Feminism and Moderation

I've had some people on the Internet call me a male feminist, a pussywhipped idiot, a wanker sucking up to women and even a Lesbian woman. I've had other people on the Internet call me a misogynist and a male chauvinist. What this tells me is that I am a moderate who gets attacked by the extremists on both sides.

I do not just seek the middle path, as the middle can be found in all sorts of undesirable places. I seek the positive middle path that encourages the best of behavior in both genders and attacks the wrongdoing in both genders. I want men and women to get along; and that means rewarding loving behaviors in both men and women and confronting behaviors that are brutal, oppressive, cruel or malicious.

Ultimately it makes sense to be neither for nor against either men or women. There will always be both; and some will choose to act rightly and others will choose to act wrongly. A man who comes at his wife with fists because he finds a speck of dust on the floor is a scoundrel. So is a woman who gets a man fired for telling her that she looks nice. It makes sense to be for neither scoundrel and against both.

I used to err on the side of women, only to encounter vicious abuse from women who were either misandrist or simply mean-spirited. I've also known women who erred on the side of men, only to become punching bags. The wrongs and excesses of feminism have resulted in many men becoming militantly misogynistic. I did not become a misogynist; I simply turned to reason and moderation.

Men are ill represented by the likes of Glenn Sachs, and women are ill represented by the likes of Catherine McKinnon. Neither begins to be worthy to speak for one half of humanity. Both men and women are represented best by those among them who are loving people. These, for a long time, have been out of vogue. It is time to bring them back.