I am a feminist. My understanding of feminism starts and ends at equality i.e. the same treatment in every context for both men, women, non-binary, transgender, and any other gender-form I may not be aware of. I've been planning to write about this for a while now, but an accumulation of certain types of posts on Twitter has really started to get to me.
I'm very aware that in too many situations throughout society and throughout the world, women are treated in a lesser way than men. It's changing, slowly. What this inequality has created is a wonderful, determined team of girls, boys, women and men across the world, fighting for gender equality. It's a positive movement in history I'm so glad and proud to witness and be a part of. However, what I'm not going to condone is universal man-hating. Lots of men have done bad things. I'm not denying that at all, and it's something I plan on writing about in the future. But lots of men have also done good things. And are holding themselves accountable for the bad things other men have done or do, and trying to help those affected or vulnerable to these actions. I 100000% agree that we need to change and get rid of all the bad behaviour that many men have done and do. I also agree that we all need to act on it and be actively aware of it, in order to make that difference and hold the right people responsible and accountable. But, still being respectful and not hateful or unkind towards all men does not change our motivations or the strength of our feelings. It does not mean that we are going back on what we've set our minds to, nor does it mean that we are fighting the bad things with any less power or determination. It simply means we're being kind and respectful. It doesn't even mean anyone is having to be kind or respectful to anyone they don't want to be, because it's not like people tend to talk about an entire gender in a good light anyway. We don't even do that for dogs (and we should).
I'm not even going to write about how women have done bad things too, because the point of this isn't to direct hate or disrespect to any broader group of people. My point is, I see viral tweets with thousands of retweets and likes that are fuelled with and direct mountains of hate and loathing towards men as a whole group, often written by girls/women. As feminists, we often ask for women to be treated better. If we want women (as a whole group) to be treated better, we all have to treat men (as a whole group) the way we/women wish to be treated. If that many men wrote exactly the same tweets about women, there would be an uproar. And I think the same should happen here, because unkindness when it may affect people who don't deserve it is never OK, regardless of the gender involved.
So, I'm taking a stand. My stand is kindness. Always will be.
Photo credit: In Between Sleeping
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