Being A Male and A Feminist Is A Strange Thing to Admit.

As a male I hate being called a Male feminist and I am not sure why? First off let me say I am for equal rights for everyone. So it isn’t like I am a closeted bigot who secretly thinks women should be in the kitchen, barefoot, and pregnant. After a long and internal debate with myself the problem seems to come from the name of the movement itself and how my brain relates the word feminist with femininity. Although I realize I shouldn’t have a problem with the name... I do. It’s almost a cognitive dissonance of sort.

When it comes to support of women I am always behind them. Should all women have equal pay? Yes. Should they deserve the same respect as men? Yes. More importantly, should all women have an equal voice in politics? Yes. So why I do I have this problem being called a feminist? It’s most definitely a social construct that disallows me to admit I am a male feminist. Being raised in a household and neighborhood like mine is one of the main contributors to how feel about this topic.

I was the youngest of five children and the only boy. So I was the one that did all of the “man work” around the house. There was a definite segregation of gender in my household and in my neighborhood. I spent most of my free time doing what every other boy on my block did. Which was mostly things that can be associated with being Masculine. Playing physically rough sports, hunting, fishing, and play fighting while the girls did whatever young girls do. My sisters and the neighbor girls all did things that was associated with being feminine. They jumped at the sight of bugs and cried when they fell off their bikes; played with dolls and wore make-up. When the boys played tackle football the girls sat on the sidelines watching. This is where I think the problem lies. I still see many things (I promise I am trying to change) rooted into either male or female. As a young man in the military I did in fact see women as the weaker sex.

Over the course of the last ten years my views have drastically changed. I no longer see women as “girls that don’t play football because they will get hurt” now I see them as people that my friends and I never asked to play with us. So I guess my real problem isn’t with the word. My problem is with me. Now that I wrote this short and simple post I realize how intent gives words meaning and I am most definitely willing to admit that I am in fact a feminist. Truthfully we should all support equal rights for men and women; straight and gays; Blacks, Whites, Asians, and everyone else on what Carl Sagan once called the pale blue dot.