This one's for you Tem!

Men as feminists! Yes!

Ok so in a theatre class one day, my teacher asked the class who among us were feminists. One guy said, "well given the definition that feminist believe in gender equality i would say yes. However, people accused of being feminists get defensive because of the stereotypes associated with them."

There have been several studies (scientific and otherwise) that indicate that men receive benefits just for possessing a penis. So there is a fear that when women achieve social, political and economical equality with men they will be taking something away from men. Perhaps men when men no longer dominate the high paying jobs, the fact that the "men's club" will have female intruders will make them change the way they act. Now, if you understand my run-on sentence here, i get this. I really do. Because I would hate to feel like i have to change my behavior to benefit someone else. However, it is just plain wrong that the men's club has been around as long as it has. Florynce Kennedy once said, "There are very few jobs that actually require a penis or vagina.  All other jobs should be open to everybody." Men are receiving benefits they have not earned and at the expense of other (namely women).

So if feminists seem angry, it's because we realize how unjust the world is and it's disheartening. It's why I write on here and call myself annoyed. Dr. Rachel Griffen said at JMU's Take Back the Night 2010: "They write me off as an angry black women as if I don't have a damn good reason to be."

So ok, now that you know this, (sort of, i realize i'm not explaining it fully or well enough) hopefully you may be inclined to help change it. Some suggestions for men off the top of my head:
- if you know you're being paid more than your female peer, speak up. Your boss may be more willing to change that. Now if you receive a pay cut for your troubles, thats obviously not the sort of equality we have in mind, but it is fair.
- gladly accept the label feminist if you feel the same as i do. The more men embrace the label the more we can change the stereotype. Also we can use the male stereotype to our advantage. So ok, men get angry for good reasons, right? As opposed to women who get upset for silly reasons, because we're too emotional. Men who get equally disheartened by sexist activities are more likely to be taken seriously and perhaps, makes it more likely for changes to occur.

If you have any other tips please feel free to add them in the comments!