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

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I remember reading some critique of the term "feminist ally" on ontd_feminism, but for the life of me I can't remember what exactly was said.

Maybe someone else will share some insight. I guess I'm not really convinced that one needs the term feminist ally when feminist should cover the necessary bases. I don't think a feminist needs to be a woman, you know. The kyriarchy is damaging to men in a humanist sense--sexism and being socialized into these attitudes and behaviors that oppress women, that dehumanize woman, result in likewise dehumanizing men. The oppressed become the victims, the oppressors the monsters. (Of course, when society is telling you it's right, then it's not framed this way.)

Anyways, I'm not really sure what the distinction is between feminist ally and feminist. But the implication sometimes seems to be that a man can't be a feminist, but he believes in the same tenets of feminism, and thus he's an ally because he doesn't face the same oppression women face.

[next_to_normal]

I'll be honest - I don't know what the difference is between feminist and feminist ally, either. I was thinking more along the lines of terminology that represents the type of character we're looking for. Because the description of the criteria is more about being in a supportive role than being a role model for the oppressed, which "icon" implies.

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

"Feminist" alone could be a description of a male character who personifies the criteria we're disussing, and ally is then made unnecessary. I think I was searching for a word to replace "icon" because that's a standard that is extremely hard for any man to achieve because of their inherent privilege, and I recalled the "gay ally" term. But we can shorten to just feminist.