1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The goal of this article is to describe and analyse the masculinist phenomenon. We will challenge the argument that masculinism is a social or cultural trend that, rather than dealing with real problems such as the transformation of the labour market, scapegoats women and feminists. We will then focus on the concepts of countermovement and backlash to account for the political dynamics at work among masculinism, feminism, and the patriarchal system, especially with regard to the family and divorce.» (p. 22)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
Les auteurs utilisent des données documentaires diverses ainsi que les résultats d’une de leurs études menées en 2010-2011. Pour celle-ci, ils avaient interviewé quinze activistes féministes, incluant plusieurs leaders des organisations nationales féministes.

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse de contenu
Réflexion critique

3. Résumé

According to the authors, «[m]asculinism was consolidated when the state began to oblige men to pay for child support and when feminists, independently at first and then with state assistance, developed a large network of resources for women who had been subjected to male violence (perpetrated mainly by spouses and ex-spouses). This dynamic is evidenced by the focus of masculinist mobilizations: to contest divorce laws, to guilt women who divorce by blaming them for male suicides, and to sap the legitimacy of resources for women who have been assaulted by spouses or ex-spouses. The masculinist current can also affect women and feminists by reducing their financial resources through calls to choke off their government subsidies. […] As a result, then, of masculinism and the discourse on men in crisis, women are being asked, implicitly or explicitly, to go back to taking care of men. This, then, is how the masculinist countermovement strives to (re)appropriate women who are so lacking in grace as to fight for their emancipation. […] Indeed, feminists who mobilize in response to masculinist actions take the opportunity to demonstrate the renewed relevance of feminism, including its more combative current, radical feminism. Hence, the masculinist countermovement may ultimately have the effect of encouraging the mobilization of feminists.» (p. 33-35)