[a sign reads FEMINIST CONFERENCE next to a closed door, a blue character shrugs and says…]
I don’t care
[next to the same door, the sign now says RESTRICTED FEMINIST CONFERENCE WOMEN ONLY, there are now four blue characters desperately banging on the door, one is reduced to tears on the floor, they are shouting]
DISCRIMINATION
SO UNFAIR!!!
LET US IINN!!
MISANDRY
That comparison in this context is honestly a bad look.
You’re comparing men, who have historically been the oppressors in pretty much every oppression scenario, to the groups of people they have historically oppressed. (POC, women, any marginalized group really.) That is a very important distinction because the power dynamics are reversed.
People wanting a single safe space away from a group of people who have victimized them in the past (and more often than not continue to victimize them) is not the same as a group of people who hold most of the power excluding a less powerful group from everyday activities because they deem them inferior.
And it’s not exactly a slippery slope towards the oppression of men either, just look at the current state of the world and try to figure out which way that slope is slipping. Women are fucking tired, man.
I didn’t know that I am an oppressor lol
There is an important distinction here. You, I presume, have a ‘safe space’ of your own, your home, or even just your room if you share. That is your personal space. It makes sense that only those you trust should come in. However, when you put up a sign, it changes a space. A sign, such as one announcing a conference or symposium, even with a barrier like ticketed/preregistered entry, says it is a public event. Not a ‘safe space,’ but a space specifically for encountering and engaging with others, the public. The public is a group that is supposed to include everyone. Excluding people from that group effectively designates them as unpeople. If it were to be invite only, a private space, there would be no argument if, say, the invitees were all women, but the transition to a public event, combined with the discrimination based on unchosen characteristics creates the offense of sexist discrimination. It is one thing to demand relevance (e.g. no entering a feminist conference to shout about misandry) but it is another to treat everyone who, through no choice of their own, happens to be some type of person as an unperson. It’s prejudicial bigotry.
We are all oppressed by the patriarchy, every older man I know born from 60s - 90s believes being emotional is weakness, don’t cry, don’t act like a woman. You’re basically not allowed to be you, and most remain extremely stunted their whole life. Discriminating based on sex is also hurting the men who didn’t want any part of this to begin with. Women have more danger and more men ruining things for them in general, so I don’t agree with them saying a safe space shouldn’t be restricted, but I just don’t think it’s so black and white.