How feminism hijacked the conversation on masculinity

Is feminism hijacking the conversation about men and masculinity? 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Adam Lane Smith discussed the thorny subject in exclusive interviews with Fox News Digital.

Hawley wrote the book "Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs" to his sons about "what it means to be a man" and more specifically, a Christian man. Smith is a self-described "attachment specialist" who was formerly a licensed family and marriage therapist and now specializes in helping people build secure and loving relationships as a speaker and author. Both Hawley and Smith discussed the effects of feminism on the conversation about masculinity.

Although feminism is defined as the belief in equality on behalf of women's rights and interests, critics in the 21st century accuse the feminist movement of being woke and anti-men.

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"I think modern feminism is built on the lie that no man is ever going to be reliable or ever wants to care about his family," Smith said. He argued that extremes on both sides, citing some "red pill" circles who are on the far-opposite side of feminism, are hijacking the conversation for both men and women. However, Smith believes masculinity matters and denies that there is such a thing as "toxic masculinity."

Hawley rejected the idea that masculinity itself is the issue.

"I don't know how many times I heard that masculinity is a social construct, we need to deconstruct it. No, we don't. We don't need to reconstruct it. We need to rebuild it," he said. 

Smith believes feminism is at the roots of the far-left ideology Marxism.

"What we need to do is go back and have the conversation we should have had 100 years ago, before feminism was intruding into our system under the guise of Marxism, and have the real conversation of how do we value the human dignity of every person, whether it's man, woman, child, anybody, and preserve their dignity in a system where there is trust, there is safety, and there is peace and prosperity for everybody involved. That's what a family system is supposed to be." 

Smith cited fractures in the American family, "I believe women have been used as stepping stones to create a much worse ideology, which is the destruction of the family."

The narrative that Hawley and Smith are fighting against has been seen in the media over the last few years. 

"The Nuclear Family Was a Mistake," read an article published by The Atlantic in 2020.

"We Can’t Have a Feminist Future Without Abolishing the Family," read the title of a Vice piece, also from 2020.

"Rethinking masculinity to build healthier outcomes," an American Psychological Association report said in 2025.

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Smith continued, "Modern feminism says that a family itself is an evil, destructive thing, so we have to destroy families, that we can't have roles within those families, that taking care of children is slavery, and it's beneath somebody, that motherhood is not the most sacred calling on the planet for pretty much every human being to aspire to or to facilitate. Feminism has completely degraded the concept of raising a human being and said anyone, anywhere can do it."

Smith added that modern feminism now suggests there is no distinction between a man and a woman.

In 2022, a Planned Parenthood doctor told a House hearing that men could get pregnant and have babies.

"Men can have pregnancies, especially trans men," said Dr. Bhavik Kumar, medical director for primary and trans care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast.

Hawley, who went viral on Wednesday questioning a doctor at a Senate hearing about whether men can get pregnant, also credits "wokeism" for contributing to the negative conversations around masculinity. 

"It's gone under different banners for many years, but the crux of it is they deny any real value to masculinity," he said.

Hawley said men need to utilize traits that were designed by God. 

"We need men who are good men, who are strong men, and they want to use their strength. For what it was meant for, what God designed it for, to protect, to empower, to build, to defend," he said.

Hawley said men have been told that "they're responsible for every ill, real or imagined."

"I think that is a hugely destructive and totally false narrative, but it's one that I think has been, frankly, very, very harmful for an entire generation of men, who, on the one hand, want to be strong men, they want to be good men."

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Hawley said houses of worship can provide an example for the type of man that younger men should aspire to be. 

"Churches, synagogues — these are home bases for men learning how to be men," he said. 

Hawley also encouraged mentorship.

"I think it's time that we reclaimed the stories from our heritage as Americans, the stories from our founding documents and documents like the Bible, which are so foundational to our civilization, to show men that actually, you know what? Good, strong men are vital to the success of liberty, to the success of civilization, to the protection of families and children and the flourishing of women too, by the way. And that message needs to be heard again," Hawley said. 

Smith said the role for masculinity is to provide safety for others and to lay a strong foundation for future generations. 

Hawley shared a similar view, saying, "I think the message we need to send to men is we need you. We really do. You are extremely important. You're important for our economy, you're important to the future of the country, you're important to your family, you're important to the community."

Fox News' Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi and Peter Kasperowicz contributed to this report.