Simon wrote a story specifically about how it was unfair and selfish for feminists to not actively take on the issues that men face. He wasn't talking about just things like diplomacy and dialogue. This story that he wrote here is a diverted and passive-aggressive response to the points that several commenters made on that essay about how that was the equivalent of asking queer people to add an S to LGBTQ or to saying All Lives Matter. Rather than address that directly - perhaps because he didn't want to face the inevitable backlash when he admitted that he thinks that women have privilege too, and so they really aren't on the same level of marginalization as other discriminated against groups - he revealed that here, tucked away in "the same old tired points" about how he's a feminist, even though feminists are terrible, selfish, ungrateful harpies and can't we have more empathy for each other (by negating that women are indeed a marginalized demographic) and instead refocusing on men's issues.
There are something like 17 different types of feminism - but nearly all mainstream types acknowledge the ways that patriarchy harms men too, while at the same time keeping their focus on women - because we've got our hands really full already. And as I noted to him elsewhere, countries with greater gender equity have better health, longer lives, and greater happiness for men. Women advocating for women does benefit men. We don't have to take on male suicide or homelessness directly (two topics he mentioned that feminism ought to tackle) in order to be impacting men's lives for the better.
Of course we need to be empathetic to each other and support each other, but where are the men in this dynamic? Why is it feminism's job to fix patriarchy for everybody - particularly when we are still desperately struggling with how it harms women? It's really, really out of line. Where are the stories by men exhorting men to band together to challenge the harmful norms and problematic aspects of patriarchal culture? Where are the resource guides with links to healthy masculinity programs and leaders? Where is the support for men who are trying to challenge patriarchal structures? Nope, not from this guy. It's all about what's wrong with feminism, and how selfish we all are to not put any of our advocacy towards things that affect men and I think that deserves to be called out.
