THE LIMITS OF THE MALE SEX-ROLE - AN ANALYSIS OF THE MENS LIBERATION AND MENS RIGHTS MOVEMENTS DISCOURSE

Some feminists have seen sex role theory as limited, even dangerous; o thers see it as useful mid-range theory. This article sheds light on t his debate through an examination of the discourse of the men's libera tion movement of the 1970s. Men's liberation leaders grappled with the paradox of simultaneously acknowledging men's institutional privilege s and the costs of masculinity to men. The language of sex roles was t he currency through which they negotiated this paradox. By the late 19 70s, men's liberation had disappeared. The conservative and moderate w ings of men's liberation became an anti-feminist men's rights movement , facilitated by the language of sex roles. The progressive wing of me n's liberation abandoned sex role language and formed a profeminist mo vement premised on a language of gender relations and power The articl e ends with a discussion of the implications of this case for debates about sex role theory, and urges the study of contemporary organizatio ns whose discourse is based on the language of sex roles.