Gender Studies: Men's Movements and Gender Disparities

This article explores the existence of men’s movements and their contribution to social justice. It delves into the gender disparities between men and women and discusses the most consistent men’s movements with personal values. The article also discusses the debate surrounding men paying alimony and child support and analyzes the movie “Fight Club” to show how men strive to create an impression in society.

Running head: GENDER STUDIES 1
Gender Studies
Student Name
Institutional Affiliation

GENDER STUDIES 2
Gender Studies
The existence of men’s movements with diverse goals remains an enigma even in modern
times. According to Makama (2013), the emphasis of women rights group has shattered the
realization and acknowledgment of men organization agitating for diverse courses. Indeed, I did
not know that there were movements initiated by men to engender social inclusion and civil
justice before engaging in the learning and awareness of this book. Certainly, the limited access
to and discussion about men’s involvement in civil movements implies that there is little to learn
and know about their contribution to social justice (Basu, 2018). Therefore, the prejudice
surrounding male chauvinism and women inferiority lingers in the society when people cannot
learn about the determination of men in ensuring that such retrogressive social end. Moreover,
media and other education platforms incline more on the masculinity of men and their
subjugation of women and families.
The most consistent movement with my gender and personal values are pro-feminist and
NOMAS men’s movements. Notably, pro-feminist men’s movements delve on the cultural
understanding of masculinity and femininity to help understand the gender disparities between
men and women (Woods, 2010). Similarly, my perception of gender differences is that they are
social constructs as men and women have unique creation outside what the society makes.
Moreover, NOMAS condemn aggression and violence against women something that I also
deem inappropriate in modern society (Woods, 2010). Men’s anti-violence groups are least
consistent with gender and my personal values. Notably, the movements advocate that the
prevention of violence is a men issue. According to Cohen and Felson (2016), it is the
responsibility of men and women to ensure that the level of violence abates. On the other hand,
masculinity men movements are less consistent with the reality of gender differences and biases.

GENDER STUDIES 3
Notably, the conception that men suffer discrimination owing to their sex is misguided because
discrimination is a social construction.
The men movement that I most identify with is the pro-feminist men’s group. From the
initiation to the realization of the reality of the movement, it advocates for the reality of gender
disparities and dug the problem from its roots (Woods, 2010). The movement saw the need to
engender an egalitarian society where men and women would cherish equal rights and freedom.
This group of men also knew that they could not achieve their mission alone but worked with
women to realize the dream of an equal society. The strong affection of this movement for a just
and fair society made them emphasize the need to criticize the social norms that placed men at a
higher position that women (Milkman, 2013). Therefore, I consider pro-feminism with high
regard for it emphasizes an free society where human beings are equal by virtue of their abilities.
The debate surrounding men paying alimony and child support elicits divergent opinions.
Indeed, spouses in a marriage have the role of ensuring that their continuity and welfare of the
children after separation is not hampered. However, the manner in which the process happens
appears to be discriminatory to men. The mythopoeic man will find it hard to cater for the legal
provision during a divorce because they consider this a breach of the position of men in the
family who should determine their contribution after separation (Woods, 2010). From a promise
keeper perspective, men should pay for alimony and child support as they are the sustainers of
their families and responsible in all situations. Indeed, men are supposed to identify with their
families and be responsible (Woods, 2010). As free human beings, men ought to determine
whether they will cater for the alimony and child support without the involvement of the law, as
they are liberal beings with the moral authority to define what is right or wrong for them.

GENDER STUDIES 4
The “fight club” exemplifies men as leading a consumerist life centered on shopping in
modern times. It shows that a real man must fight and be ready to feel pain to satisfy their deep
and aggressive needs (Fincher, 1999). Tyler Durden uses the fight clubs to unfold the nature of
masculinity and the reality that men have to be virile to show that they really exist. However, the
project mayhem proves that the primal aspect of masculinity is more destructive and it should
end (Munch, 2018). Therefore, men appear betrayed by the fact that their implicit ability to
portray power and aggression leads them to nothing and they need to stop it. The “fight” in the
film is used to show how men strive to create an impression in the society by the virtue of being
stronger than their female counterparts are. Therefore, men use their power to exert their
influence and domination in society (Munch, 2018). Unfortunately, their struggles end up in vain
in the modern society where the dynamics are no longer subject to the power owed by the gender
definition, but rather the mental power owed by an individual.

GENDER STUDIES 5
References
Basu, A. (2018). The challenge of local feminisms: Women's movements in global perspective.
Routledge.
Cohen, L. E., & Felson, M. (2016). Social Change and Crime Rate Trends: A Routine Activity
Approach (1979). In Classics in Environmental Criminology (pp. 203-232). CRC Press.
Fincher, D. (1999). Fight Club [Video]. Vexmovies.
Makama, G. A. (2013). Patriarchy and gender inequality in Nigeria: The way forward. European
Scientific Journal, ESJ, 9(17).
Milkman, R. (2013). Women, work, and protest: a century of US women's labor history.
Routledge.
Munch, E. (2018). Masculinity and Violence. [online] Xroads.virginia.edu. Available at:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA02/freed/fightclub/masviol.html [Accessed 22 Oct. 2018].
Woods, J. T. (2010). Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender and Culture. Cengage Learning.