next_to_normal: (feminazi)
next_to_normal ([personal profile] next_to_normal) wrote2010-07-31 07:23 pm
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Male Feminists?

So, the other day, [livejournal.com profile] 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 [livejournal.com profile] 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.

[identity profile] eilowyn.livejournal.com 2010-08-01 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
Yep. Hello, Disney Princesses and the icky gender norms you instilled in my life! At least Belle read books. I like Belle. And she didn't run around in one of the more skimpy costumes. Ariel's seashell bra, anyone?

[identity profile] blackfrancine.livejournal.com 2010-08-01 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
Ugh. Yeah. One of the first essays I wrote was on the movie Splash with Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah--which I LOVED as a kid. It's basically a live-action Little Mermaid. And holy moly on the affronts to womankind. It's almost appalling--well, it would be if it weren't par for the course from Hollywood's romantic comedies.

Belle is tolerable, at least. And she gets bonus points for being a brunette (because I grew up in the 80s, when being blond was the only acceptable way to be attractive).