My two bits on the whole patriarchy/ misogyny/ misandry bit. Intended only as a perspective of a man who recognises the oppressive system of patriarchy. @nuts2406 wanted me to put this out as tweets, so here goes.. 1/ https://twitter.com/nuts2406/status/1311043644757929985

All of us, and I mean all of us are conditioned from birth by the society that surrounds us. Society, social systems, language, epistemic systems- like education, religion, family mores, are all patriarchal in nature.
2/

For every woman who realises the oppression of patriarchy,there are a hundred women,who unfortunately are enablers of the same oppression.For every man who realises that our social systems and are imbalanced,there are a hundred others who are aggressive enablers of patriarchy.
3/

In this oppressive system, we will find people who justify even the most ghastly of crimes. People who say that rape is the result of the way women dress, is one such justification. Movies, ads, SM behaviour, are influenced by this malady of patriarchal justification.
4/

So men need to stop painting themselves as the victims, by saying ‘not all men’; they would do much better for themselves and for those women around them by recognising that consciously or subconsciously, men are part of this systemic oppression of women.
5/

Men need to affirm that patriarchy is oppressive in nature and that male privilege denies opportunities for women. This same male privilege is aggressively expressed on the body of the woman. Acid bulbs, honour killings are all consequences of challenging this privilege.
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When women say men are trash, they are not tarnishing every male on this planet, they are challenging this male privilege. And why shouldn’t they? They have every right to challenge dominant power structures that makes their life unbearable and denies them opportunities.
7/

I fail to understand why men are so hurt and injured at a catchphrase that calls attention to an unjust system. Men (however woke and enlightened) need to be aware that it is very easy to turn into enablers of the existing system of patriarchy.
8/

I would say that the opposite of feminism is sexism and not egalitarianism. While I agree that equality is an ideal that we strive for, it is impossible to achieve this sort of egalitarianism because we exist in an inherently imbalanced and systemically patriarchal society.
9/n