Last week I saw an image with this quote from Louise Brealey, "I'd like every man who doesn't call himself a feminist to explain to the women in his life why he doesn't believe in equality for women." I loved it, shared it and then began reading the comments underneath it...
One of the comments asserted that men should not call themselves feminists, but rather "feminist allies" because "men don't experience sexism, only women do".
Men don't experience sexism? Is the poster living in a different world than I?
From little boys, men are told not to cry, not to emote, are expected to like sports, hunting, fishing, aren't supposed to understand fashion and the list goes on. This is sexism, people.
Men and women, on a daily basis, experience sexism, equally. And it's all thanks to patriarchy.
Patriarchy is the issue, NOT men. Men are not the enemy, they are our brothers in the repressive nature of patriarchy. Patriarchy tells us that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Patriarchy ignores the fluidity of human beings; that there are as many men that cry and love Grey's Anatomy as there are women that don't cry and love Duck Hunters. Patriarchy asserts that men do what they do because they are men and women do what they do because they are women. There isn't any room for the ebb and flow of nature and nurture in patriarchy. Patriarchy is what ails us.
A human being that believes in equality for all, regardless of gender, race, colour or creed, is a feminist. No one gender, or part of a gender for that matter, holds ownership over feminism. And it's anti-feminist to think it so.
Let's stop blurring the lines, getting off task, squabbling amongst ourselves being hung up on labels, and let's all of us, those of us that believe in universal equality for all human beings, shout it out loud and proud - I. Am. Feminist.
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