Identity politics

One of the greatest misunderstandings about the men's rights movement and anti-feminism is that they in any way involve identity politics. Merely identifying with a group does not imply identity politics.

It's become very popular lately to reject 'labels' but the truth is that group identity is one of the most powerful tools that we as a species have. Human societies were built on group identity long before the written word. Yes, even free thinkers can identify with a group. The use of the term group identity still doesn't imply identity politics.

The key difference is that identity politics involves grouping on the basis of characteristics with which people identify. We do not do this. Every major men's rights organisation has women in leadership roles for example. This is because those women were willing and able to fill those positions. Anyone who wants to help us address the problems facing men and boys is welcome. Doesn't matter if they are male, female, intersex, whatever.

Compare to feminist groups. Many exclude men from leadership roles and some exclude men entirely - calling them 'allies'. Some don't even want male allies. That's identity politics.