(If you haven’t read Part 1 — where I talked about the illusion of “loaned power” inside families — I recommend reading that first. This article builds directly on that idea.)
Today we see a new breed of “male feminists.”
They say exactly what women want to hear.
They paint women as eternal victims, men as eternal villains.
The audience claps, women feel good, the man becomes a “progressive” hero.
But let me tell you why I have a problem with these so-called male feminists:
They don’t actually break the cage.
They polish it. They decorate it. They put flowers on it so you stop noticing the bars.
Victimhood Feels Good — But It’s a Trap
Yes, women have been victims of patriarchy. That’s a fact. But when men keep repeating the same narrative — “you are a victim, men are your problem” — it does something dangerous.
It gives women comfort inside their current state. And once a human being finds comfort — whether in luxury or in victimhood — they rarely want to leave it. Comfort kills growth.
Real empowerment doesn’t come from being told you are helpless and men must change.
Real empowerment comes from being told: you have to build your own power, no matter how unfair the system is.
Mercy Is Not Power
Look at how society glorifies men when they show “kindness.”
A husband “allows” his wife to work in her dream profession — suddenly he is praised as a noble man, a role model. But stop and think:
Why does she need permission in the first place?
Why is her career celebrated as his mercy instead of her right?
This is the exact problem.
As long as women are living on men’s “permission,” they are not free. They are living on borrowed mercy. Mercy feels sweet, but it’s still a chain.
Power Is a Drug
Here’s the truth: Power is like a drug. Whoever has it, wants to use it. And they will, sooner or later.
If men collectively have power today, you can’t expect every man to show mercy. Some will, some won’t. But mercy is not the solution.
The only solution is this: build your own power. Compete. Fight. Claim what is yours by right, not by favour.
Adler’s Philosophy: Why Comfort Is the Real Enemy
I first came across Adler’s philosophy through the book The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. Later, I also read The Courage to Be Happy. But even before that, I was already living many of his ideas. From a young age, I hated waiting for others to decide my life. I always believed in facing the mirror and asking: “What can I do now?”
That’s exactly what Adler emphasizes: stop living on someone else’s terms. He said every individual has two choices:
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Stay stuck in the “tasks of others” — waiting, blaming, expecting someone else to fix your problems.
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Take responsibility for your own task — your growth, your courage, your fight.
This is where most of today’s feminism goes wrong. Instead of pushing women toward their own task — building real power — it often keeps them in the first category: waiting on men to improve, blaming men, expecting rescue. Male feminists fuel this even more by pampering women with victimhood stories.
But empowerment doesn’t come from pampering. Adler’s lesson is simple:
You will never be free if your freedom depends on someone else’s behavior.
So when a husband “allows” his wife to chase her dream job, that’s not empowerment. That’s still the “task of others.” Real empowerment is when a woman doesn’t need permission in the first place. When her right isn’t dependent on his mercy.
Adler’s philosophy is brutally relevant here:
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Comfort is not freedom.
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Mercy is not empowerment.
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Victimhood is not identity.
If feminism keeps women inside the comfort zone of victimhood, then it’s not destroying patriarchy — it’s feeding it. Real power begins only when women step out of that comfort and take responsibility for their own task: building strength that cannot be borrowed, gifted, or taken away.
fight.
Final Words
So yes, men need to improve. In fact, most men are dumb animals in many ways. But if you wait for men to give you freedom out of their kindness, you’ll wait forever.
Male feminists who only glorify victimhood are not your saviors. They are the ones who keep you comfortable inside the cage.
Real feminism is not about mercy. It’s about power.
And power is never given.
It’s taken.
⚡ This is Part 2 of “The Beautiful Cage” series. In the next part, we’ll dig even deeper into the roots — how mythology and religion themselves glorified these cages, and how manipulative the entire system has been for centuries.
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