Some Thoughts on Feminism

I was thinking the other day about feminism. The late Rebecca West, well-known journalist and novelist, once said “I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat”. Daniel Webster defines feminism as the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. Now isn’t it interesting that we have no male counterpart for the word? We have boy and we have girl. We have man and we have woman. We have male and we have female. We have masculine and we have feminine. If we have feminism, why don’t we have masculism? As I type this rant, the word itself is glaring at me with a bright, red, wavy line under it. My computer doesn’t recognize this word either. Could it be that we have no use for this word? Masculism, the advocacy of men’s right on the ground of the equality of the sexes. I guess no one has ever had the need. So, what do you call it when a man stands up for himself? Is he a masculist? This is all too confusing. By the way, have you ever heard the words chauvinist female?