I remember back when I was a young libfem and first really struck by how badly women have it, my immediate response was to appeal to the humanity of men. I was so naive I thought that I could make boys and men have this revelation too. I thought that patriarchy was this evil structure that punished men and women alike but wasn't actually comprised of men like some kind of abstract prison. I tried to make the boys I knew understand and I was so surprised when they mocked me for saying, "teach boys not to rape". I remember thinking, don't they want to stop rape? Don't they see that boys and men are trapped in toxic masculinity? Then I realised. Men and boys know how bad things are, they know the harm it does women and girls, they mocked me because they know how bad rape is, but for most of them, even if they don't rape themselves, they don't even find it a deal breaker for friends. Men and boys don't fucking care, they don't want patriarchy dismantled, because it benefits them and they actively uphold it. I now realise I was playing in patriarchy's lie that men and boys are helpless to their culture. Men don't rape because of rape culture, rape culture exists because of rape. Men and boys create culture and patriarchy to suit their interests, if we don't acknowledge that it is men and boys causing the problems of their own free will then feminism will continue to grow stagnant as we spend all of our resources coddling and "educating" men and boys rather than actively supporting women and girls.
turnnoffyourmind
titsay
2087
gracieabrams
andulkaphoto
theartofmadeline
