Male Feminists Gather in Aspen to Ponder How to Fix Men — the 'Heterosexual White Ones'

In case you were unaware, leftists are concerned about men. Believing there to be a “masculinity crisis,” leftists recently convened at the Aspen Ideas Festival to brainstorm ways to “fix” men. Specifically, in the words of The Atlantic, “heterosexual white ones.”

Counted among the “heterosexual white ones,” I am touched. And by “touched,” I mean that I feel violated. You see, according to Michael Kimmel, the founder of the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities at SUNY Stony Brook, I feel like my “power is slipping.”

Except I don’t. And neither do any of the other “heterosexual white ones” that I know.

I understand that the good Dr. Kimmel is accomplished in the non-scientific field of sociology and traffics himself as a gender-studies expert. And I understand that some consider him “the world’s most prominent male feminist.” But why does he get to speak for me and my fellow “heterosexual white ones” at a condescending conference with a priori commitments to the silliness called intersectionality? And what right does he have to foist me and the other “heterosexual white ones” within his neo-Marxist definitions of power?

If you’re puzzled over my eye-rolling, read The Atlantic‘s Alia Wong’s description of the conference’s consensus view of “heterosexual white ones”:

What the panelists did agree on is that the crisis is damaging American society—harming men’s educational outcomes, women’s well-being, and the public’s safety. Bridges pointed to research showing that when men feel like their masculinity is challenged, they are more likely to advocate for war, discriminate against homosexuals, express an interest in buying an SUV, and believe in the inherent superiority of men. They are also more likely to express attitudes supportive of sexual assault and coercion.

Look, my beef with this liberal-splaining to “heterosexual white ones” is that lovers of identity politics are creating a problem in order to “fix the problem.” And the problem that they’re creating is that an ever-expanding list of identity groups are pitted against each other in a battle for the biggest piece of the power pie. Our society is being systematically taught that people who don’t look like they do are the enemy. Except none of that is true.

The fact that people like Michael Kimmel are able to hold hand-ringing discussions about the “Crisis of Masculinity” without the fear of having the door kicked in by the Gestapo is thanks to the very society they despise. At no point in human history have more people had more access to wealth and privilege than in 21st century U.S. of A. Uprooting and destroying the foundations of the system that have brought us to this point is nonsensically stupid.

I have very little power, do not want any more power, and am not afraid of losing whatever power I do have. What I want is freedom. What I’m afraid of losing is freedom. Like almost all the other “heterosexual white ones” that I know, I do not walk through life making choices about where to spend my money, whom to employ, and whom to vote for based on ethnicity or gender. I would be perfectly happy if every elected official in this country was a black woman as long as they defend the freedoms and rights that our society has fought for and established. In fact, please sign me up for that.

The sad thing is that those who fall in lockstep with the religion of intersectionality are going to lose their freedom, too. But, hey, they’ll have “power.”