• Grail (capitalised)@aussie.zoneOP
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        7 months ago

        I really like complaining about the fact that misogynistic rape culture degrades men by reducing them to monsters, because it makes it clear that feminism helps everyone. It’s really hard for an antifeminist to argue against that point without admitting that male privilege is a pyrrhic trophy, and doesn’t really help anyone but the worst of men.

        This fact is, by the way, why TERFs and misogynists get along so well. They may claim to have different priorities, but they have no factual dispute on the belief that males are all raping, womanising monsters. TERFs don’t even have an interest in rehabilitating male sexual abusers, because they are trapped in patriarchal realism - the belief that the conditions of patriarchy are immutable reality. As such, they are perfectly capable of getting along and cooperating with misogynist, fascist, violent, abusive men.

        The TERF views men as wild and dangerous animals, much like a bull. Bulls are necessary for breeding cows, and there’s no point getting angry at them for their nature. A TERF sees men the same way, and complains only when a so-called “bull” is kept in the pen with the cows. It’s dehumanising and sexist even beyond the pseudoscientific transphobia.

        The respect actual intersectional feminists have for male agency and consent demonstrates a simple truth: one of us is liberated when all of us are liberated. Reproducing the cultural myths of patriarchy can only turn us into misogynists, even if we think those myths only harm men. Everything’s corrected. A better world has to be built simultaneously at all levels. Demonstrating that fact is our best weapon against fascists like Andrew Tate, who claim to empower men through patriarchy. It’s a lie.