Male Feminists?

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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

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Heh, I largely agree with you. :)

I think protectiveness is a big part of it. The fact that Buffy's the Slayer makes that worse than any other child, because he knows that eventually he'll lose her (and after season 5, already has). I don't think he's infantilizing her so much as being afraid to face the reality of their relationship. (Of course, you could possibly argue that if he had faith in her slayer abilities, he wouldn't be afraid of her dying.)

But isn't sexism also about men treating adult women as children? The very fact that Giles still refuses to see Buffy as an adult in S7 undermines his growth.

True. Although I think he's pretty respectful of Willow's autonomy in S7, and arguably, he has more reason to be concerned about Willow's decision-making skills. So it does seem that he treats Buffy differently. I think perhaps it's as pocochina suggests and that he's feminist in principle, but entrenched in the paternalism of the Council, which (in combination with his fatherly affection) makes him treat Buffy differently.