We investigated if feminism is hurting young men

Is educating boys on how to not sexually harass and objectify women actually encouraging them to shame themselves? Is the need to show that they oppose sexism actually making them feel more guilty just for being a boy?

The Telegraph suggested “Feminist organisations, backed by government policy, are teaching young boys at school to feel guilty and ashamed of their gender” and the issue surrounding feminism and its effect on today’s young men goes deeper than grades and pay. And there’s a growing voice of people who think young men could be at a disadvantage as they focus on not feeling bad for being born a boy.

As girls outperform their male peers academically it could be suggested that if this was reversed it may be a more prevalent issue. While nationally men earn 14 per cent more than women on average, men under the age of 29 earn less than their female counterparts. It’s a rare moment where men are being paid less than women.

One of the people suggesting feminism is damaging to young men is MP Karl McCartney who said that due to the school “system becoming over feminised to advance the cause of female gender” boys are increasingly disadvantaged at school. Whilst his speech contains sexist undertones the fact remains that  the gender gap in GCSE and A-Level grades favours girls. Today, stats released by the Department of Education show that 35 per cent more girls are going to uni than boys, with critics saying the education system is sidelining young men.

We spoke to David the CEO of  The White Ribbon campaign, whose slogan is ‘Men working to end violence against women’, who said men shouldn’t feel guilty for the actions of other men, but should comfortable in standing up to them.

He said: “Our view is that there is no need for young men or older men to feel any shame for being men.  We are not born guilty, not born responsible for any of the long history of men’s abusive behaviour or privilege…but  that does not mean men can ignore this issue. Young men do not need to feel responsible for the behaviour of other men – they just need to step up (as many women have done and still do) to be part of the solution.  We believe in the capacity of men and women to work together respectfully’.’

“If it is to stop, men need to change their attitudes and behaviour.  Men have a responsibility to be an effective part of the solution, alongside women.”

There is clearly a focus on community in the campaign, and as David puts it “valuing our common humanity.”

“Men should act not because (as is sometimes said) we as men are responsible for men’s violence… but because most men are not violent or abusive, and believe in the right of everyone to live free from violence.”

He does acknowledge that he feels “Men have a vital role to play in creating a culture where it is unacceptable”. There is no doubt that the work The White Ribbon Campaign do is massively positive and without men and women working together we will never create a society where men and women are equal.

Olly is a history student at Newcastle. He said: ”I’ve never felt unequal, and I went to a co-ed which I think helped massively in this, for boys and girls because you work alongside each other. However, if you consider the Dermot Murgnahan interview where an MP called him ‘sexist’ just because he asked her who someone was then maybe some women use the term a bit too lightly, and this not only might make a boy feel guilty but also discourage them from taking genuine feminist issues seriously.”

It is sometimes easy for the term sexism to be used in a confused way. Take recent The Great British Bake Off news, people responded on twitter saying that the BBC dropping the show was sexist. Below is a tweet from Jeanette Winterson, OBE an award winning writer.

This is anti-feminist in itself, assuming stereotypes on traditional interests of men and women but playing on a culture where things are given more validity if we can attach them to feminism. So the problem is not with feminism itself, rather the manipulated use of the term in our society and how this has the potential to make men feel guilty when they are in no wrong.

We are part of a culture where feminist ideology is attached to so many aspects of the media, politics and education that it can be easy for people to use it as a way of defending a situation rather than being used in appropriate situations.

When we categorise half the population into a position where they feel they are expected to apologise for sexism and violence against women, a  collective guilt for the minority of men committing offences, we damage psychologically the minds of young men. We are making them feel ashamed of their gender.

In teenage relationships girls report a similar rate of violence from boyfriends as boys do from their girlfriends and yet the support for women is far more openly available. The media is far less high profile in tackling of issues of domestic violence towards men. Though women are more often the victim of violence from a partner across the board, for teenagers this doesn’t ring true. If we are seeing violence rates in teenage relationships as equal between genders then why are campaigns towards violence in relationships  so focused on men committing the crimes?

With young men beginning to be at a disadvantage to young women in some areas of education perhaps this is a signal that we need to evaluate inequalities which aren’t be part of a feminist campaign with as much attention as those that are.