Constructing a Male Feminist Pedagogy: Authority, Practice, and Authenticity in the Composition Classroom

by William Breeze

Those of us who call ourselves feminists— teachers or otherwise—know well the stereotypical mainstream representations of feminism. Feminism has been blamed for a "loosening of moral values," and for everything from sexual promiscuity to the "homosexual agenda" and high rates of divorce. These are some of the kinder epithets thrust at feminism. Pro-choice feminists are called "murderers"; lesbian feminists are denounced as "man-haters"; male feminists are considered to be emasculated and effeminate victims of the feminist movement (after all, only an "emasculated" man would embrace feminist ideas such as compassion, respect, acceptance, tolerance, and women's equality). The success of such constructions of feminism is evident in the ways our students perceive the feminist movement— if not with outright hostility, often with sound-bite versions gleaned from the mainstream media.