Share-worthy: Why Feminism is also Dude-Ism
This article talks about how being a feminist can be one of the most manly things a guy can do. A good read, check it out below:
Why Feminism Is Also Dude-Ism
Posted on April 15, 2011
By Dan Solomon
Here are some things that happen to a dude when he first starts to speak up about feminist issues:
He discovers that women in his life whom he would never have associated with the word “feminism” have strong opinions about the things that he’s talking about. Because while we have the luxury of perceiving these things as not being about us, and thus not relevant to our lives, every woman he knows has had to consider what she’d do if she got pregnant when she didn’t not plan to. Every woman he knows has been talked down to by a man who wasn’t as smart or capable as she was. Almost all of them have been treated poorly or made uncomfortable by some dude at some point who saw getting into her pants as a prize to be won. Even women who seemed like just one of the dudes begin to share experiences that he never would have imagined that they’d had, because doing so around him begins to feel safe.
Other dudes, they get really offended. They call him pussywhipped, or claim that he’s just playing up some sensitive guy routine to get laid. They contest his manhood, call him a mangina, or claim that he holds some white knight hero complex, and they’re the real advocates for equal rights, because they’re willing to bully women without giving them special treatment!
He realizes that these issues that seemed like they were not relevant to his own daily life are actually very much about him, too. That issues that seemed, at first, to be matters of fairness that required taking a stance simply because it’d be cowardly not to are actually issues that affect him in every aspect of his life.
Realizing that feminist issues are also dude issues is a major revelation.
Love Your Vagina Song
This is for all of those sexuality educators (that’s anyone who’s breathing folks!) out there!
Move On: Killing Us Softly 4
Moveon.org posted this video of Jean Kilbourne talking about the impact of media representation of women on girls. A worthwhile watch and perhaps a useful teaching tool.
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