Are you under the impression men aren't eligible for alimony?

Anyone who sacrifices income and employment opportunities as part of a marriage deserves some compensation if that partnership dissolves. It doesn't matter if that person is a man or woman, but the way it commonly plays out in a hetero marriage is that the woman is the one expected to make professional sacrifices so her husband doesn't have to.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/24/us-divorce-alimony-men-idUSBRE9BN0AW20131224

Alimony itself is not the problem. Women's liberation and alimony are compatible, as far as I'm concerned.

The reason that the two seem to be at odds is not specifically a problem of alimony, but rather a social problem that permeates our society and even our courts at many levels- one of the few by very prominent cases where sexism is at the expense of the male.

It's true that some women pay alimony, and some men receive alimony. But there is a massive disparity between the two, even controlling for income; With the same disparity in income, women are significantly more likely to be granted alimony by the court at all, and of those granted alimony, women tend to receive a greater amount.

Alimony is not the problem. The problem is that the actual view our population holds (in aggregate) re: gender equality is still somewhat behind the 'ideal' of complete equality that we are trying to base laws around. If there is wiggle room in a law, at all, then personal views will shape how that law is enforced, as we see with alimony. If there is no wiggle room in a law, then the law will likely go ignored by those with opposing views, as we see with the war on drugs.

I'm in favor of gender equality, but I think we may be putting the cart before the horse- a lot of people still hold extremely sexist positions that were the norm a couple generations ago. Give us another generation or two, and I think we may find ourselves in a more equitable climate.