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

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Hm, thinking this over, I think I maybe am comfortable to say Rickie Vasquez after all. And a kinda-sorta-maybe with the Lois and Clark version of Clark Kent, though there it's complicated by the show sometimes punishing Lois for being "too pushy", even if Clark never did. (Which adds the question of whether we're looking for a character who is, himself, feminist, or one whose position within the story forwards feminist goals.)

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Who is Rickie Vasquez?

(Which adds the question of whether we're looking for a character who is, himself, feminist, or one whose position within the story forwards feminist goals.

Well, the original commenter (the one who called Angel a feminist icon) seemed to be suggesting that the character himself was a feminist. And she was upset because the comics made Angel an abusive boyfriend type, which ruined his feminist image. So I guess it's the former, although I'm open to any discussion, really.

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Who is Rickie Vasquez?

Oh wow. How to describe Rickie Vasquez. He was one of the characters in My So-Called Life and quite possibly the best teenage queer character on television to date, not least of all because he transgressed gender roles without falling into the "sissy" stereotype. He was also very genuinely a good person and very supportive. If I'm to have any complaints, it's that he never did get a boyfriend, but then, it was the 90s, plus, he was fifteen...

A clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-fayt-PsxE), which isn't so much Rickie being feminist as Rickie being so idealistically romantic it's almost painful, but it does show both Wilson Cruz' fine acting and the great report between the characters. (And another one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB4hVi28Iyk), to show that he's not just there to support the girls.)

ETA: This character bio (http://www.mscl.com/characters/rickie_vasquez.html) explains him better than I could.

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Ah, My So-Called Life is another one that's languishing in the Netflix queue. :) But hey! I saw Wilson Cruz playing Angel in Rent. That's pretty cool.

[streussal.livejournal.com]

Rickie! Yeah, I would say he fits the bill.

Despite the main character of My So-Called Life being a middle-class white girl, I think they dealt with class pretty well too. (And the teenagers ACTED LIKE TEENAGERS!)

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Yeah, MSCL is one of very few teenage shows that actually feels like it's about teens I could have known, with parents who seemed like real parents and clothes that I could have seen on my classmates.

And yeah, on the class issues. I didn't think of it so much as a kid, but Angela's parents' reactions to her friends is very much affected by class. (Plus, y'know, the overt stuff like the Christmas ep.)

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

Rickie Vasquez! OMGYAY! Though his feminism stems from being queer and identifying with the more feminine gender behavior norms, doesn't it?

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Yeah, pretty much. Though there are plenty of gay characters who are rather awful with women, so I'd say it still count.

It did make me wonder if it is at all possible to be a masculine man and still function as a feminist character. I mean, if you're a man and you realize how gender structures work, could you still hold on to a masculine persona and all the baggage that entails? But then, most men I know well IRL aren't particularly masculine, feminists or not...