Ideologies of Tfie Men's Movement
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IDEOLOGIESOF TFIEMEN'S MOVEMENT IDEOLOGIESOF TFIEMEN'S MOVEMENT A Thesis Presentedto the Faculty of the GraduateSchool University of Missouri - Columbia In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirementsfor the Degree Master of Arts by LARRY S.WLLIAMS Clarencel,o ThesisSupervisor August,1989 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Teri Ciacchi for encouraglngme to pursuethis project and for -- providing valuable support material and emotional -- during my researchand writing. I would also like to thank my thesisadvisor, ClarenceLo, for his valuable insights and his encouragementthroughout. I am indebtedto the other membersof my committee,Jim McCar"tneyand PatPeritore, who also took time out of busy schedulesto help me complete this project. My thanksto the UMC PeaceStudies hogram and Robbie Lieberman for their valuable contribution to my education. And frnally, to my fellow graduatestudents in the Departmentof Sociology, my warmestregards and best wishes as I leave vou. IDEOLOGIESOF TFM MEN'S MOVEMENT Larry S. Williams ClarenceL,o ThesisSupervisor ABSTRACT In this paper I shall arguethat a shift in stateideology has contributedto greater visibility for one ideological segmentof the men'smovement whom I call the "masculinists." The masculinistsjoin with restrictive liberals to arguethat feminism has gone too far and that radical feminists, in particular,are demandingtoo much. I contrast the masculinistmen with pro-feminist and traditionalistmen in their respectiveideologies, their relarion to stateideology and patriarchy,and their ability to attainpublic visibility. ul TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT tll LIST OF TABLES vll I. INTRODUCTION A. PROBLEM 2 B. REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE C. IMPORTANTCONCEPTS 6 1. Liberalismand Social Oppression 2. Shift in PatriarchalRelations II. CONTEXTOF THE MEN'S MOVEMENT l2 A. CONTEXTFOR PRO-FEMINISTMEN t2 1. ExpansiveLiberalism 2. LiberalFeminism and Women's Rights 3. RadicalFeminism and Women's Liberation 4. Conflictin FeministIdeology B. SHIFT IN STATEIDEOLOGY 25 C. CONTEXTFOR TRADITIONALIST MEN 26 1. ConservativeResponse to theLiberal Crisis 2. Anti-FeministWomen tv D. CONTEXT FOR MASCULINIST MEN 29 1. RestrictiveLiberalism a. Searchfor a New Center b. The New Class c. RestrictiveLiberal Women 2. The Liberal C-ountermovement a. The Human PotentialMovement b. Feminine Mystique c. Masculine Mystique trI. MEN'S MOYEMENT ORGANIZATIONS 45 A. PRO-FEMIMSTMEN'S MOVEMENT 47 1. Historyof Pro-FeministMen 2. NationalOrganization for ChangingMen 3. InternalConflict 4. Pro-MaleCulture a. Spirituality b. Homophobia 5. Limitationsof LiberalFeminism a. ActivistMen's Caucus b. SexualPolitics c. "Domestic"Violence d. Child Custody 6. Conclusions B. TRADMONALIST MEN'SMOVEMENT 63 1. Historyof DivorceReform 2. TraditionalistMen's Organizations a. Men'sRights Association b. NationalOrganization for Men 3. Traditional Values a. Divorce and the Welfare State b. PaternalCustody c. "Domestic" Violence d. View of Male Traitors e. Affirmative Action 4. Conclusions C. MASCIJLINIST MEN'S MOVEMENT 74 1. History of Masculinist Men 2. Masculinist Men's Organizations a. National Congressfor Men b. The Coalition of Free Men c. Men's Rights, [nc. 3. Father'sRights a. Joint Custody b. Alimony and Child Support 4. Free Men a. "Domestic" Violence b. SexualPolitics c. Men's Rights 5. Conclusions TV. CONCLUSIONS 92 BIBLIOCRAPHY 95 vl LIST OF TABLES Tablel. Organizationsaccording to ideologicalfaction. 46 Table2. Irvel of analysisand level of involvementin men'sissues. 47 Table3. Responseof men'smovement factions to stateideology and patriarchy. 47 Table4. Roughestimation of membershipin men'smovement factions. 94 vu CHAPTERI INTRODUCTION In this paper I shall examine the U.S. men's movement in a broad social and historical context. I shall comparc and contrastthe ideologiesof traditionalist, masculinist, and pro-feminist men'sorganizations in terms of their relation to changesin patriarchy and stateideology. I shall use this approachto measurethe visibility of men's movement organizations. The pro'feminist men'smovement has its roots in a period of expansiveliberalism when feminist women establishedsignificant political opportunities. Other segmentsof the men'snrovement associate with ideological traditions that challengeboth expansive liberalism and feminism. The traditionalistmen draw from conservativepolitical theory and directly opposefeminist goals. The masculinistmen, like the restrictive liberals in state policy, stressprinciples of individualism and freedom and suggestthat feminism and expansiveliberalism have gone too far in seekingequality. The pro-feminist men'smovement has thus far beenunable to attain much visibility. In