More Than A Magazine, A Movement
The pro-feminist future needs more publications like Ms.—especially in light of the recent uncertainty around Jezebel in the U.S. and the cessation of Shameless in Canada.
We believe Voice Male magazine is one of them. Its preservation and growth are essential to putting forth a narrative that counters the troubling undertow of Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate and points to answers within the tearing down of patriarchy, not the rebuilding of it.
On Dec. 1, 2023, the Natal Conference will be held in Austin, Texas. Promising to gather the “brightest minds in the world,” the conference is aimed at turning around the world’s “shrinking population,” which represents “the greatest population bust in human history.” The meeting will solidify links between the far right and right-wing influencers. Fiercely anti-feminist speakers will join them.
“It’s not surprising to see far-right folks, eugenicist types and white nationalists joining forces at a conference like this,” said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project on Hate and Extremism. “They have become bedfellows.’”
As we saw in the Barbie movie, learning about how patriarchal oppression is impacting our daily lives is the key to helping us understand how essential feminism really is—not only for Barbie and Ken, but for all of us here in the real world.
Look to the Middle East for your lessons in feminism, and take notes. There are countless examples of men in the Middle East standing up for women’s rights.
“There are no guns in Barbieland.”
The characters—and some of the audience, all of whom likely scanned the theater for exits before sitting down (it is the “real world” of America, after all)—sighed deeply, relieved the Kens couldn’t inflict the horrors we see in the news every day.
The Barbie movie reveals one of the patriarchy’s dirty little secrets: Not only does the patriarchy exclude and punish women; but it also harms men who don’t meet the very narrow definitions of ‘manhood’ that are most favored.
Millions of men have already seen the movie and enjoyed it immensely. This success is a testament to our ability to laugh at ourselves and some of the less attractive features of male-dominated cultures, without crying foul and embracing an unearned victim status.
Moms have long employed their moral authority as a parent to advance the social good. Where are the fathers and grandfathers?
Ted Lasso stayed true to its most salient value in our current media landscape by casually and comfortably addressing the possibility of healthier masculinity in heavily male-dominated spaces. This is particularly groundbreaking given the context of aggression in men’s sports, especially English football.
When football legend and civil rights icon Jim Brown died at 87 years old on May 18, commentary about his life and legacy downplayed his long history of violence against women.
One of the extraordinary ironies of Brown’s life is that he was a Black man who, in the face of stinging racism, demanded to be treated as a full human being who was “not going to be pushed around or disrespected.” But he allegedly did just that, and worse, to many Black women.
One year after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, officials are still ducking and weaving; still doing little to curb easy access to guns throughout the state.
With mass shootings a weekly occurrence, we cannot overlook who the murderers are: almost exclusively white men. Men must join the movement to advance life-saving gun control measures. It is the least we can do to honor the memories of those murdered in Uvalde, and all the other victims and survivors of American gun violence.
