Crisis for Modern Manhood

Michael Kimmel argues that contemporary manhood is in "crisis" due to several different factors.  One of the reasons that I found most interesting was the "feminazi" argument that Kimmel brings up on page 217.  He states that men experience feminism as an "emasculating force, for it exaggerates that familiar sense of unmanly guilt" (217).  I think the point that Kimmel is trying to make here is that women are taking advantage of the oppression that they faced and turning that guilt that men feel into the oppression of men.  Women have this sense of "entitlement" because of the struggles that they faced at the hands of men.  As one writer put it on page 218, women had always "intimidated me, loaded me with guilt, and exploited or shamed me" (218). Men were feeling unmasculine because of this guilt that was being thrust upon them by the feminist movement.

I agree with Kimmel's "feminazi" argument, and that it does contribute to the crisis of manhood.  Before the feminist movement, the oppression of women was not done out of spite or revenge, it was simply the cultural belief that men were more fit to participate in the workforce and politics. Now that the tables have turned, and it is men that are being oppressed by the guilt bestowed upon them by women, they are taking the roles that have traditionally been filled by women.  No longer are men entitled to a job while their wives stay home with the kids.  Also, the growing acceptance of homosexuality is allowing men to shy away from the traditional "tough guy" role and be accepted in a more sensitive role.