I’m female, so I choose feminism.

Feminism is not, and has never been, antimen. Equality isn’t a pie although many seem confused by that truth. More for some isn’t less for others.

A definition for your review, one I like: feminism is an interdisciplinary approach to issues of equality and equity based on gender, gender expression, gender identity, sex, and sexuality as understood through social theories and political activism.

Equal rights for the oppressed don’t make those holding privileged positions less equal, though privilege may take a hit.

Whatever. You didn’t earn it. And the angry reaction to the idea that fairness for all is a good goal is telling. The responses to losing underearned advantages veer towards the toddleresque.

And while some under the umbrella of feminism may be done with men, they appear less vicious and violent than the incel and MGTOW (men going their own way) movements. Too many in these groups prove the Margaret Atwood quote:

“Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them.”

The argument against equal rights is sometimes turned into a matter of strength – how can women claim equality if they can’t rescue an unconscious three-hundred-pounder from a burning building?

Irrelevant since most men couldn’t either.

Besides, how can men claim equality when they can’t grow life? If we’re going to start demanding entrance exams, the roll call for the “equal” will see reduced numbers indeed. History suggests that only a small coterie of older, straight white men with money will make the cut.

They’re working hard to bring that idea to fruition in the Republican Party in the US. It’s a shocking thing to observe.

The dyed-in-the-wool chauvinists seem to miss the ideas of Greek citizenship. How odd that they don’t also lay claim to the plumbing of ancient times.

So, Happy International Women’s Day. Happy pay gap day. Happy most likely to die at the hands of a domestic partner day (especially when pregnant – the number one cause of death in pregnancy). Happy prove you were raped day. Happy “no, you can’t control your own uterus day.” Happy global equality losses day.

For women to be treated equally in society, oppressors need to stop what they’re doing. For equality to become the law of the land, the “of course” we’d like to see the world over, men have to step up. The privileged need to step up.

They aren’t.

Tokenism doesn’t get it done.

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