When it comes to the essential conversations of women’s rights, there’s a fly in the ointment. An angry and persistent fly; that instead of advocating for women and girls, seems more interested in whining, ranting and shaming men, pathologising masculinity, and dominating the conversation with a host of conspiratorial gender theories. An ugly bug that spits hashtags and blames ‘men’, whose vitriol has buzzed in the ear of well meaning discourse for decades. The annoying fly. The radical. The brittle whino. It is a fly, that although a minority, is disproportionately loud and is able to destabilise even the most well meaning of advocacy, impede progress and stoke the fires of division. Yes. Described as ‘anti male’, or ‘too extreme’, the fly ruins the profile of women’s rights for everybody, driving a wedge between men and the women, and making enemies of allies. I am talking about radical feminism. Radical feminism whose unaddressed anti male bigotry provokes a gender war, causes outrage, and whose childish slogans push men *away* from supporting women’s rights. I am one of those men. I am, and always will be, a passionate supporter of women’s rights, a lover of women, and a pro choice advocate. But I am dismayed at how often well intended conversations become hijacked by overt and unhelpful anti-male sentiment. Sadly, as always, the few ruin it for the many. So I ask, does radical feminism hurt the profile of women’s rights? What do you think? ~ Why are you not a feminist Attitudes to abortion by sex Images by Images by Moderat, Neauthy Healthcare, Gemma Chua Tran, Ekemelev, and Kiwi Hug from Unsplash. #womensrights #feminism #mensissues #prochoice

2023-03-06