Feminism and Liberalism: Men's Politics

Thinking lately about what kinds of topics I might want to consider in my upcoming research, I keep coming back to the question of men's connection to feminism. Over the past year or so, and through a variety of sources (conversations with friends, blogs, academic works) I've been wondering how men come to be engaged with feminism. Given that men don't have the direct experience of sexism that women do, it seems like they have to come to feminism through other means -- family and friends, academic introduction, or political ideals. Of these, the last seems the most fraught with difficulties. The widely-used term "fauxgressive" is relevant here: in my understanding, it refers to self-proclaimed political progressives (not always men) who tend to focus on "universal" liberalism (ideals of freedom and equality) and are not really progressive with regards to issues of racism, sexism, homophobia, and so forth.

It certainly seems likely to me that men who come to share some feminist ideals through political liberalism will come to define sexism mainly in terms of formal, legal arrangements. If this is the case, then this would explain why some men claim to support equal pay for equal work yet don't follow through to the more cultural, interactional aspects of feminism. If you believe that sexism is all about laws, then you can look to the existence of formal equality as an indicator that we've come far enough, and that further feminist movement is "going too far" -- this is a perspective that I've certainly heard before.

The point is that if men mainly come to adhere to some tenets of feminism through a more general liberal ideology of freedom and equality, then we are likely going to hit a wall when we try to get across more wide-ranging concepts of patriarchy or cultural sexism.

So, if this (admittedly hastily sketched) analysis is correct, how might we push for a broader understanding of feminism amongst men? Is it worth understanding how, under what conditions, and to what extent men come to see themselves as feminists or allies? What would be the best way of doing this?

As I said, this is all just a bunch of relatively unpolished background thoughts I've been considering on and off for some time now. I would very much appreciate input on a personal level, as well as suggestions for places to look about this kind of information (blogs, articles, books, etc.) I already have some ideas, and I'm not sure if this will pan out, but it seems like it could be worth pursuing.