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Hear me out world!

This is part of who I am:

A male liberal feminist.

And I'm proud of it!

So what if I believe in equality

and the fair treatment of the opposite sex?

What do I care if I'm branded estranged,

degraded as a "faggot" or "female sympathizer"

by many men and even some women

who follow the conventional male dominated institutions of our day?

I'm not concerned with those stigmas even if it's because

I challenge it which makes others uncomfortable.

This is who I partly am.

But I want to clarify something out there

to those who care to read my own declaration.

There are many out there especially in the American society

who associate the word "feminist" with negative notions.

Some relate the word "feminist" with the word "misandry" or "misandrist."

"Misandry" to those who don't know basically means the hatred (or sometimes fear) of men.

In other words, feminists are seen as "men-haters."

Some others associate the term "feminist" with "She-devils."

Even others often use the infamous, derogatory word "Femi-Nazis."

Some also have a distorted view of feminists

as women with hairy, barbaric legs with which feminists are physically unpleasing to the male eye.

All of the above mentioned are stereotypes that perpetuate false ideas over what and who feminists are.



I'm going to give you a definition feminists use to describe themselves.



Feminist (noun)  

A person who believes in the equality of ALL people.

A person who believes in the idea of self-definition.



To put in another way, feminists believe in the equality of everybody.

They don't believe that gender roles nor any other major institution describe who you are as an individual.

"You" define who you are as an individual.

The two key terms that describe feminists are EQUALITY AND SELF-DEFINITION.

In sum, feminists are synonymous to "humanists" either male or female.

We are all human beings characterizing our own selves in which we try to press for the fairness, equality, and just treatment of all humankind and NOT for the oppression of a group of people no matter what you are as a person

even if you're Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific-Islander, Native-American, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, heterosexual, homosexual, a divorced mom, a widower, a man, a woman, and the list goes on and on further than this coming from all aspects of life...

Or also we as human beings after hopefully learning our mistakes from history don't single out a group of people and position them into a weaker, subordinated position.

Because throughout our own human history, there are a plethora of examples of people being oppressed.

Take for example the civil rights movement in the U.S. and

the suffragists who fought for the woman's vote in America.

It took about 73 years for suffragists to have the 19th amendment added to the American constitution which gave women the right to vote.

Throughout those 73 years suffragists faced scorn and ridicule from men who have oppressed their rights as citizens in our Democracy as well as other rights in other spheres as well.



I remember when I was in one my classes our teacher asked,

"Is anyone out there a feminist?"

Nobody raised their hands possibly because no one wanted to be associated with negative markers describe feminists or possibly no one cared.

Then she asked,

"Is anyone out there who believe in freedom and equality in our country?"

Most everybody raised their hands.

Finally she responds,

"Then what's the difference?"



Yes, what's the difference when the definition of feminism and the definition of what makes our country today full of liberty and justice for all are the same?

In a country such as ours that protect the civil liberties

and civil rights of all, couldn't you argue that in some ways we are all feminists fighting for equality and freedom as well?