Is male on male violence a feminist issue?

[antigone382]

151. I would say it depends on how you define a feminist issue.

To my way of thinking, male on male violence is often centered around themes of "domination" and "honor" as they are perpetuated in a patriarchal system. In this system, "manhood" is a privileged status that men must earn through approved displays of masculinity. Just as homophobia is a lynchpin of patriarchy precisely because it pressures men and women to conform to gender norms, so male displays of violence are a lynchpin of patriarchy because they are one of the major ways that masculinity--and by extension its "rightful" place above femininity--can be definitively asserted. This obviously causes incredible harm to human beings regardless of gender, but I think it is still a vehicle for maintaining notions of control and subservience that are uniquely harmful to women.

Beyond that, I do think it is the unfair but necessary task of feminists to expose the ways in which gender roles and socializations are profoundly dysfunctional for individuals, regardless of gender. Male on male violence is one symptom of patriarchal ways of thinking and living, and therefore an appropriate target of feminists, in my opinion.