Are men able to have opinion of feminism?

[buritobr]

Some feminists claim that it is not good that men have opinion of feminism, neither against (obvious) nor for.

They consider that men had never the experience of being a woman, they don't know what does being disadvantaged mean. So, according to those feminists, men are not able to say comments like "in this issue, the feminists are exaggerating". Only women could say that.
They claim also that men benefit themselves from the unequal gender relation, even if they don't know. So, a male opinion against feminism would be self interested.

These feminists consider also that men should not try to become famous supporting feminism in the public sphere, because they would be stealing the protagonism which should belong to the women. Feminism is considered a movement of women, and not a movement of women + progressive men.


What do you think? Do you agree?

[Marokai Backbeat]

Anyone should be able to have and express an opinion about whatever they want. What matters is being right or wrong, not who is expressing it.

[Mr. Smith]

Anyone should be able to have and express an opinion about whatever they want. What matters is being right or wrong, not who is expressing it.

This

Such an argument is nothing but reactionary, counter-intuitive, and even transphobic.

[Cory]

Anyone should be able to have and express an opinion about whatever they want. What matters is being right or wrong, not who is expressing it.

[bagelman]

Feminists who say this are always the one most quick to criticize and have strong opinions about men.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

of course. obviously they're much more likely to be uninformed or otherwise bad opinions, but they can still have 'em.

[Brewer]

of course. obviously they're much more likely to be uninformed or otherwise bad opinions, but they can still have 'em.

[bedstuy]

Some people say...

That's a weasel phrase and this is a non-issue. 

[The Last Northerner]

I'm not white. Am I allowed to have an opinion on white nationalism?

[ingemann]

If anything is in the open room, everybody is allowed to have a opinion.

[dead0man]

Indeed, everyone can have an opinion on whatever they want.  And other people can then have an opinion on that opinion.

What you can't do is scream and shout while someone is trying to give their opinion.  What you can't do is threaten (or worse, do) violence to stop someone's opinion.  You can ignore, you can boycot, but you shouldn't try and prevent other people from hearing that opinion you don't approve of.

[TNF]

Of course.

[Bigby]

Yes, to say otherwise is to infringe upon freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and academic discourse.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Nice strawmen we're building here, pals.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yes, as long as your opinion is not stupid or bigoted.

[Famous Mortimer]

This is certainly a common view, as much as some people would like it not to be.

The idea that when talking about women's issues, any woman's opinion is always to be taken over any man's.

Or when discussing Black issues, any Black person's opinion is always to be taken over any White person's.

The whole "sit down!" "LISTEN!" mentality.

It's, of course, ridiculous. Since women and Blacks are not monoliths and many have different, even conservative views, and they can't all be right.

That's why people's views should be judged on merit and the "well I know because I'm a woman!" card should be pulled as little as possible, because not all women would necessarily agree.

Many people though, too many, think the rightness of an argument is determined by how "oppressed" the person making it is. This is not a straw man. I have seen many people explicitly say this, though in slightly different wording.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Of course a woman's viewpoint on women's issues will have more weight than a man's. How is that even a question? That's not the same as men not being entitled to an opinion.

[Famous Mortimer]

Of course a woman's viewpoint on women's issues will have more weight than a man's. How is that even a question? That's not the same as men not being entitled to an opinion.

Again, you are saying the rightness or wrongness of a statement depends on who is saying it. That's stupid.

[dead0man]

Of course a woman's viewpoint on women's issues will have more weight than a man's. How is that even a question? That's not the same as men not being entitled to an opinion.

Again, you are saying the rightness or wrongness of a statement depends on who is saying it. That's stupid.

Wellllllllllll, he's kind of right.  Say you've got an ugly rash on your arm.  You can ask the neighbor kid his opinion, you can ask your friends here at the Atlas, you can ask your friend at the bar that's in nursing school, or you can ask your uncle who's been a dermatologist for 25 years.  Obviously arguments from authority should still be questioned, but Uncle Steve is more likely to give you rightness and Billy playing in mud is more likely to give you wrongness.

So yes, in general, women are going to be more knowledgeable about lady issues.  And men, dude issues (just don't tell women that, they'll disagree).  That doesn't make a man's opinion worthless on lady issues, or make it so he's unable to have one.

[TNF]

Of course a woman's viewpoint on women's issues will have more weight than a man's. How is that even a question? That's not the same as men not being entitled to an opinion.

Why? What does it matter if the speaker is a man or a woman? Women can internalize a lot of male chauvinism and that can be reflected in her politics, you know. There are plenty of women who oppose abortion rights and plenty of men who favor them, for example.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I would never say that a woman's opinion inherently holds more weight on one thing or another, but logically it only makes sense that women would have more experience on certain topics and thus their opinions would be more enlightening than a person who understands nothing about them.

I don't like "Shut up, sit down, and listen" at all either, but certain individuals are going to be more familiar with certain things, and have experienced very different things, than others. I'm going to have slightly more authority speaking about homophobia in society than a straight dude, I just wouldn't tell the person he has no right to have an opinion and needs to shut up or is automatically wrong.

[politicus]

Of course a woman's viewpoint on women's issues will have more weight than a man's. How is that even a question? That's not the same as men not being entitled to an opinion.

Why? What does it matter if the speaker is a man or a woman? Women can internalize a lot of male chauvinism and that can be reflected in her politics, you know. There are plenty of women who oppose abortion rights and plenty of men who favor them, for example.

Being against abortion is hardly an expression of male chauvinism.
(well, it can be, but isn't for the average pro-lifer)

[Leftbehind]

Well, hate to use this example (for obvious reasons), but I remember seeing footage of some women in the 70's here being asked about the prospect of the Tories getting their first female leader, and them saying they didn't believe a woman would be capable of being leader (they expanded: and it wasn't because of the ingrained sexism she might face, but those very same sexist beliefs). Later that year, mostly men voted for her within the Tories - and then the country did.

I don't know whether it's extremism or just political ignorance, but the amount of idiots - mostly liberals - spouting binary assumptions on social media usually to the exclusion of someone else, makes me think they're the perfect trojan horses to completely obliterate any solidarity within the modern left (which unfortunately is largely made of liberals). It's true to say ordinarily women's words should be given more weight in this case, just as men's on male issues, but to completely discount a member of the opposite sex's viewpoint is just moronic beyond belief, and should rightfully reward you with your own medicine.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

People with lived experiences normally have a better ability to comprehend these experiences.

[Leftbehind]

Of course, but a great big normally makes a tremendous difference there, and as my example above laid out, only the interminably stupid would treat it as gospel.