Why Men Need Feminism

Popular images on facebook are often circulating captioned “ I don’t want feminism if I have to enter the draft” or “If this is what equality looks like, I don’t want it” most of these are aimed at women, but why not men? This might be because men would be in danger of realizing that even just breaking down gender stereotypes and roles could mean they can pursue what they are passionate about, not what society has told them they are allowed passionate about.

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Feminists tried giving the general public reasons women deserve to be treated equally. These rights include such things as equal pay, equal access to career paths dominated by men, the right to make decisions about their bodies, etc. Amazingly this wasn't enough for the majority of the public to change their minds about the need for enforcement of gender equality.

This is when the approach toward getting the public to recognize the need for gender equality changed. Feminists are actually having to change tactics from asking for basic rights for women to explaining to a male audience how they could benefit from feminism.

The image of what a feminist is, is often manipulated by the media. Frequently feminists are called out for “not following through once given the opportunity” or “only wanting selective rights, not true equality” and these are used against them as reasons they don’t deserve to be equal. I hardly ever see a story on a major media outlet about how a women's rights activist succeeded in her endeavor to have equal rights for men and women. What the media chooses to show you is not those women that fight to be true equals to men no matter the inconvenience or unpleasantness such as being part of the draft or following a career as a garbage woman. Aconnman has the perfect of example of what marketing feminism to a man is and he talks about true feminism Vs the women over men complex as it's so often portrayed.

In order to get past this image feminist actually had to tell men what is in it for them to start making these changes happen. They have had to point out that they are fight for equality for everyone, for people, not just women. This is both sad and discouraging that just asking for simple rights is not enough for the public to see why feminism is important.