Day One. First post ever. So it may as well be about something interesting, right?
The LA Times posted an article by Cathy Young addressing the possibility that modern feminism is responsible for the increase in adherents to an 'incel' worldview, and that if feminists wanted to turn people away from that line of thinking, that they should offer an alternative.
While the article's conclusion is flawed, it raises at least one issue worth considering - these men are latching on to Peterson's teachings because they are looking for something, anything, to light the way for them. They are a group of confused, angry men looking for an explanation to what is to them an inexplicable problem.
I'd like to propose an alternative to Ms. Young's assertion. It isn't the responsibility of feminists to provide some kind of kinder, gentler feminism in order to make life more palatable for "young men perplexed by cultural upheaval." On the contrary, modern feminism is the key for them to move past the bewildering state they find their world in today.
There is a phrase that very clearly describes what might be causing men to clamor online for things like 'enforced monogamy.' I promised myself I wouldn't use it, because I see it used thoughtlessly quite often as a buzzphrase, but it rhymes with 'moxic tasculinity.'
Bear in mind, none of this is founded in research, just in the basic observation of humans, and I'm sure the following claim isn't universal, but I think there are at least some incels that are conflating sex with love. In short, incels are living some bizarro version of the Disney dream. They claim to be unable to understand how to navigate modern sexual politics in order to gain access to breeding rights, that sex would prevent school shootings, and all sorts of other strange things (government mandated girlfriends, anyone?). But these boys are dealing with the same entertainment-based programming that anyone else is dealing with.
What they ultimately want, though, isn't really an object in the way that we talk about the objectification of women. They actually want laughter with a partner over a cup of coffee, or catching the sunlight shining through their girlfriend's hair as she naps on the couch, or the sound of laughter from the next room. They want shared moments and memories. They want love. They have been told from the time they were kids that they would bump into a girl in a coffee shop, and their eyes would meet and there would be trumpets and a montage and then they'd be on a couch in pajamas eating chips and watching reruns.
And our society hasn't provided them with the tools to express those desires. These angry young men (and some older ones too, I'm sure) simply can't admit that the real issue is that they are lonely. In fact, some of them may not even have the capacity to understand their own feelings. And this is where society has failed them twice - not only can they not simply say that they want to fall in love with someone, they aren't empowered in any way to find their own individual worth outside of a human pair bond. They haven't been told that it's actually okay to be single, that you can find happiness in yourself.
And Ms. Young's assertions to the contrary, this is how "feminism can liberate men too from patriarchal confines." Feminism isn't an attack on masculinity. It provides us with new ways to look at how men experience the world, and allows us to realize that traditional societal interpretations of how men ought to behave are in many ways the source of angst for a lot of angry young guys out there.