I am a man. I am a feminist. In the wake of last week’s article, “Equality dialogue unequal, ignores male perspective,” a piece where the title alone made me cringe, I have heard a lot of anger and sadness from men and women alike. These responses are absolutely justified.
Everyone has a right to an opinion. These opinions, however, need to be well informed and rely on some measure of fact and understanding. This article did not. The insinuation that the feminist movement is a group of man-hating bra-burning women is fundamentally wrong, extremely irresponsible and needs to be corrected.
Feminists believe all people, regardless of gender, should have the same rights, socially, economically and politically. This has never been the case. Men have always controlled the discourse. Men run the media, have a larger voice on the internet, and are allowed to further perpetuate such “reputations.” Men have more rights in all arenas.
The male issues presented in the article are valid. The fundamental difference resides in that men have never been held back from talking about such issues, from having help centers, from having their voices heard and their ideas validated. Women have. The feminist movement is not about Buzzfeed articles and thigh gaps, but about an entire society and social system that keeps more than half of its population down simply because of their gender.
Keiren Presland
a senior English major
Brighton, England
