The essence of feminism goes like this:
Men need to be more like women. The more men become like women, the better off everyone will be. There’s almost nothing redeemable about masculinity; there’s nothing ever wrong with femininity. If there are unintended consequences from all men trying to be like women, we may not challenge or discuss those.
Put this way, it sounds absurd. But these are the faulty premises underlying feminism that have seeped into the crevices of most people, and our entire culture. Probably most people don’t consider themselves feminists today; but feminism is everywhere.
If a lot of women become unhappy with the fact that so many men are resentfully going against their programming or natures — we may not discuss that. We will just blame it on men, and all things considered masculine: capitalism, technology, the military, law enforcement, America, individualism, freedom, self and — first and foremost — TRUMP.
Most of this isn’t political or sociocultural. Sure, those issues are debated and talked about, especially on social media. But most of this plays out in the context of marital, romantic and family relationships. That’s where the rubber hits the road. It starts in the universities and ends up at the kitchen table. In personal relationships: That’s where you have a lot of unhappy men who feel they aren’t good enough, and a lot of women who are frustrated and don’t fully understand why — though they feel it has a lot to do with the men in their lives.
Feminism as an explicit movement died years ago. But the effects of that movement are growing, and everywhere. It’s too bad we’re not allowed to discuss or analyze it in any objective way. We might learn something, if we did.