part this can be attributedto divisions within the major national organization. With both liberal pro-feminiss and radical (or socialist)pro-feminists in the leadershipof the organization,a cohesiveagenda has not yet emerged. This division is reminiscentof the feminist women's movementwith its split betweentheories of the feminine mystique and sexualpolitics. The traditionalist men'smovement has not receivedmuch public attention. In paft, this has beendue to a propensity of their organizationsto rely upon their founders,who continue to be the central organizersand theoristsfor this strandof the movement. Furthermore,like the New Right, the traditionalist men'smovement attemptsto return to a form of genderrelations that has beenmade outrnded by changesin the needsof capital and in the state'semerging political ideology. The masculinist men's movementhas thus far beenthe most successfulat presentingitself to the media and public. Although this strandof the movemenris also still small, is focus has beenrelatively cohesive,and its ideology is consistentwith a more restrictively liberal state. The ground, then, seemsmost fertile for this strandof the movement. In the secondchapter of this paperI shall focus on the historical and ideological context of different strandsof the men'smovement. The resurgenceof feminism as a mass movementis an important historical event in genderrelations and will help explain the posturing of thesedifferent strandsof the emergingmen's movement. To make the challengepresented by feminism clearer,I will also examineideolbgical shifts in the state and the ideasof the humanpotential movementthat havecontributed to the liberal countermovement. In the third chapterI will then focus more specifically on men's movementorganizations and how they affect and are affectedby the prevailing liberal ideology. A processwill emergethat reflects the resiliency of liberalism. Liberals in the movementchallenge the systemduring a period of expansiveliberalism. but then esrablish an important liberal counterrnovementduring a period of restictive liberalism. PROBLEM An adequateframework has not yet beendeveloped to assessthe visibility and political opportunitiesof different ideological segmentsof the men's movement. Further, while severalauthors have addresseddivisions within the men's movement,they have generallynot relatedthese differences to broaderchanges in patriarchalrelations and state ideology. The most recentand most complete charactenzationof ideological differences within the men's movementis Kenneth Clatterbaugh'sarticle on "Masculinist perspectives" (Clatterbaugh1988). Clatterbaughdefines "masculinism" as "any point of view that offers an analysisof the social reality of American men and offers an agendafor them" (Clatterbaugh1988: 4). He then divides the movementinto six categories: conservative masculinism, anti-sexistmasculinism, men's rights masculinism, new age masculinism, socialist masculinism, and group specific masculinisms. My own categorizationof the movementdiffers in two ways. Fistly,I use "masculinism" to refer only to the faction that Clatterbaughcalls "men'srights masculinism." f do so becausethis faction claims to representa parallel to feminism. Whereasfeminists seekwomen's rights and equality for women, masculinists seekmen's rights and equality for men. In contrast,the conservatives(or traditionalists) don't seek genderequality at all and the anti-sexists(or pro-feminiss) begin with their supportfor feminist goals. Given Clatterbaugh'sdefinition of masculinism,we wbuld expect feminism to include conservatives,such as Schlafly,who havean analysisof women's social position and an agendafor women. This clearly would be misleading. Secondly,I combine someof the categories. Becausethe only national pro- feminist organization(The National Organizationfor ChangingMen) includes socialistsand proponentsof New Age spirituality, I combine thesecategories with the liberal and radical anti-sexistmen. I agreewith Clanerbaughthat thesepositions are theoreticallydistinct and that New Age men differ considerablyin their ideological focus. However, neither the socialistsnor the New Age advocateshave found a home in other national organizations and tend to associatethemselves primarily with pro-feminist men. Clatterbaugh'scategories are a useful startingpoint becausethey do rely upon movement ideology as it relatesto patriarchy. However, his argumentis incomplete becauseit does not specifically addressmen's movement organizatioru or the mntext in which theseorganizations have emerged. Ehrenreich (1983) developsthe ideological roos of men's liberation and men's rights, which are primarily associatedwith the liberal masculinist men's movement. Her study attemptsto derive the sourceof a "male revolt" againstthe bneadwinnerethic and the family wage. This so-calledrevolt is dubbedthe