological framework black men are presented as hyper-sexual to an animalistic degree and are compared to animals, predators and beasts because of this. East Asian Americans, however, have been portrayed as unattractive and less masculine.

Gay liberation

Second-wave pro-feminism paid increased attention to issues of sexuality, particularly the relationship between homosexual men and

hegemonic masculinity In gender studies, hegemonic masculinity is part of Raewyn Connell, R. W. Connell's Gender theory, gender order theory, which recognizes multiple masculinities that vary across time, society, culture, and the individual. Hegemonic masculinity is d ...

. This shift led to more cooperation between the men's liberation and

movements. In part this cooperation arose because masculinity was then understood to be a social construction, and as a response to the universalization of "men" seen in previous men's movements.

Organizations

California Men's Gatherings

The California Men's Gatherings (CMG) was created in 1978 by men in the anti-sexist men's movement. Author Margo Adair, who attended the twelfth gathering in 1987, wrote that she found the atmosphere strangely different than anything she had previously experienced. After thinking about it, she realized it was the first time she had ever felt completely safe among a large group of men, with few other women. She also noticed that everyone was accepted, and affection among participants was displayed openly. CMG organizes three retreats annually, focused on men's issues. Currently, most of the men attending California Men's Gatherings are gay or bisexual.

r/MensLib

MensLib is an online forum on the social media site

Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...

. It is a pro-feminist community and was created as a healthy and safe space for discussion on how traditional gender roles and masculinity hurts men.

National Organization for Men Against Sexism

The National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS) is a pro-feminist, gay affirmative men's organization which also enhances men's lives that began in the 1970s. The 1991 NOMAS national conference was about building multicultural communities.

Radical Faeries

The Radical Faeries were organized in California in 1979 by gay activists wanting to create an alternative to being assimilated into mainstream men's culture.

Activities

* College men's centers * Men's

support group In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping str ...

s * Public advocacy and law reform

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Men's Liberation Men and feminism Liberation Liberation