Male Allies, Take Note

My fiancé brought an article to my attention this weekend in The Guardian that should make male allies take pause. It describes the current legal action being taken against the London School of Economics (LSE). The suit is being filed by a former student who claims that the master’s program he was in at the LSE’s Gender Institute was “sexist” by not emphasizing the male perspective. As the author of the Guardian article points out, gender studies discipline allows people from across the spectrum to share their ideas and views in an accepting, supportive environment.

A post written by The F Word, a UK-based feminist blog, debunks the claim to sexism by outlining the important role that Women’s and Gender Studies programs have played in the lives of women and LGBTQ folks. In a male-dominated academic landscape, women needed a safe and open space to express their views.

At first glance, this suit just tells another story of radical feminists hatching an anti-male agenda behind the halls of academia and stuffing it down the throats of innocent men. There is a wider and more sinister angle to this story, however. This reaction to women’s spaces as being “anti-male” is symptomatic of a worldview that places heterosexual male perspective as the only valid viewpoint.

Misogynistic practices that dominate both space and discourse, such as street harassment and traditional academic disciplines, are only possible within a society that views men as being more acceptable than women. Women are essentially “renting” space in the park or on the sidewalk in the same sense as they are still renting space in intellectual life. The “landlords” are free to impose the rules and fines.

Male allies can play a role in changing this paradigm. By working to end violation of women’s spaces, we are affirming the validity of those spaces. Our primary goal should be a pluralistic society in which everyone’s space and view is included.

– Sean Crosbie

This post is part of the weekly blog series by male allies. We need men involved in the work to end the social acceptability of street harassment and to stop the practice, period. If you’d like to contribute to this weekly series, please contact me.