Exhuming the History of Feminist Masculinity: Condorcet, 18th Century Radical Male Feminist

Abstract

This work addresses bell hooks's call for the development of an alternative to patriarchal masculinity which she calls feminist masculinity. Patriarchal masculinity has convinced most men and women that the development of different forms of masculinity goes against our biological nature. Yet there exists a history of men's experiences that contradicts this perspective and amounts to, I argue, men's feminist history. In particular I argue that the life and work of French philosophe Condorcet constitutes a historical cornerstone for feminist masculinity. An important implication of this work is the understanding that gender dissolution is not the only strategy capable of rectifying gender inequality. Siding with a range of feminist perspectives, from ecofeminism and Black feminism, I contend that we can accomplish much through a critical reconstruction of men and masculinity, including the reevaluation of historic figures such as Condorcet.