"The Men Feminists Left Behind" 

-Jill Filipovic 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/opinion/campaign-stops/the-men-feminists-left-behind.html?_r=0

According to this article, although women's role are greatly expanding, and culture and politics are revolving, too many men aren not taking part in this transformation. The author argues that white men have been the dominant group throughout American history. Everyone else compares themselves to experiences and norms of white males, because they had the power and control in the system that that was created. This also relates to Tickner's critique against nationalism. She argues that throughout history, it was men who made decisions on behave of the states, and so explaining states behavior is really looking at the behavior and rationale of men. Additionally, states will try to maximize power, and this ends up benefiting men the most. But this system has been challenged, and the women's rights movement has been able to break down some of the social and legal barriers that women face. Filipovic says that the world is changing around men, but they are stuck in the past. One reason why is because the male identity is still closely tied to "dominance and earning potential", and this is what Trump appeals to. Trump appeals to white men who are struggling, and they see him as someone who can help give them their identities back.

We can see how this connects to the Tickner reading, which points out that liberalism is based in the behavior of Western masculinity. Competitive markets are set up in a way that favors jobs that are seen as more masculine, which seem to pay more and come with more power. As opposed to jobs such as teachers or social work jobs, which more are seen as more feminine and pay less.  The NY Times article says that Although women are in the workforce more then ever before, they rarely ascend to the highest ranks. When women are in more masculine positions, they face the struggle of being perceived as a "nice bimbo" or a "competent bitch". The norm is that females should be more feminine, if they have more masculine qualities and are in a position where they have a lot of power, they may be seen as a bitchy if they assert this power or dominance.

Tickner believes that to reach economic justice, we have to help women get their own autonomy and participation in the economy. It is important to make sure that we don't just associate power with political power and dominating others, but with things such as potential of people and energy capacity. According to Tickner, It is important to move away from the Western dichotomies of masculinity and feminity. A similar argument is made by Filipovic, who says that a move toward gender equality and a further breakdown of the stereotypes that men have to be masculine, and females have to be feminine. This would allow individuals to focus doing things they're good at, and not just what they are expected to do. She believes that for a lot of men, fewer cultural rules about how men should be and act, would be a better America for them to live in as well. It isn't clear that a Women President would help to make female power normalized, or close the gaps between men and women. What is  clear that this election has shed even more light onto this issue and has gotten more people involved in this conversation about a shift towards equality for men and women.

Filipovic, Jill. "The Men Feminists Left Behind." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Nov. 2016. Web. 04 Dec. 2016.

Tickner, J. Ann. "On The Fringes of the World Economy." A Feminist Voyage through International Relations (2014): 36-49. Web.