Believe me or not, I am left wing. It’s in my blood. It always has been, and likely always will be. I’ve been to the marches, I’ve protested in the streets, I bought the t shirt, become a member and donor to left political parties, and voted devoutly for them for the past fifteen years. I believe in the total equality of the sexes, I believe in justice and reform, and not just for women and girls, but for everybody. But I’ll be honest with you. I’ve become increasingly disappointed and alienated from my peers. As the more my understanding of sexism against men and boys grows, the more I see the holes in the minds and hearts of my fellow progressive leftists. I see a failure to extend their own noble principles, their beliefs and compassion, their love and commitment, to 50 percent of the population. I see hypocrisy, and fingers-in-ears ignorance. And I see my fellow men and women, similarly alienated and frustrated too. The left, who rightly popularised the concepts of accountability, seem allergic to the idea of accepting any accountability for themselves. Dishing out painful but useful lessons to society, for all our benefits, but too often failing to sit down and learn anything themselves at all. Yes. The finger is forever pointed, but never in the mirror. And worse, they so often participate in the same bigotry they claim abhor, themselves. The irony is not lost on me. Is it time to shine the spotlight back onto those who have shone it so brightly, for so many years? Because yes, there are hard lessons to be learnt, and painful growth to be had, for everyone of us. So what do you think… For all the worthy progress the left have made in the realm of social justice; have they been quietly failing our men and boys? ~ Images Joakim Hankasalo, Lorenzo Mainmone, MT Elgassier, Adrien Converse, Leohoho, Mathius Fariass, Gradienta, from Unsplash.

2023-01-04