Events in my personal life this past month, along with the rampantly sexist coverage of the Olympics, got me thinking about feminism.
I won’t go into detail about the Olympics, as a plethora of more talented writers than I have already discussed the infantilizing coverage of women in sports.
I will only add, in this particular field, that I personally need feminism so it won’t be assumed that I enjoy or play sports simply because I’m a man, and so I will not be looked down upon when I tell people I don’t enjoy or play them at all.
Simply stated, I need feminism so the quality of my manhood won’t be judged on my abilities as an athlete.
Last week, my girlfriend’s car broke down, so we took it into the shop. For every question the mechanic asked, my girlfriend had the answer. It is her car, and she spoke with him about the problem in detail.
Yet, when the car had been repaired and the mechanic explained what needed to be done in order to prevent the problem from happening again, he refused to make eye contact with her and directed all of his instructions toward me, despite the fact that I hadn’t said one word to him about the vehicle.
I imagine he did so because he assumed that I, the man, would be more knowledgeable about the car and would probably be the one working on it.
But I assure you, neither is true. I need feminism so I’m not expected to be a “car guy.”
At the end of July, I wrote an article regarding Sen. Bernie Sanders and some of the progressive victories that resulted from his campaign, despite losing the primaries.
As usual, I received a nasty email from a conservative reader, telling me how ignorant, young, naïve and incorrect I was. I get these often, so I didn’t think much of it, until I got to the end of his email.
In conclusion, this reader told me I was being “too emotional.”
And through all of the insults I’ve endured during my time as an opinion columnist, this one bothered me the most. For weeks, I couldn’t get it out of my head.
Then I realized women deal with this all the time. Men are consistently portrayed as logical, while women are thought of as emotional — with both adjectives defined as the antithesis of the other.
When this reader couldn’t rely on substantive debate, he tried to discredit my work the way women’s words are dismissed and brushed to the side.
“She is simply being emotional.”
I need feminism, too, so that my idealism can’t be ignored because of my passion.
I’m not saying feminism is necessary only because of the benefits to men and others like myself. I only want to stress that men should be invested in the feminist movement, as well, because of the affects it has on men.
I also encourage you to embrace the feminist title. A YouGov survey found that, while 82 percent of respondents believe in gender equality, only 20 percent call themselves feminist.
Feminism is not misandry. It’s crucial to understand the difference.
If those of us who believe in gender equality would embrace feminism, it probably wouldn’t have the reputation that it does.
thshowal@indiana.edu
@TherinShowalter
