Ive been called a pussy; Ive been called a sissy; Ive been called a wuss; Ive been told that I throw like a girl; Ive been called a girly man (this one is usually told as just a joke); Ive been told to grow a pair; Ive been told to man up. Im not looking for sympathy. Im all right, really. These are just some insults that I’ve had thrown at me. All of them attempt to do the same thing: shame me for not being manly enough — for being as ‘lowly’ as a female. And that’s the worst part of these pejoratives: they’re all based in our culture’s deep-seated hatred of women. This hatred has been entrenched for a long time, and groups like A Voice For Men and Men’s Rights Edmonton (and all other MRAs, including the Pick-up artist network) are working hard to claw back the privilege that they fear they are losing. They’re correct, sort of. They’re right that women are gaining more equality, and they are doing all they can to stifle this and turn things back, back to a time when assholes like them could yield power over women with impunity. Things will not just keep progressing the way they should; these assholes could succeed — unless we fight back. I fear that if we dont make it clear that this regression is unwanted and if we don’t show our opposition, the so-called Mens Rights movement may succeed in turning back the clock to a much darker time. They have recruited women (Karen Strauhan, aka girlwriteswhat, who is a very active member of Mens Rights Edmonton, is a perfect example), but don’t be fooled; having some women onside in no way means that they’re not based in a virulent misogyny. What can we do? For starters, we can all stop using the words from the above list of pejoratives. I should include homophobic slurs (faggot, poofter, pansy, limp wrist, etc.) as well because almost all homophobia is rooted in misogyny. These words have permeated our culture, and getting rid of such everyday words is a difficult linguistic endeavour, but this is still something we need to do. Until we eradicate these hateful words, patriarchy will keep on winning.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 17:20:23 +0000
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