A Slanderous Charge Against Male Feminists

Feminism is often the target of straw man fallacies and general ridicule, with people assuming false things about the mindsets of feminists simply because some misuse the title.  There are asinine myths about feminists used to dismiss the concept of feminism itself: female feminists are labeled insane lunatics and male feminists are said to want women to have sex with them because of they affirm gender equality.  The latter myth is the subject of this post, as I see it enough to recognize that it has some power over imbecilic conservatives.

There are many men who care about legal and social equality of the sexes because of philosophical/theological reasons, not because they hope to sexually seduce members of the opposite gender.  Anyone who identifies as a feminist for such a reason is not a feminist at all.  Brief reflection proves this; only intellectual insects fail to grasp this after an accurate explanation.

Even if male feminists did have this motive, the truth of feminism has nothing to do with the motivations of its adherents, just as the truth or falsity of Christianity has nothing to do with the behaviors or intentions of its claimants.  In other words, a criticism of people is not the same as criticism of a philosophy.  Yet fallacious accusers act as if the ideology or movement of feminism is crippled by these charges, somehow disqualified from legitimacy by the slanderous claims of those unworthy of being treated with intellectual respect.

People who think men only feign interest in gender equality to manipulate women into having sex with them know practically nothing about the use of deductive reasoning or feminism; they are too lost in their sexism towards men to understand either.  They seem to often be conservatives who feel threatened by the increasing acceptance of egalitarian ideas, but have nothing but insults to appeal to--after all, if one uses the word feminism to describe egalitarian ideas, feminism is true, whether conservatives like it or not.  There are no legitimate criticisms of the truth.

Myths about feminists--that they are ultimately misandrists, that they seek to create a matriarchal society, that male feminists just use claims about gender equality to get sex, and so on--are merely fallacies used to misrepresent the ideology and those who adhere to it.  When people misunderstand those who profess a certain idea, they are likely to also misunderstand the idea itself.  Conservative opponents of true feminism (which is egalitarianism) make it clear that they understand neither.