wm@tekchips.UUCP (Wm Leler) (11/09/83)
This was taped to the desk I moved into. I would have typed it
in before, but there are (at least) two interpretations, and
people on the net seem to take everything wrong. I hope you
take it the right way.
Wm Leler
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For every woman who is tired of acting weak when she knows she is
strong,
there is a man who is tired of appearing strong when he
feels vulnerable;
For every woman who is tired of acting dumb,
there is a man who is burdened with the constant expectation
of "knowing everything";
For every woman who is tired of being called "an emotional
female",
there is a man who is denied the right to weep and be
gentle;
For every woman who is called unfeminine when she competes,
there is a man for whome competition is the only way to
prove his masculinity;
For every woman who is tired of being a sex object,
there is a man who must worry about his potency;
For every woman who feels "tied down" by her children,
there is a man who is denied the full pleasure of shared
parenthood;
For every woman who is denied meaningful employment or equal pay,
there is a man who must bear full financial responsibility
for another human being;
For every woman who was not taught the intricacies of an
automobile,
there is a man who was not taught the satisfaction of
cooking;
For every woman who takes a step twoard her own liberation,
there is a man who finds the way to freedom has been made a
little easier.riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle) (01/16/84)
A friend of mine raised an interesting point the other day. He was brought
up in an outspokenly feminist household and has never had a doubt in his mind
about the equality of the sexes and the need of women (and men!) to be free
to develop outside of traditional sexual roles. Nevertheless he has grown
weary of hostility from the sort of over-zealous feminists who refuse to
believe that anyone can be a feminist who happens to have a penis.
His point was that not only are there many male feminists today, but that
there must have been many male feminists from the very beginnings of the
movement, fighting "right beside Susan B." as he put it. One common-sense
demonstration of this is that if legislation was passed which eventually
gave women the right to vote, there must have been a large number of men
willing to vote for it. Yet you never read about these men in the standard
accounts of the women's movement.
I know very little about the history of feminism. Is my friend correct?
Where could he look to find out more about men who have fought against
sexism? Is the material out there, or is this an overlooked point of
history on which some basic work needs to be done? If feminism is to
mature from an "up with women!" movement to a movement truly committed to
freeing all of us from sexual straightjackets, maybe men's role in its
history deserves a little more consideration.
----
Prentiss Riddle
("Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada.")
{ihnp4,seismo,ctvax}!ut-sally!riddlebetsy@dartvax.UUCP (Betsy Hanes Perry) (01/18/84)
I am reminded of a classic line from my fraternity days (yes, fraternity, but that's another story...) (Female, railing against separatist presssure from friends): 'They seem to think that you can't be a feminist and love men!' (Gay male) 'Why not? I'm a feminist, and I love men!' Ah, for the carefree days of my youth.... -- Betsy Perry decvax!dartvax!betsy
wdoherty@bbncca.ARPA (Will Doherty) (01/20/84)
For a good start on tracing the role of past and present-day male contributions to the feminist movement, I recommend: M.: Gentle Men for Gender Justice Box 313 306 N. Brooks St. Madison, WI 53715 It is a quarterly which I believe is still in publication, started back in early 1980 (or late '79). Will Doherty decvax!bbncca!wdoherty
stephen@alberta.UUCP (Stephen Samuel) (01/27/84)
If you want to find some early men who supported feminism, take a look at the writings of Jesus and Mohammed (not necessarily at what their followers are doing now...). Both men left teachings that women deserved more than what was their present lot in life.