Male Feminists?

[next_to_normal]

So, the other day, gabrielleabelle made a post questioning the labeling of Angel as a feminist icon. The general consensus, not surprisingly, is that Angel is NOT the feminist icon we are looking for. But it did make me wonder - are there ANY male feminist icons in popular culture? I can't think of any.

Okay. "Icon" is a pretty high bar. How about just a portrayal of a male feminist character? Any medium. How many can you think of?

I'm also including gingerwall's list of criteria from the same post, just for reference. Your criteria may be different (I expect the third one is particularly difficult to find in pop culture, which might eliminate everybody, lol), but I thought it might be helpful for people who want guidelines.

Here would be my qualifications for the Best Male Feminist Role Model in All of Everything Ever:
- Let the women in his life be autonomous agents and make their own decisions.
- Listen to and carefully consider what women have to say about issues that affect both of them.
- Be aware of how organizations that he is a part of contribute to the oppression of the women in his life and work to change or protest those cultures, all the while getting feedback from those women to make sure he is accurately reflecting their lived experience.
- Encourage the women in his life to defy traditional gender roles and take on powerful positions, even at the expense of his own control and power.

Comments

[pocochina.livejournal.com]

Mmm. Giles is an interesting example, because I deeply doubt that he is not, philosophically, a feminist. He seems far too rational for anti-feminism, for starters, and there are also hints that he was raised in a more gender-egalitarian family (his grandmother the Watcher), but he's in a fundamentally patriarchal line of work. Watching him toe that line is interesting, but he's always going to be implicated in that systemic criticism of the Watchers.

[gabrielleabelle.livejournal.com]

Yep. I think Giles is interesting. Looking at his role in the Watcher-focused episodes (Helpless, Graduation Day, Checkpoint), I'd say his role in the feminist narrative is that of a member of the oppressive class actively trying to be an ally. This involves missteps, certainly. His drugging of Buffy in Helpless, his disrespect for Buffy's authority in LMPTM, etc. However, I think that points to the difficulty in moving past that lifelong indoctrination he must have received as a Watcher.