Have you ever been stumped in an argument with a feminist? If so then this book is for you!
The overarching claim of feminism is that men systematically oppress women due to patriarchy. Patriarchy, of course, is differently evoked as both a description of the current state of affairs, and an explanation of it. Moxon attacks the very notion of patriarchy itself. Drawing on evolutionary psychology he argues that women, far from being oppressed by men, are in a socially privileged position. Rather it is the large number of low status males that dominate most societies that are oppressed, by both women and other men.
This, of course, is an incendiary idea and goes against the normative view of received political correctness. It seems to me that his view goes further, to imply that feminism itself is a way of oppressing men and preserves and enhances women’s privileged position.
Moxons argument is essentially a simple one. Women are the limiting factor of reproduction in the human species whereas men are, from an evolutionary perspective, dispensable. The genetic variation in men is therefore more widespread and is the source of genetic competition between men for access to women. Men, he claims, because they compete amongst themselves for access to women, organise themselves into the dominance hierarchies with which we are so familiar. Women, he claims, are attracted to high status males leaving the majority of low status males sexually and socially disadvantaged.
Moxon takes this position and applies it to a wide variety of feminist gripes. From female suffrage to pornography, and gender dynamics at work to accusations of rape, Moxon tries to demolish the feminist edifice and proposes an alternative narrative, that it is the vast majority of men, not women that are devalued in society.
It is certainly true that Moxon has focussed in on an extremely powerful alternative narrative to feminism. Evolutionary psychology, an approach I have a lot of sympathy with, offers a radical reconceptualisation of gender relations. Moxon, however, is not a scientist, and at times I was not convinced that his reliance on evolutionary psychology justified all the claims he was making for it. No science, however, is politically neutral, and perhaps it needs a journalist of Moxon’s calibre to point out the political implications for us.
Dr Phil Tyson is a Men's Psychotherapist based in Manchester in the UK. He offers:
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