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 08:26 am (UTC)(link)
Got two more possibilities, but I'm a little too sleepy to go deeply into reasons why:

- What about Mulder? From what I remember from something like twelve years ago and the ten or so episodes I've re-watched recently, he has no problem with Scully's strength of character.

- Wash (*is watching the Gina Torres episode of the Vampire Diaries*) - does being the best hubby in the Jossverse and happily being Zoe's bitch count?

[identity profile] penny-lane-42.livejournal.com 2010-08-01 02:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I agree with both of these. With the caveat that I've only watched the first few seasons of XF.