There are many misguided people who think that women use feminism as a medium to express their hatred for men. People who think that the goal of feminism is to wage a war on men. This is not true and I am so tired of
having to explain this to people. We live in a patriarchal society, where women are dominated by men on a daily
basis in various realms: sexuality, the household, male-on-female violence
(rape culture & victim blaming), paid employment, cultural institutions,
and the state. Misogyny, coupled with sexism, run rampant in our communities,
and consequently women are silenced and subordinated, and women-identified
values are denigrated. What does this mean or look like, some people may ask?
Rape,
sexual assault, and gender violence are not only women’s issues because sexual
violence happens to people, not genders. However, a majority of women
experience sexual assault, and these numbers grow dangerously larger within
already marginalized communities. Did you know that one out of every three
women worldwide will be physically, sexually, or otherwise abused during her
lifetime with rates reaching 70 percent in some countries? Not only do we live
in a society where "one sex" (MALE) is thought to be intrinsically
superior to a person of the "other sex" (FEMALE), social constructs
of gender, male and female, are the ONLY types of gender identity that are seen
as "real" or "valid". Did you know that trans women,
especially trans women of color, are the most vulnerable to police brutality
and violence? Trans women of color are often involved in or presumed to be
involved in the sex work industry; it is in and around these places that these
women are often assaulted. Systems of oppression like racism, laws like the
criminalization of sex work, economic forces like poverty and gentrification
are forces at play when it comes to violence against trans women.
So
now: instead of pointing women out as cruel/hateful and “out to get men”, what
can men (PEOPLE) do to support women
and the fight against rape, sexual assault, and gender violence? Sexualized
violence against women does not just
affect women. It affects the people who care about them, their families, their
friends, their coworkers, and their communities. Join the movement to end the
violence; join the feminist movement! Feminists
are people, not genders, who
recognize the validity of women’s own interpretations of their lived experience
and needs and acknowledge the values women publicly claim as their won in
assessing their societal status relative to men; they exhibit consciousness and awareness of, discomfort
at, or even anger over
institutionalized injustice or inequity toward women as a group by men as a
group in a given society; AND they advocate the eliminating of that injustice
by challenging, through efforts to alter prevailing ideas and/or social
institutions and practices, the power, force, or authority that upholds male
prerogatives in that particular culture. Patriarchy, rather than rape culture,
causes rape. And yes, feminism may seek to inherently undermine (and destroy) the
patriarchy and I’m crossing my fingers that sooner than later, it will. This isn't about a war on men, it's a war on the patriarchy, rape culture, misogny, and sexism.
Sources read~~~~
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