At first it was all about presenting data in an original looking way. In the end it was about pushing political ideas in your throat using a plain bar graph. It was not about sharing something interesting you found but about taking advantage of a captive audience.
Why does anyone need a ‘men’s space’? I’m a man but I just would not be interested in that specifically. This is the Internet and there’s a space for everything specifically. Sounds like a ‘men’s space’ or a ‘women’s space’ are bound to be filled with intolerance for the other genders.
Sometimes people want to talk about their shit with people who can directly relate to it, and would prefer if people who can’t relate aren’t invited to the conversation.
There is a gap between “I’m not interested” and “I refuse to understand why someone else would be interested” that’s not really acknowledged here but is important to be able to engage with.
I don’t disagree that gendered spaces are primed to end up displaying a modicum of prejudice against the other, but I don’t agree that this must necessarily be the case.
There are genuine issues facing men that I think we should be allowed and even encouraged to discuss, and I think it’s important that such conversations are had with other men in particular to reduce the stigma surrounding them. So in my mind the goal of such a space isn’t to discourage women from participating, but localizing the discussion so that it’s easier for men to find.
The unfortunate truth is that too many men these days seem to think feminism is out to oppress them, which simply isn’t the case.
Men’s spaces are good for emotional support for men who are not able to get enough support in their everyday lives. It’s better to be getting support from other men than to expect all the conversations about feelings to happen with a girlfriend or wife, especially when the guy is single, or in a relationship with another guy. There is, naturally, some discussion about women, some involving hurt feelings, which can skate towards misogyny. But a whole lot of serious discussions go pages and pages without mentioning a woman once, positively or negatively. If the whole space is full of posts about hating women, it loses its value for men who want to talk about themselves, not women.
If you’re not interested, then it’s not for you, no prob, but a lot of guys find it extremely helpful.